OUTLINE:

• Exodus 13:17-18         Not by the way of the Philistines but through the wilderness
• Exodus 13:19              The bones of Joseph
• Exodus 13:20-22         The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night

• Exodus 14:1-3             The people camp at Pi-hahiroth
• Exodus 14:4-9             Pharaoh and the Egyptians pursue the Israelites
• Exodus 14:10-14         The Israelites’ response
• Exodus 14:15-18         YHWH’S instructions to Moses
• Exodus 14:19-20         The pillar of cloud moves
• Exodus 14:21-22         The children ofIsraelcross theRed Sea
• Exodus 14:23-31         The fate of Pharaoh and his army

• Exodus 15:1-19           The Song of Moses
• Exodus 15:20-21         The Song of Miriam
• Exodus 15:22-27         The twelve springs at Elim

• Exodus 16:1-21           YHWH provides manna and quail in the wilderness
• Exodus 16:22-30         Instructions for the Sabbath
• Exodus 16:31-36         An omer of manna is kept for future generations to see

• Exodus 17:1-7             Water from the rock
• Exodus 17:8-16           The Amalekites

STUDY QUESTIONS:

1. What is the evidence for an early date for the exodus?
2. What is the evidence for a later date for the exodus?
3. Why does YHWH leadIsraelaway from the way of the sea?
4. When did the Philistines enter thelandofCanaan?
5. Are the Israelites prepared for battle?
6. Is God’s way an easy way?
7. What is the meaning of the Hebrew word chumash?
8. How isIsraelsaved?
9. What is the shadow picture of Messiah in the waters of Mara?
10. What is the shadow picture in the waters of Elim and Horeb?

TEACHING:

Our portion begins with a bit of a controversy.  It is stated that when YHWH leads the children ofIsraelout ofEgypt, He does not take them by way of the sea but through the desert.

(Exodus 13:17-18 NRS) When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was nearer; for God thought, If the people face war, they may change their minds and return to Egypt.  ¹⁸So God led the people by the roundabout way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea.  The Israelites went up out of the land of Egypt prepared for battle.[1]

The dating of Israel’s exodus fromEgypthas long been a matter of great debate among biblical scholars.  Two distinct camps have emerged in this debate – those who argue for an early dating of the events (ca. 1446 B.C.E.) and those who argue for a later date (ca. 1260 B.C.E.).  For the sake of brevity I have included the following chart of the arguments for both possibilities.

Arguments for an Early Date of the Exodus (ca. 1446 B.C.E.)[2]

1. 1 Kings 6:1 says, “In the four hundred and eightieth year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel…he began to build the house of the LORD.”  The currently accepted date for the fourth year of Solomon’s reign is 967/966 B.C., and 480 years before that would be 1446.  This is supported by 1 Chronicles 6:33-37, which names 18 generations from Korah (in the time of Moses) to Heman (in the time of David), which then requires 19 generations from Moses to Solomon.  Nineteen generations in 480 years works out to an average of 25.3 years per generation, a reasonable number that gives confirmation to an actual 480 years in 1 Kings 6:1.
2. In Judges 11:26, Jephthah’s message to the king of the Ammonites says that Israel had already lived inCanaanfor “300 years.”  This message is dated to around 1100 B.C., which would yield a date of around 1400 for entrance into the land of Canaan, which is consistent with a 1446 exodus.
3. Archaeological data from Jericho, Ai, and Hazor have been claimed to show evidence of destruction in the late fifteenth century B.C., which is consistent with a 1446 exodus and 1406 conquest of Canaan.  But there is no evidence of occupation ofJerichoin the thirteenth century (as would be required by a later date for the exodus).
4. The Amarna Letters show that Canaanite kings in the late fourteenth century B.C. wrote letters to Pharaoh pleading for help against the ‘apiru who were “taking over” the lands of Canaan.  This is consistent with dating the beginning of the conquest by Israel at 1406.
5. Exodus 1:11, which mentions the building of “Raamses,” should not be dated to ca. 1270 B.C. (as a “late date” view would hold), because the remarkable multiplication of Israel (Exodus 1:12-22) and the birth of Moses (Exodus 2:2) both occur after Exodus 1:11.  But if Moses was 80 years old (Exodus 7:7) when he led the people out of Egypt, this would put the exodus at least 80 years after the building of Raamses, or 1190 B.C., which is far too late on either scheme.  In fact, the Merneptah Stele (an inscribed tombstone-like stone slab) describes a military triumph over Israel in Canaan in 1211-1209 B.C.
6. With an early date for the exodus, the time of the Judges takes about 350 years.  This is generally consistent with the book of Judges itself, where a simple addition of the length of the reigns of the individual judges gives just over 400 years, and this can be reduced to 350 if there was overlapping of some reigns, but it cannot reasonably be reduced to as little as 170 years, as would be required by the proposed later date for the exodus.

Arguments for a Later Date of the Exodus (ca. 1260 B.C.E.)

1. Exodus 1:11 says the Israelites “built for Pharaoh store cities Pithom and Raamses.”  But the city of Raamses (also spelled Rameses; the Egyptian Pi-Rameses) was built by Raamses II, who reigned from 1279-1213 B.C.  This city is not mentioned in any earlier archaeological records from Egypt.  Therefore, the Israelites were still in Egypt around 1270 B.C. when Raamses was built.  In addition, the other geographical terms in Exodus—e.g., Pithom, Midgol, Yam Sup (theRed Sea), etc.—are all attested in thirteenth-century Egyptian texts, whereas they are not attested in the period of the early date.
2. 1 Kings 6:1 probably uses the expression “480 years” as a representative number to stand for 12 idealized generations of 40 years each.  But in reality the period covered 12 generations of only 25 years each, or 300 years.  Subtracting 300 years from 966 B.C. gives an exodus about 1266.
3. Egypt had imperial control over Canaan from about 1400-1250 B.C.  But there is no Egyptian record of any military conflicts with Israel over that land until the Merneptah Stele, which refers to a victory over Israel around 1211-1209 B.C.
4. The Bible contains almost no mention of conflict with Egypt in Joshua or Judges, which would be strange if the Israelites entered Canaan in 1406 B.C., when the Egyptian Empire had control over Canaan.  This makes a late date for the exodus more likely, since Egyptian influence over Canaan was minimal after about 1200 B.C.
5. The covenant forms used at the time of Moses in the biblical narrative show significant parallels to ancient Near Eastern covenants in the thirteenth century but not in the fifteenth century B.C.
6. Archaeological discoveries in Canaan show the complete destruction of some cities (such as Hazor) in the later thirteenth century B.C., which would fit with a date of ca. 1260 for the exodus.  Further, site surveys seem to show that there was a huge migration into the hill country areas of Canaan in the thirteenth century B.C.  There also appear to have been technological innovations in this later period, such as terracing of the land, newer pottery styles, and plaster-lined silos, that favor the later date of Israel’s occupation.

Addressing this debate from an archaeological point of view, William G. Dever writes:

The specific time frame for the Exodus is now confirmed as the middle to the late 13^th century B.C., not the 15^th century B.C. as formerly thought.  The old “high” date, based on imprecise and contradictory biblical schemes of chronology, was determined using the following calculations: Work began on the Jerusalem Temple in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign, and that was 480 years after the Exodus (1 Kings 6:1).  Since we know that Solomon died in 930 B.C. (14:25-28; “Shishak=Sheshonq 1,” now ca. 945-924 B.C.), and he reigned 40 years (11:42), he would have ascended the throne in 970.  Thus we add 480 to 966 to get 1446 B.C.—the exact date of the Exodus.  But such a high date does not accord at all with the archaeological record in Palestine; today only a handful of diehard fundamentalists would argue in its favor.

All authorities today agree that the major break in the archaeological sequence in Palestine that would have to be correlated with a shift from “Canaanite” to “Israelite” culture occurred at the end of the Bronze Age, ca. 1250-1150 B.C.  This then is the actual historical context for the biblical story we know, even though the writers do not tell us that (and, writing centuries later, without the benefit of modern scientific knowledge, could not actually have known it).[3]

Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman likewise demonstrate problems with the early dating of the exodus.

The Bible speaks explicitly about the forced labor projects of the children of Israel and mentions, in particular, the construction of the city of Raamses (Exodus 1:11).  In the fifteenth century B.C.E. such a name is inconceivable.  The first pharaoh named Ramesses came to the throne only in 1320 BCE—more than a century after the traditional biblical date.  As a result, many scholars have tended to dismiss the literal value of the biblical dating, suggesting that the figure 480 was little more than a symbolic length of time, representing the life spans of twelve generations, each lasting the traditional forty years.[4]

And there were other specific details of the biblical Exodus story that pointed to the same era.  First, Egyptian sources report that the city of Pi-Ramesses (“The House of Ramesses”) was built in the delta in the days of the great Egyptian king Ramesses II, who ruled 1279-1213 BCE, and that Semites were apparently employed in its construction.  Second, and perhaps most important, the earliest mention of Israel in an extrabiblical text was found in Egypt in the stele describing the campaign of Pharaoh Merneptah—the son of Ramesses II—in Canaan at the very end of the thirteenth century BCE.  The inscription tells of a destructive Egyptian campaign into Canaan, in the course of which a people named Israel were decimated to the extent that the pharaoh boasted that Israel’s “seed is not!”  The boast was clearly an empty one, but it did indicate that some group known as Israel was already in Canaan by that time.  In fact, dozens of settlements that were linked with the early Israelites appeared in the hill country of Canaan around that time.  So if a historical Exodus took place, scholars have argued, it must have occurred in the late thirteenth century BCE.[5]

Further supporting the argument for a later date for the Exodus is the fact that the Philistines were given as the reason for avoiding the direct route to Canaan by way of the sea.  The Philistines were an Aegean people who settled on the southern coastal strip of ancient Canaan around the twelfth century B.C.E.  The Philistines developed a confederacy of five city-states –Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron,Gath, andGaza.  If the Philistines were already in the land of Canaan when the children of Israel came out of Egypt, then the exodus could not have happened in the fifteenth century B.C.E., as the early date would suggest.

In wrestling with this issue of chronology, we must take into consideration that the Torah, as we have it today, was not written until the time of the monarchies (the ninth through the fifth centuries B.C.E.).  Since the Philistines were already established in the land prior to the time of the exodus and were still present in the time of David (1040-971 B.C.E.), it would be possible to conceive that the writers of the story simply assumed that the Philistines had always been in the land.  Since the Philistines were present in the region at the time the story was written (as opposed to the time the event recorded in the story took place), it is possible that the writers assumed that the threat of war to be encountered by the way of the sea was from the Philistines.  Archaeological evidence clearly proves otherwise.

The potential threat of war with the Philistines raises another question concerning these opening verses.  Let us look at the verses again.

(Exodus 13:17-18 NRS) When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was nearer; for God thought, If the people face war, they may change their minds and return to Egypt.  ¹⁸So God led the people by the roundabout way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea.  The Israelites went up out of the land of Egypt prepared for battle.

According to the New Revised Standard Version, God directs the children of Israel away from the way of the sea because a threat of war with the Philistines might potentially cause the Israelites to return to Egypt for safety.  However, the very next verse tells us that the children of Israel are “prepared for battle.”  To solve this dilemma, we need to understand the Hebrew word chamushim (chet, mem, shin, yud, mem), translated variously as “armed,” “equipped,” or “prepared for battle.”  The Hebrew adjective chamushim, while of uncertain origin, is most likely related to the Hebrew root chamash (chet, mem, shin), meaning “five,” “fifth,” or “a fifth part.”  It is from this Hebrew root word that the name or title “Chumash,” referring to a book containing the first five books of the Bible, is derived.[6]

Let us recall from later descriptions of Israel’s encampment and marching formations that the children of Israel were divided into five camps.  To the east was the Camp of Judah, consisting of the tribes of Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun; to the south was the Camp of Reuben, consisting of the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, and Gad; to the west was the Camp of Ephraim, consisting of the tribes of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh; and to the north was the Camp of Dan, consisting of the tribes of Dan, Asher, and Naphtali.  In the center of these four camps was the Camp of YHWH, containing the Tabernacle, the Levites, and the kohanim.[7]  These five camps made up the army of Israel.  While this order is not formally established until Mount Sinai, it is possible that the reference to being “prepared for battle” in our portion intends only to communicate that the people go out in divided units according to their families and tribes.  Thus, the reference to being equipped, armed, prepared, or ordered for battle should not be understood as speaking of the condition of the hearts of the Israelites but only of the external division of the people.  As we quickly see, the Creator’s judgment is the correct one.  As soon as the children ofIsrael see the threat of Pharaoh drawing near, they are filled with fear.

(Exodus 14:10 NRS) As Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites looked back, and there were the Egyptians advancing on them.  In great fear the Israelites cried out to YHWH.

We learn from this that there is truly no easy way in this world.  The way of God is the way of the cross.  We also learn that it is not possible to avoid conflict in this world.  Even when we go out of our way to avoid conflict and follow God’s direction, conflict will often follow.  Like Israel, however, we must learn that the battle is not our own.  When confronted with the inevitable conflict with Pharaoh, Moses commands the children of Israel to stand firm and watch how YHWH will fight for them.

(Exodus 14:13-14 NRS) But Moses said to the people, Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that YHWH will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again.  ¹⁴YHWH will fight for you, and you have only to keep still.

Standing firm and faithful in the face of opposition, oppression, and the threat to death is no small feat.  We should note that Israel’s natural instinct is to surrender and return to bondage inEgypt.

(Exodus 14:12 NRS) Is this not the very thing we told you in Egypt, Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians?  For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.

However, before the Israelites are completely overcome with fear, YHWH miraculously prepares a way out of the conflict and threat of death.

(Exodus 14:21-22 NRS) Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea.  YHWH drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land; and the waters were divided.  ²²The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.

(Exodus 14:29 NRS) But the Israelites walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.

Here we should recall the apostle Shaul’s comforting words to the believers at Corinth.

(1 Corinthians 10:13 NRS) No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone.  God is faithful, and He will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing He will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.

YHWH does indeed provide a way out of conflict and temptation for the children of Israel.  When Pharaoh hastily follows after the people ofIsrael, YHWH swallows them up in the sea.

(Exodus 14:23-28 NRS) The Egyptians pursued, and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and chariot drivers.  ²⁴At the morning watch YHWH in the pillar of fire and cloud looked down upon the Egyptian army, and threw the Egyptian army into panic.  ²⁵He clogged their chariot wheels so that they turned with difficulty.  The Egyptians said, Let us flee from the Israelites, for YHWH is fighting for them against Egypt.  ²⁶Then YHWH said to Moses, Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and chariot drivers.  ²⁷So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at dawn the sea returned to its normal depth.  As the Egyptians fled before it, YHWH tossed the Egyptians into the sea.  ²⁸The waters returned and covered the chariots and the chariot drivers, the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; not one of them remained.

Safely on the other side of the sea, the children of Israel sing praises to YHWH for their great deliverance.

(Exodus 15:1-18 NRS) Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to YHWH: I will sing to YHWH, for He has triumphed gloriously; horse and rider He has thrown into the sea.  ²YHWH is my strength and my might, and He has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise Him, my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.  ³YHWH is a warrior; YHWH is His name.  ⁴Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He cast into the sea; his picked officers were sunk in the Red Sea.  ⁵The floods covered them; they went down into the depths like a stone.  ⁶Your right hand, O YHWH, glorious in power – Your right hand, O YHWH, shattered the enemy.  ⁷In the greatness of Your majesty You overthrew Your adversaries; You sent out Your fury, it consumed them like stubble.  ⁸At the blast of Your nostrils the waters piled up, the floods stood up in a heap; the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.  ⁹The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them.  I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.  ¹⁰You blew with Your wind, the sea covered them; they sank like lead in the mighty waters.  ¹¹Who is like You, O YHWH, among the gods?  Who is like You, majestic in holiness, awesome in splendor, doing wonders?  ¹²You stretched out Your right hand, the earth swallowed them.  ¹³In Your steadfast love You led the people whom You redeemed; You guided them by Your strength to Your holy abode.  ¹⁴The peoples heard, they trembled; pangs seized the inhabitants of Philistia.  ¹⁵Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed; trembling seized the leaders of Moab; all the inhabitants of Canaan melted away.  ¹⁶Terror and dread fell upon them; by the might of Your arm, they became still as a stone until Your people, O YHWH, passed by, until the people whom You acquired passed by.  ¹⁷You brought them in and planted them on the mountain of Your own possession, the place, O YHWH, that You made Your abode, the sanctuary, O YHWH, that Your hands have established.  ¹⁸YHWH will reign forever and ever.

The story of Israel’s deliverance at the Red Sea may well be one of the greatest examples of salvation by grace through faith in the Hebrew Scriptures.  Up until this great and miraculous moment, all that has been reported about the Israelites is that they cried out under the great oppression and persecution they experienced in Egypt.  YHWH heard their cries and graciously responded.  YHWH sent Moses to deliver them and lead them out of Egyptand into the promised land.  YHWH made seven unconditional promises to the Israelites: 1) I will free you from the burdens of the Egyptians; 2) I will deliver you from slavery to them; 3) I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment; 4) I will take you as My people; 5) I will be your God; 6) I will bring you into the land I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and 7) I will give it to you for a possession.[8]

YHWH does indeed deliver Israel from bondage and death.  The children of Israel respond by singing that YHWH has become their salvation.  Let us be clear to note that YHWH does not require that Israel keep the Torah before He delivers them.  YHWH does not ask the children of Israel to pledge their obedience to Him before He delivers them.  YHWH simply heard Israel’s cries and delivers them.  Only after they are “saved” from Pharaoh does YHWH invite the children of Israel to enter into covenant with Him and keep His Torah.  It is clear that keeping the Torah and worship are responses to what YHWH has already accomplished.

Once again, we must recognize that there is no easy way.  Even after the children of Israel are redeemed and delivered from bondage and the threat of death at the hands of Pharaoh, they still face very real challenges.  While they are free of Pharaoh and his chariots, they are not free of their humanity and its needs.  Once free from the threat of Egypt, the children of Israel still face the very real threat of the wilderness journey.  Death by thirst and hunger are very real threats.  Yes, the children ofIsraelare out of Egypt– but they are still in this world.

(Exodus 15:22-25 NRS) Then Moses ordered Israel to set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur.  They went three days in the wilderness and found no water.  ²³When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter.  That is why it was called Marah.  ²⁴And the people complained against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?  ²⁵He cried out to YHWH; and YHWH showed him a piece of wood; he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.  There YHWH made for them a statute and an ordinance and there He put them to the test.

(Exodus 16:1-3 NRS) The whole congregation of the Israelites set out from Elim; and Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt.  ²The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.  ³The Israelites said to them, If only we had died by the hand of YHWH in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.

(Exodus 17:1-3 NRS) From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as YHWH commanded.  They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.  ²The people quarreled with Moses, and said, Give us water to drink.  Moses said to them, Why do you quarrel with me?  Why do you test YHWH?  ³But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?

Even as the redeemed of YHWH, we too are still human beings living in the flesh and in the world.  We still have very real needs for food, clothing, and shelter.  Yeshua assured us that the Father knows our needs even before we ask Him.

(Matthew 6:7-8 NRS) When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words.  ⁸Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

When we recognize our needs, we are told to turn to, depend upon, and ask our Father for them.

(Matthew 7:7 NRS) Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.

We should note that YHWH does not respond to the people’s complaints of hunger and thirst with rebuke, chastisement, or anger.  Instead, the Creator meets the people’s needs in unique and miraculous ways, which make it obvious that it is YHWH who is providing for them.  This unique and miraculous manner in which YHWH provides for the children of Israel is made abundantly clear in the provision of manna.

(Exodus 16:6-7 NRS) So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, In the evening you shall know that it was YHWH who brought you out of the land of Egypt, ⁷and in the morning you shall see the glory of YHWH, because He has heard your complaining against YHWH.  For what are we, that you complain against us?

(Exodus 16:9-16 NRS) Then Moses said to Aaron, Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites, Draw near to YHWH, for He has heard your complaining.  ¹⁰And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of YHWH appeared in the cloud.  ¹¹YHWH spoke to Moses and said, ¹²I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am YHWH your God.  ¹³In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.  ¹⁴When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground.  ¹⁵When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, What is it?  For they did not know what it was.  Moses said to them, It is the bread that YHWH has given you to eat.  ¹⁶This is what YHWH has commanded: Gather as much of it as each of you needs, an omer to a person according to the number of persons, all providing for those in their own tents.

Just as the orderly nature of the plagues proved that they were not mere random accidents of nature, so too the orderly nature of the gift of manna makes it clear that it is of divine origin.  The manna appears in limited amounts each morning five days a week, in double amounts on the sixth day of the week, and not at all on the seventh day of the week.  What is left over on the five limited days spoils, becomes foul, and breeds worms.  However, the manna gathered on the sixth day in double portions, when kept over for the seventh day, does not spoil, become foul, or breed worms.  The strange and unique nature of this provision is also made clear by the fact that the Israelites had seen nothing like it before and, therefore, asked man hu or “What is it?”

The orderly nature of the provision of manna serves not only to feed and sustain the Israelites during their journey but also to test whether these miraculous and gracious acts of YHWH will touch their hearts and evoke a willing obedience from them.

(Exodus 16:4 NRS) Then YHWH said to Moses, I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day.  In that way I will test them, whether they will follow My instruction or not.

The answer to this question is quickly revealed byIsrael’s testing of God.

(Exodus 16:20-21 NRS) But they did not listen to Moses; some left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and became foul.  And Moses was angry with them.  ²¹Morning by morning they gathered it, as much as each needed; but when the sun grew hot, it melted.

(Exodus 16:27-28 NRS) On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, and they found none.  ²⁸YHWH said to Moses, How long will you refuse to keep My commandments and instructions?

While the pattern of the Sabbath was established at creation, it is here in the exodus narrative that Israel is first commanded to keep the Sabbath.

(Genesis 2:1-3 NRS) Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude.  ²And on the seventh day God finished the work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all the work that He had done.  ³So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that He had done in creation.

(Exodus 16:5 NRS) On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days.

(Exodus 16:22-24 NRS) On the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, two omers apiece.  When all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, ²³he said to them, This is what YHWH has commanded: Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to YHWH; bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil, and all that is left over put aside to be kept until morning.  ²⁴So they put it aside until morning, as Moses commanded them; and it did not become foul, and there were no worms in it.

(Exodus 16:29-30 NRS) See!  YHWH has given you the Sabbath, therefore on the sixth day He gives you food for two days; each of you stay where you are; do not leave your place on the seventh day.  ³⁰So the people rested on the seventh day.

Later, at Mount Sinai, this command to keep the Sabbath will be formalized as a part of the covenant between the people of Israel and YHWH.

(Exodus 20:8-11 NRS) Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy.  ⁹Six days you shall labor and do all your work.  ¹⁰But the seventh day is a Sabbath to YHWH your God; you shall not do any work – you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns.  ¹¹For in six days YHWH made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore YHWH blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it.

It is interesting to note that in the book of Exodus the Sabbath is directly connected to YHWH’S act of creation.  In the book of Deuteronomy, however, the Sabbath is directly connected to YHWH’S act of delivering Israel from Egypt.

(Deuteronomy 5:12-15 NRS) Observe the Sabbath day and keep it holy, as YHWH your God commanded you.  ¹³Six days you shall labor and do all your work.  ¹⁴But the seventh day is a Sabbath to YHWH your God; you shall not do any work – you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you.  ¹⁵Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and YHWH your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore YHWH your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

We should understand from this that the pattern of the Sabbath was established at creation, but the commandment to keep the pattern of the Sabbath is not given until Israel is delivered from Egypt.  We have no overt testimony from the Scriptures of anyone keeping the Sabbath prior to the exodus fromEgypt.

The miraculous provisions of YHWH serve the purpose of not only sustaining and testing the children of Israel but also teaching them.  There is a powerful lesson to be learned from these provisions, as can be seen from the waters of Mara and Elim.

Three days after crossing the Red Sea, the people of Israel find themselves confronted with the reality of the wilderness and concern for their survival.

(Exodus 15:22-25 NRS) Then Moses ordered Israel to set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur.  They went three days in the wilderness and found no water.  ²³When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter.  That is why it was called Marah.  ²⁴And the people complained against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?  ²⁵He cried out to YHWH; and YHWH showed him a piece of wood; he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet…

In this story the water is bitter, not easily swallowed, and rejected by Israel until YHWH shows Moses a “tree,” which, when thrown into the water, makes the water sweet, desirable, and life giving.  I will suggest that the water of Mara (the bitter waters) is a symbol of the Torah.  When we are initially confronted with the Torah, it is often experienced as bitter bondage – a list of restrictions which limit our lives and freedom.  When the Torah is imposed upon us from outside, our carnal nature rebels and refuses to drink of the bitter waters.  However, when the tree (representing the cross) is added to the Torah, suddenly the waters become sweet, a joy, a delight, and life giving.  When we, as followers of Messiah, take our carnal nature to the cross and allow the Spirit of the Holy One to write the Torah upon our hearts, the same Torah that once seemed bitter to us is suddenly sweet.  This is the difference between being “under the law” (the bitter waters) and having the Torah written on the heart (the sweet waters).  Only when we have taken our carnal nature to the cross in Messiah will we willingly drink of the sweet, life-giving waters of the Spirit of the Torah.

There is a second lesson to be learned from the waters of Elim.

(Exodus 15:25-27 NRS) …There YHWH made for them a statute and an ordinance and there He put them to the test.  ²⁶He said, If you will listen carefully to the voice of YHWH your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give heed to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will not bring upon you any of the diseases that I brought upon the Egyptians; for I am YHWH who heals you.  ²⁷Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees; and they camped there by the water.

YHWH assures the children of Israel that if they take their carnal nature to the cross and drink of the sweet waters of the living Torah written upon their hearts, He will bless them with health and healing.  The text goes on to say that the children of Israel come to Elim, where there are twelve springs of water.  Let us note that these are not wells or cisterns of stagnant water but springs of living water.  These twelve springs represent the twelve tribes of Israel.  We are told that these twelve springs are filled with water.  We stated above that water is often a symbol of the Torah; therefore, we should see in these twelve springs a picture of Israel filled with the sweet, living Torah!  We are also told that there are seventy palm trees around the twelve springs.  We should recall from our previous portions that seventy is the number of nations.  These seventy trees, therefore, represent the nations surrounding Israel.  Let us recall that trees are often symbols of the righteous.

(Psalm 1:1-3 NRS) Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; ²but their delight is in the law of YHWH, and on His law they meditate day and night.  ³They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither.  In all that they do, they prosper.

We are told in our verse that these trees are date-palm trees or t^emarim.  We would only know that they are date-palm trees by their fruit.  From the picture of these springs and trees we may draw the conclusion that if Israel will but be filled with the sweet waters of the living Torah, then even the nations around Israel will bear righteous fruit for the kingdom of YHWH.

How do we fulfill this calling?  We fulfill this calling by drinking the water from the rock.

(Exodus 17:4-7 NRS) So Moses cried out to YHWH, What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.  ⁵YHWH said to Moses, Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.  ⁶I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb.  Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.  Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel.  ⁷He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested YHWH, saying, Is YHWH among us or not?

Here we see a picture of Yeshua, our rock, who was smitten by the rod.  The water that comes from this rock is the pure, sweet, living Torah as taught by the Spirit through Messiah Yeshua.  To drink of this water, the living Torah from Yeshua, is to find life and sweetness in obedience to YHWH our Redeemer, Deliverer, and Savior.

OUTLINE:

• Exodus 10:1-2 YHWH gives the reason for His actions
• Exodus 10:3-20 The plague of locusts
• Exodus 10:21-29 The plague of darkness
• Exodus 11:1-10 The final plague is declared
• Exodus 12:1-13 Instructions for Passover
• Exodus 12:14-20 Instructions for the celebration of Passover
• Exodus 12:21-28 Preparations for the actual Passover
• Exodus 12:29 The final plague – the death of the firstborn
• Exodus 12:30-36 Israel plunders Egypt
• Exodus 12:37-39 Israel leaves Egypt
• Exodus 12:40-51 Further instructions for the celebration of Passover
• Exodus 13:1-2 The consecration of the firstborn
• Exodus 13:3-10 Unleavened bread Instructions
• Exodus 13:11-16 Instructions concerning the sanctification of the firstborn

STUDY QUESTIONS:

1. What rationale does YHWH give for His actions?
2. Who does YHWH want to know Him?
3. Why does YHWH wantIsraelreleased?
4. What isIsraelasked to do?
5. What is the meaning of the Hebrew word ‘avad?
6. Does YHWH force Pharaoh to rebel?
7. Who determines the orientation of Pharaoh’s heart?
8. What biblical principle is at play in this matter?
9. How are the people ofIsraelsaved?
10. How does YHWH assure that the people ofIsraelwill not forget what He is doing for them?

TEACHING:

Our portion begins with YHWH giving Moses and the children ofIsraelHis rationale for the dramatic actions He is about to undertake inEgypt.

(Exodus 10:1-2 NRS) Then YHWH said to Moses, Go to Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his officials, in order that I may show these signs of Mine among them, ²and that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I have made fools of the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them – so that you may know that I am YHWH.

In this opening verse there are several points we must address.  First, we must note that YHWH asserts His sovereignty in the matter of Pharaoh.  The conflict between YHWH and Pharaoh is rooted in a debate over who is sovereign overIsrael.  YHWH commanded that Pharaoh release the children ofIsraelfrom their service to him so that they may journey three days into the wilderness to serve/worship YHWH.

(Exodus 4:22-23 NRS) Then you shall say to Pharaoh, Thus says YHWH: Israel is My firstborn son.  ²³I said to you, Let My son go that he may worship Me.  But you refused to let him go; now I will kill your firstborn son.

(Exodus 7:16 NRS) Say to him, YHWH, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you to say, Let My people go, so that they may worship Me in the wilderness.  But until now you have not listened.

(Exodus 8:1 NRS) Then YHWH said to Moses, Go to Pharaoh and say to him, Thus says YHWH: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.

(Exodus 8:20 NRS) Then YHWH said to Moses, Rise early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh, as he goes out to the water, and say to him, Thus says YHWH: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.

(Exodus 9:1 NRS) Then YHWH said to Moses, Go to Pharaoh, and say to him, Thus says YHWH, the God of the Hebrews: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.

(Exodus 9:13 NRS) Then YHWH said to Moses, Rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh, and say to him, Thus says YHWH, the God of the Hebrews: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.

(Exodus 10:3 NRS) So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, and said to him, Thus says YHWH, the God of the Hebrews, How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me?  Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.

(Exodus 10:7 NRS) Pharaoh’s officials said to him, How long shall this fellow be a snare to us?  Let the people go, so that they may worship YHWH their God; do you not yet understand that Egypt is ruined?

The word translated in the NRSV[1] as “worship” is from the Hebrew root word ‘avad (ayin, vet, dalet), which means “to work,” “to labor,” or “to serve.”  Translating the word ‘avad as “to worship” comes from whatIsrael is being asked to do in the wilderness.

(Exodus 5:1 NRS) Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, Thus says YHWH, the God of Israel, Let My people go, so that they may celebrate a festival to Me in the wilderness.

(Exodus 10:9 NRS) Moses said, We will go with our young and our old; we will go with our sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds, because we have YHWH’S festival to celebrate.

(Exodus 10:25 NRS) But Moses said, You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings to sacrifice to YHWH our God.

Such sacrificial worship of YHWH is considered part of the “service” ofIsrael, His priestly people.  Let us recall Joshua’s words concerningIsrael’s service to YHWH.

(Joshua 24:15 NRS) Now if you are unwilling to serve YHWH, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve YHWH.

The idea of obedient service to YHWH is clearly understood as synonymous with worship.  With this said, however, I believe that translating the Hebrew word ‘avad as “serve” helps to highlight the conflict between Pharaoh and YHWH.

YHWH was asserting His sovereignty overIsraelwhen He commanded Pharaoh to release the children ofIsraelso that they might serve their rightful authority, who is described in this conflict not asIsrael’s king but asIsrael’s Father.

(Exodus 4:22 NRS) Then you shall say to Pharaoh, Thus says YHWH: Israel is My firstborn son.

Pharaoh refused to acknowledge YHWH or His sovereignty overIsrael.  Pharaoh refused to release the children ofIsraelto serve their Father; instead, he made them serve him andEgyptwith harsh labor.

(Exodus 5:2 NRS) But Pharaoh said, Who is YHWH, that I should heed Him and let Israel go?  I do not know YHWH, and I will not let Israel go.

(Exodus 5:6-9 NRS) That same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, as well as their supervisors, ⁷You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as before; let them go and gather straw for themselves.  ⁸But you shall require of them the same quantity of bricks as they have made previously; do not diminish it, for they are lazy; that is why they cry, Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.  ⁹Let heavier work be laid on them; then they will labor at it and pay no attention to deceptive words.

Through a series of nine divinely orchestrated plagues, YHWH began introducing Himself to Pharaoh and asserting His sovereignty not only overIsraelbut also over Pharaoh andEgypt.

(Exodus 7:5 NRS) The Egyptians shall know that I am YHWH, when I stretch out My hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out from among them.

(Exodus 7:17 NRS) Thus says YHWH, By this you shall know that I am YHWH.  See, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall be turned to blood.

(Exodus 8:10-11 NRS) And he said, Tomorrow.  Moses said, As you say!  So that you may know that there is no one like YHWH our God, ¹¹the frogs shall leave you and your houses and your officials and your people; they shall be left only in the Nile.

(Exodus 8:22 NRS) But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where My people live, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, that you may know that I YHWH am in this land.

(Exodus 9:29 NRS) Moses said to him, As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will stretch out my hands to YHWH; the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is YHWH’S.

As we noted in the previous portion, the very plagues themselves were pointed attacks revealing the impotency of Pharaoh and his gods and their inability to stop YHWH from releasing His people.  YHWH assured Pharaoh that his life was being spared only for the purpose of revealing YHWH’S sovereignty and power.

(Exodus 9:16 NRS) But this is why I have let you live: to show you My power, and to make My name resound through all the earth.

The opening verses of our portion affirm the fact that YHWH is using Pharaoh and his officials to reveal His sovereignty among the children ofIsrael.

(Exodus 10:1 NRS) Then YHWH said to Moses, Go to Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his officials, in order that I may show these signs of Mine among them.

Many people have pointed to YHWH’S claims of hardening Pharaoh’s heart as unjustly robbing Pharaoh of a choice in the matter; however, this is not the case.  We should note that two different Hebrew words are translated as “hardened.”  The first word is derived from the root word kavad (kaf, vet, dalet), which means “to make heavy,” “to make great,” “to make strong,” or “to make hard.”

(Exodus 7:14 NRS) Then YHWH said to Moses, Pharaoh’s heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go.

In this verse we see the word “hardened” in connection with the word “refuses.”  We should understand the word derived from kavad in this verse as meaning “determined,” “stubborn,” “resistant,” or “hardened.”  It is clear that Pharaoh, in his prideful battle with YHWH, stubbornly refused to letIsrael go to serve YHWH.  In this regard Pharaoh hardened his own heart against YHWH andIsrael, YHWH’S people.

(Exodus 7:22 NRS) But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts; so Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them; as YHWH had said.

(Exodus 9:7 NRS) Pharaoh inquired and found that not one of the livestock of the Israelites was dead.  But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he would not let the people go.

(Exodus 9:34 NRS) But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned once more and hardened his heart, he and his officials.

(Exodus 9:35 NRS) So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he would not let the Israelites go, just as YHWH had spoken through Moses.

In the above verses we learn that it was Pharaoh who hardened his own heart against YHWH.

The second word translated as “hardened” is derived from the Hebrew root word chazaq (chet, zayin, qof), which means “to strengthen.”  In the narrative of Pharaoh’s heart this word is used of Pharaoh strengthening his resolve against YHWH.  It is also used to describe YHWH strengthening Pharaoh’s heart.

(Exodus 4:21 NRS) And YHWH said to Moses, When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.

(Exodus 7:13 NRS) Still Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as YHWH had said.

(Exodus 9:12 NRS) But YHWH hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he would not listen to them, just as YHWH had spoken to Moses.

(Exodus 10:20 NRS) But YHWH hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go.

(Exodus 10:27 NRS) But YHWH hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was unwilling to let them go.

(Exodus 11:10 NRS) Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh; but YHWH hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land.

(Exodus 14:4 NRS) I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, so that I will gain glory for Myself over Pharaoh and all his army; and the Egyptians shall know that I am YHWH.  And they did so.

(Exodus 14:8 NRS) YHWH hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt and he pursued the Israelites, who were going out boldly.

(Exodus 14:17 NRS) Then I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them; and so I will gain glory for Myself over Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots, and his chariot drivers.

We should understand that YHWH does not cause Pharaoh to be stubborn, to rebel, or even to harden his heart.  What YHWH does is simply “strengthen” Pharaoh’s already arrogant, stubborn, and hardened heart.  We should understand the biblical principle at play in this narrative.  Yeshua taught us that the Father, in the time of grace, allows the rain to fall on the just and the unjust alike.

(Matthew 5:45 NRS) …for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.

The apostle Shaul also taught:

(Galatians 6:7 NRS) Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow.

What we plant, God will water.  If we plant weeds, God’s sun and rain will water the weeds.  What we “plant” in our hearts is what will grow under the grace of YHWH.  If we plant love, joy, humility, and obedience to the Sovereign One, we will, by the grace of YHWH, bear the fruit of love, joy, humility, and obedience.  If, however, our hearts are “planted” with the seeds of bitterness, hatred, arrogance, pride, stubbornness, and rebellion, then we will reap their fruit.  Pharaoh planted his heart with arrogance, stubbornness, and rebellion, and now, when the grace of God is shown to him, he brings forth only evil fruit.

YHWH does not cause Pharaoh to rebel; He strengthens the inclination and orientation of Pharaoh’s already stubborn heart, which refuses to submit.  By the progressive nature of the plagues YHWH urged Pharaoh to repentance, but Pharaoh stubbornly refused to repent, submit, and acknowledge the sovereignty of YHWH.  Therefore, YHWH passed judgment upon Pharaoh.

(Exodus 9:14 NRS) For this time I will send all My plagues upon you yourself, and upon your officials, and upon your people, so that you may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth.

From this time forward, YHWH resolved to “strengthen” Pharaoh’s heart in order that the power of YHWH would be known in all the earth.

The second point we should note in the opening verses is that everything YHWH did was so thatIsraelwould know YHWH’S power, faithfulness, nearness, and love.

(Exodus 10:1-2 NRS) Then YHWH said to Moses, Go to Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his officials, in order that I may show these signs of Mine among them, ²and that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I have made fools of the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them – so that you may know that I am YHWH.

YHWH chose a most spectacular and memorable means by which to birth the people ofIsraelout ofEgypt.  The events ofIsrael’s redemption, deliverance, and rescue from the harsh bondage and oppression inEgyptare to be the very impetus ofIsrael’s later acceptance and obedience to the covenant between YHWH and the people ofIsrael.

(Exodus 19:3-6 NRS) Then Moses went up to God; YHWH called to him from the mountain, saying, Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the Israelites: ⁴You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.  ⁵Now therefore, if you obey My voice and keep My covenant, you shall be My treasured possession out of all the peoples.  Indeed, the whole earth is Mine, ⁶but you shall be for Me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.  These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites.

The fulfillment of YHWH’S seven promises[2] and the events of the exodus fromEgypt, which precede the making of the covenant withIsrael, are defining moments in the identities of both YHWH and the people ofIsrael.  The children ofIsrael are not to allow the events experienced inEgypt to slip from their collective conscience.  It is for this reason that YHWH instructsIsrael not only concerning the details of the actual events of the Passover preparations but also concerning the annual celebration of the events of Passover among the later generations of Israelites living in the land of promise.

We should note that YHWH gives instructions to the children ofIsraelconcerning their preparations for leavingIsrael.  At the same time, we are given instructions for the memorializing of these events through later celebrations.  It is important that we distinguish between these two sets of instructions.

YHWH declares to Moses what He is about to do in thelandofEgypt.

(Exodus 11:1-8 NRS) YHWH said to Moses, I will bring one more plague upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you go from here; indeed, when he lets you go, he will drive you away.  ²Tell the people that every man is to ask his neighbor and every woman is to ask her neighbor for objects of silver and gold.  ³YHWH gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians.  Moreover, Moses himself was a man of great importance in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s officials and in the sight of the people.  ⁴Moses said, Thus says YHWH: About midnight I will go out through Egypt.  ⁵Every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the firstborn of the female slave who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the livestock.  ⁶Then there will be a loud cry throughout the whole land of Egypt, such as has never been or will ever be again.  ⁷But not a dog shall growl at any of the Israelites – not at people, not at animals – so that you may know that YHWH makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.  ⁸Then all these officials of yours shall come down to me, and bow low to me, saying, Leave us, you and all the people who follow you.  After that I will leave.  And in hot anger he left Pharaoh.

Again, we observe that YHWH is going to separateIsraelfromEgyptthrough this final plague.  Death is to come upon all the firstborn ofEgypt, not upon the firstborn of the children ofIsrael.

(Exodus 12:1-13 NRS) YHWH said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: ²This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you.  ³Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household.  ⁴If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it.  ⁵Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats.  ⁶You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight.  ⁷They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.  ⁸They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.  ⁹Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs.  ¹⁰You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn.  ¹¹This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly.  It is the passover of YHWH.  ¹²For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am YHWH.  ¹³The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

What will separate the children ofIsraelfrom the Egyptians and save them from the final plague – the death of the firstborn?  Before we answer this question, let us remember that ALLIsraelis the firstborn of YHWH.

(Exodus 4:22 NRS) Then you shall say to Pharaoh, Thus says YHWH: Israel is My firstborn son.

All Israelis at risk of being exterminated by the tenth and final plague in Egypt.  What saves Israel?  Israel is saved by grace through faith!  By grace YHWH establishes the means – the blood of a lamb – by whichIsrael will be protected from this judgment.  YHWH promises that if the people ofIsrael put the blood of the lamb upon their houses, His judgment upon the firstborn will “pass over” their homes and families.  By faith the Israelites trust YHWH at His word and avail themselves of the means of grace given to them.

At the time of the actual plague in Egypt– on the tenth day of the month when the barley is aviv or nearly ripe – the children ofIsrael are to select a lamb for their families and those who may join them.  On the fourteenth day of the month the children ofIsrael are to slaughter the lamb at the threshold of their homes sometime “between the evenings” (which is understood to be between three and six in the evening).  The blood of the lamb is to be applied upon the doorposts and the lintel with a hyssop branch.  The lamb is to be roasted whole and eaten in their homes that night only.  All the leftovers are to be burned in the morning.  The Israelites are to eat the meal with their shoes on their feet, their staffs in their hands, and their clothes on their backs, ready to leave at God’s command.  They are not to leave their homes.

We are told that at midnight, YHWH strikes down all the firstborn inEgypt.

(Exodus 12:29-32 NRS) At midnight YHWH struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock.  ³⁰Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his officials and all the Egyptians; and there was a loud cry in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.  ³¹Then he summoned Moses and Aaron in the night, and said, Rise up, go away from my people, both you and the Israelites!  Go, worship YHWH, as you said.  ³²Take your flocks and your herds, as you said, and be gone.  And bring a blessing on me too!

The Egyptians are so overwhelmed by the power and fear of YHWH that they are willing to part with anything just to see the Israelites leave.

(Exodus 12:33 NRS) The Egyptians urged the people to hasten their departure from the land, for they said, We shall all be dead.

(Exodus 12:35-36) The Israelites had done as Moses told them; they had asked the Egyptians for jewelry of silver and gold, and for clothing, ³⁶and YHWH had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked.  And so they plundered the Egyptians.

The Israelites leaveEgyptso quickly that they apparently have no time to allow their bread dough to leaven.

(Exodus 12:34 NRS) So the people took their dough before it was leavened, with their kneading bowls wrapped up in their cloaks on their shoulders.

(Exodus 12:39 NRS) They baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt; it was not leavened, because they were driven out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.

On that very day (the fifteenth day of the month of the aviv barley), YHWH leads the children ofIsrael out ofEgypt.

(Exodus 12:40-41 NRS) The time that the Israelites had lived in Egypt was four hundred thirty years.  ⁴¹At the end of four hundred thirty years, on that very day, all the companies of YHWH went out from the land of Egypt.

(Exodus 12:50-51 NRS) All the Israelites did just as YHWH had commanded Moses and Aaron.  ⁵¹That very day YHWH brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt, company by company.

As we have stated above, the miraculous and loving actions YHWH shows the Israelites inEgyptare the motivation and inspiration forIsrael’s later acceptance and obedience to the covenant between YHWH andIsraelat Sinai.  Therefore, it is important that each generation actively remember and relive the miraculous events of the Exodus.  To this end YHWH instructs the children ofIsraelto memorialize these events through a yearly celebration.

Every year the generations of the people of Israelare to slaughter a lamb between the evenings on the fourteenth day of the month of the aviv.  They are also to purge their homes of leaven and eat only unleavened bread for seven days.  Finally, the children ofIsrael are commanded to consecrate all the firstborn of their children and livestock to YHWH.

(Exodus 12:14-20 NRS) This day shall be a day of remembrance for you.  You shall celebrate it as a festival to YHWH; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.  ¹⁵Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day shall be cut off from Israel.  ¹⁶On the first day you shall hold a solemn assembly, and on the seventh day a solemn assembly; no work shall be done on those days; only what everyone must eat, that alone may be prepared by you.  ¹⁷You shall observe the festival of unleavened bread, for on this very day I brought your companies out of the land of Egypt: you shall observe this day throughout your generations as a perpetual ordinance.  ¹⁸In the first month, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day, you shall eat unleavened bread.  ¹⁹For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses; for whoever eats what is leavened shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether an alien or a native of the land.  ²⁰You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your settlements you shall eat unleavened bread.

(Exodus 13:3-10 NRS) Moses said to the people, Remember this day on which you came out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, because YHWH brought you out from there by strength of hand; no leavened bread shall be eaten.  ⁴Today, in the month of the aviv, you are going out.  ⁵When YHWH brings you into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which He swore to your ancestors to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you shall keep this observance in this month.  Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a festival to YHWH.  ⁷Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen in your possession, and no leaven shall be seen among you in all your territory.  ⁸You shall tell your child on that day, It is because of what YHWH did for me when I came out of Egypt.  ⁹It shall serve for you as a sign on your hand and as a reminder on your forehead, so that the teaching of YHWH may be on your lips; for with a strong hand YHWH brought you out of Egypt.  ¹⁰You shall keep this ordinance at its proper time from year to year.

(Exodus 12:21-27 NRS) Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, Go, select lambs for your families, and slaughter the passover lamb.  ²²Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood in the basin.  None of you shall go outside the door of your house until morning.  ²³For YHWH will pass through to strike down the Egyptians; when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, YHWH will pass over that door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you down.  ²⁴You shall observe this rite as a perpetual ordinance for you and your children.  ²⁵When you come to the land that YHWH will give you, as He has promised, you shall keep this observance.  ²⁶And when your children ask you, What do you mean by this observance? ²⁷you shall say, It is the passover sacrifice to YHWH, for He passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt, when He struck down the Egyptians but spared our houses.  And the people bowed down and worshipped.

(Exodus 12:43-49 NRS) YHWH said to Moses and Aaron: This is the ordinance for the passover: no foreigner shall eat of it, ⁴⁴but any slave who has been purchased may eat of it after he has been circumcised; ⁴⁵no bound or hired servant may eat of it.  ⁴⁶It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the animal outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones.  ⁴⁷The whole congregation of Israel shall celebrate it.  ⁴⁸If an alien who resides with you wants to celebrate the passover to YHWH, all his males shall be circumcised; then he may draw near to celebrate it; he shall be regarded as a native of the land.  But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it; ⁴⁹there shall be one law for the native and for the alien who resides among you.

(Exodus 12:42 NRS) That was for YHWH a night of vigil, to bring them out of the land of Egypt.  That same night is a vigil to be kept for YHWH by all the Israelites throughout their generations.

SinceIsrael, the firstborn of YHWH, is redeemed by the deaths of all the firstborn ofEgypt, the people ofIsraelare to consecrate and redeem the firstborn among their children and livestock.

(Exodus 13:1-2 NRS) YHWH said to Moses: ²Consecrate to Me all the firstborn; whatever is the first to open the womb among the Israelites, of human beings and animals, is Mine.

(Exodus 13:11-16 NRS) When YHWH has brought you into the land of the Canaanites, as He swore to you and your ancestors, and has given it to you, ¹²you shall set apart to YHWH all that first opens the womb.  All the firstborn of your livestock that are males shall be YHWH’S.  ¹³But every firstborn donkey you shall redeem with a sheep; if you do not redeem it, you must break its neck.  Every firstborn male among your children you shall redeem.  ¹⁴When in the future your child asks you, What does this mean? you shall answer, By strength of hand YHWH brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery.  ¹⁵When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, YHWH killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from human firstborn to the firstborn of animals.  Therefore I sacrifice to YHWH every male that first opens the womb, but every firstborn of my sons I redeem.  ¹⁶It shall serve as a sign on your hand and as an emblem on your forehead that by strength of hand YHWH brought us out of Egypt.

These holy rehearsals and memorials are to be experienced every year by the people ofIsrael.  Every generation is to relive the experience of redemption and deliverance through the celebration of these events.  Our obedience to the covenant is a response of gratitude for our liberation.  It is unfortunate that so many “believers” today have diminished the truth and power of our redemption, deliverance, and liberation from bondage inEgypt.  It is also a shame that so many “believers” have failed to see the foreshadowing of Messiah in the Passover.  Yeshua, who is our Passover, has redeemed, delivered, and liberated us from bondage to sin and the fear of death.  When we understand that our redemption, deliverance, and liberation from bondage in Egypt was to inspire in us a life of obedience to the covenant, we should likewise see that our redemption, deliverance, and liberation from bondage to sin and the fear of death should likewise inspire in us a life of willing obedience to the Word and will of YHWH as expressed through the Torah.

PORTION: Va’era  Exodus 6:2-9:35

OUTLINE:

• Exodus 6:2-8               YHWH’S seven promises
• Exodus 6:9                  The people’s unbelief
• Exodus 6:10-13           Moses is commissioned to speak to Pharaoh
• Exodus 6:14-27           A brief genealogy of Aaron
• Exodus 6:28-30           Moses is told to speak to Pharaoh again

• Exodus 7:1-19             Moses and Aaron’s commission continues
• Exodus 7:20-25           The River Nile is turned to blood

• Exodus 8:1-14             The plague of frogs
• Exodus 8:15-19           The plague of gnats/lice
• Exodus 8:20-32           The plague of flies

• Exodus 9:1-7               The plague of pestilence on livestock
• Exodus 9:8-12             The plague of boils
• Exodus 9:13-35           The plague of hail

STUDY QUESTIONS:

1. What was the name of the deity worshipped by the patriarchs?
2. What was the name of the deity worshipped by the Canaanites?
3. Did Israel and the Canaanites worship the same deity?
4. Is YHWH a new deity or a new name?
5. How is YHWH defined?
6. What are the seven promises?
7. Why is it significant that the people of Israel rename their God something other than El?
8. To whom is YHWH revealing Himself?
9. What is the purpose of the plagues?
10. Could the plagues have simply been acts of nature?

TEACHING:

We know from the story of the patriarchs that the Hebrew people originated in Mesopotamia in the land of Ur and traveled to the land of Canaan.

(Genesis 11:31-32 NRS) Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan; but when they came to Haran, they settled there.  ³²The days of Terah were two hundred five years; and Terah died in Haran.

(Genesis 12:4-6 NRS) So Abram went, as YHWH had told him; and Lot went with him.  Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.  ⁵Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan.  When they had come to the land of Canaan, ⁶Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh.  At that time the Canaanites were in the land.

The land where Abraham settled was already inhabited by other peoples and cultures.

(Genesis 13:7 NRS) And there was strife between the herders of Abram’s livestock and the herders of Lot’s livestock.  At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites lived in the land.

We discussed in the previous portion that the Canaanites worshipped a pantheon of deities, of which El was the primary god.  Concerning the paganism of the land of Canaan, Richard Elliott Friedman writes:

Pagan religion was close to nature.  People worshipped the most powerful forces in the universe: the sky, the storm wind, the sun, the sea, fertility, death… The chief pagan god in the region that was to become Israel was El.  El was male, patriarchal, a ruler.  Unlike the other major god of the region, Haddu (the storm wind), El was not identified with any particular force in nature.  He sat as head of the council of the gods and pronounced the council’s decisions.[1]

It is clear from the testimony of the sources that come to us from the northern kingdom that the descendants of Abraham living in the land of Canaan likewise worshipped El.  This is made evident in the various names of people and cities, as well as in the titles used of God (Elohim).

(Genesis 14:18 NRS) And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of El Elyon.

(Genesis 17:1 NRS) When Abram was ninety-nine years old, YHWH appeared to Abram, and said to him, I am El Shaddai; walk before Me, and be blameless.

(Genesis 28:19 NRS) He called that place Beth-El; but the name of the city was Luz at the first.

(Exodus 6:23 NRS) Aaron married El-isheba, daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab, Abihu, El-eazar, and Ithamar.

Even the name of the Hebrew people as a nation, Yisra-El, reflects their original devotion to El.

(Genesis 32:28 NRS) Then the man said, You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Yisra-El, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.

The first proper name to incorporate the name Yah or Yahweh in the Torah is found in our portion.

(Exodus 6:20 NRS) Amram married Yo-kheved his father’s sister and she bore him Aaron and Moses, and the length of Amram’s life was one hundred thirty-seven years.

The name Yo-kheved means “Yah is glory.”  It is interesting to note that this name is not mentioned prior to YHWH revealing His name to Moses at the burning bush.  Moses’ mother, Yo-kheved, is only known as “a Levite woman” and “the woman” in the earlier story of Moses’ birth.

(Exodus 2:1-2 NRS) Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman.  ²The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him three months.

El was clearly the preferred or dominant name used among the patriarchs and their descendants prior to Moses.  According to our portion, the patriarchs knew the Creator by the name El-Shaddai.

(Exodus 6:3 NRS) I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as El Shaddai, but by My name YHWH, I did not make Myself known to them.

That our ancestors knew the Creator as El is evident in numerous Scriptures.

(Genesis 17:1 NRS) When Abram was ninety-nine years old, YHWH appeared to Abram, and said to him, I am El Shaddai; walk before Me, and be blameless.

(Genesis 28:3 NRS) May El Shaddai bless you and make you fruitful and numerous, that you may become a company of peoples.

(Genesis 35:11 NRS) God said to him, I am El Shaddai: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall spring from you.

(Genesis 43:14 NRS) May El Shaddai grant you mercy before the man, so that he may send back your other brother and Benjamin.  As for me, if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.

(Genesis 48:3 NRS) And Jacob said to Joseph, El Shaddai appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and He blessed me.

(Genesis 49:24-25 NRS) Yet his bow remained taut, and his arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, by the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, by the El of your father, who will help you, by Shaddai who will bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lies beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb.

Whether our ancestors understood themselves to be worshipping the same El as the Canaanites or whether it was a completely different being is difficult to determine.  Whether our ancestors saw themselves as worshipping El exclusively or as one of many deities is also difficult to determine.  What is clear is that the name YHWH was also known by the patriarchs and our ancestors.

(Genesis 4:26 NRS) To Seth also a son was born, and he named him Enosh.  At that time people began to invoke the name of YHWH.

(Genesis 13:4 NRS) He journeyed on by stages from the Negeb as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place where he had made an altar at the first; and there Abram called on the name of YHWH.

(Genesis 15:2 NRS) But Abram said, O Lord YHWH, what will You give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?

The stories containing the name YHWH have been preserved and handed down to us through the people of the southern kingdom of Israel.  That El and YHWH became identified as one and the same divine being is also made clear in the Scriptures.  We see this joint identification in the comments of Abram and Hagar.  When returning from his victory over Chedorlaomer, Abram is met by Melchizedek (probably a Canaanite priest serving El Elyon), who praises the (Canaanite) deity El Elyon.  In his response to the king of Sodom, Abram clearly identifies El Elyon as YHWH.

(Genesis 14:18-22 NRS) And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of El Elyon.  ¹⁹He blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram by El Elyon, maker of heaven and earth; ²⁰and blessed be El Elyon, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!  And Abram gave him one tenth of everything.  ²¹Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.  ²²But Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have sworn to YHWH, El Elyon, maker of heaven and earth, ²³that I would not take a thread or a sandal-thong or anything that is yours, so that you might not say, I have made Abram rich.

After being liberated by Abram, Hagar and Ishmael journey through the wilderness, heading toward Egypt.  There Hagar has an encounter with the Creator.  She calls the Creator by name.

(Genesis 16:13 NRS) So she named YHWH who spoke to her, You are El-roi; for she said, Have I really seen God and remained alive after seeing Him?

What is clear is the fact that at some point inIsrael’s distant history, YHWH and El were clearly understood to be one and the same being.  This turning point, at least on a literary basis, takes place at the burning bush, where the Creator reveals His name to Moses as YHWH.

(Exodus 3:13-15 NRS) But Moses said to God, If I come to the Israelites and say to them, The God of your ancestors has sent me to you, and they ask me, What is His name? what shall I say to them?  ¹⁴God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM (‘ehyeh asher ‘ehyeh).  He said further, Thus you shall say to the Israelites, I AM (‘ehyeh) has sent me to you.  ¹⁵God also said to Moses, Thus you shall say to the Israelites, YHWH, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.  This is My name forever, and this My title for all generations.

The documentary hypothesis teaches that the first five books of the Bible were written by various authors based upon divergent sources.  One of these ancient sources is thought to have developed in the northern part of the kingdom, which preferred the name Elohim for the deity.  This northern material is, therefore, referred to as the E (Elohim) source.  A second ancient source of material is thought to have developed in the southern part of the kingdom, which preferred the name YHWH.  This southern material is referred to as the J (Jehovah) source.  What is critically important about the revelation of the name YHWH in Exodus chapter three is that it appears in the E source material.  Thus, we must understand this passage as pivotal in the life of Israel and its faith.

According to the Torah, Israel, entering Egypt from the land of Canaan, predominantly understood the Creator as El, El Shaddai, and El Elyon.  When Moses returns to Egypt, however, he introduces the people of Yisra-El to a new name for the Creator.  In the story of Israel’s exodus from Egypt YHWH clearly emerges as the God of Israel, separating Israel’s identity from any Canaanite associations.  We should understand these two titles or names – El and YHWH – as being not only names but also different attributes of the same being.

Concerning YHWH in comparison to El, Richard Elliott Friedman writes:

The God of Israel was Yahweh.  He, too, was male, patriarchal, a ruler, and not identified with any one force in nature.  Rather than describing him in terms of nature or myths, the people of Israel spoke of YHWH in terms of his acts in history.[2]

The name YHWH as revealed to Moses and the children of Israel will take on meaning by the very actions and interventions of YHWH in Israel’s history.  Nowhere will this intervention be more emphatically displayed than in the events of the exodus, the wilderness journey, and the occupation and conquest of the land of Canaan.  In the course of this portion YHWH will reveal Himself to Moses, Israel, Pharaoh, and the Egyptians by His words, promises, and, above all, His actions.

Let us recall that the conflict between YHWH and Pharaoh began with an arrogant declaration of ignorance on the part of Pharaoh.

(Exodus 5:2 NRS) But Pharaoh said, Who is YHWH, that I should heed Him and let Israel go?  I do not know YHWH, and I will not let Israel go.

In this portion YHWH introduces Himself in a most dramatic fashion to Israel and to Pharaoh.  YHWH begins His introduction to the children of Israel with seven unconditional promises.

(Exodus 6:6-8 NRS) Say therefore to the Israelites, I am YHWH, and I will free you from the burdens of the Egyptians and deliver you from slavery to them.  I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.  ⁷I will take you as My people, and I will be your God.  You shall know that I am YHWH your God, who has freed you from the burdens of the Egyptians.  ⁸I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; I will give it to you for a possession.  I am YHWH.

1. I will free you from the burdens of the Egyptians
2. I will deliver you from slavery to them
3. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment
4. I will take you as My people
5. I will be your God
6. I will bring you into the land I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
7. I will give it to you for a possession

The promises end with the emphatic declaration “I am YHWH.”  In other words, the God of Israel will be the one who fulfills these promises.  If YHWH fulfills these seven promises, YHWH is the God of Israel.  YHWH has already declared ‘ehyeh asher ‘ehyeh – I am what I am.  Now, however, what He is to Israel, to Egypt, and to the world will be made clear by what He does.  By His actions, YHWH will indeed prove Himself to be faithful to His promises and sovereign over all His creation.

A question that must be asked at this time is whether the children of Israel understand YHWH to be a completely new God or just a change of name and identity for their God, known to them as El Shaddai.  The answer to this question is found in the revelation of the name to Moses.

(Exodus 3:15 NRS) God (Elohim) also said to Moses, Thus you shall say to the Israelites, YHWH, the God (Elohay) of your ancestors, the God (Elohay) of Abraham, the God (Elohay) of Isaac, and the God (Elohay) of Jacob, has sent me to you.  This is My name forever, and this My title for all generations.

It is clear from the revelation given to Moses that the name YHWH is to be identified with the deity known by the patriarchs as El Shaddai.  Thus, YHWH is a new name but not a new God.  As we have already stated, the patriarchs knew the name YHWH earlier, but now, the children ofIsraelwill come to know and identify this name with His recognized attributes of faithfulness, mercy, and deliverance.  El Shaddai, the one who was once understood to be “all sufficient” for their needs, will now be known primarily as YHWH, the one who will faithfully keep His promises to deliver them from bondage in Egypt and into the promised land.

We should note that given the harsh conditions in which the Israelites find themselves, believing mere words and promises is not easy.  YHWH will have to keep His promises to win Israel’s faith.

(Exodus 6:9 NRS) Moses told this to the Israelites; but they would not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and their cruel slavery.

Let us recall that the last time Moses spoke to Pharaoh, conditions deteriorated from bad to worse.

(Exodus 5:5-9 NRS) Pharaoh continued, Now they are more numerous than the people of the land and yet you want them to stop working!  ⁶That same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, as well as their supervisors, ⁷You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as before; let them go and gather straw for themselves.  ⁸But you shall require of them the same quantity of bricks as they have made previously; do not diminish it, for they are lazy; that is why they cry, Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.  ⁹Let heavier work be laid on them; then they will labor at it and pay no attention to deceptive words.

Words are not enough to evoke faith in YHWH or submission from an arrogant and defiant king, so YHWH speaks in a manner that cannot easily be denied – action.  YHWH is NOT defined by what people “believe” but by what He reveals through His words and actions.  It is by words and works that YHWH is revealed, defined, and known.  As the children of Israel– called and covenanted to be the image of YHWH in the earth – we too must be people of action.  We are called, therefore, to be “doers” of the word, not just “hearers” or “believers.”

(James 1:22 NRS) But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.

(James 2:14-18 NRS) What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works?  Can faith save you?  ¹⁵If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, ¹⁶and one of you says to them, Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill, and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?  ¹⁷So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.  ¹⁸But someone will say, You have faith and I have works.  Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.

YHWH begins the process of introducing Himself in grand fashion through a series of miraculous signs and plagues that reveal His will, His sovereignty, and His power.  Before we look at the nature of the signs and plagues, let us first see that it is the Creator’s will to be known and, I might add, obeyed.

(Exodus 7:17 NRS) Thus says YHWH, By this you shall know that I am YHWH.  See, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall be turned to blood.

(Exodus 8:10-11 NRS) And he said, Tomorrow.  Moses said, As you say!  So that you may know that there is no one like YHWH our God, ¹¹the frogs shall leave you and your houses and your officials and your people; they shall be left only in the Nile.

(Exodus 8:22 NRS) But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where My people live, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, that you may know that I YHWH am in this land.

(Exodus 9:14 NRS) For this time I will send all My plagues upon you yourself, and upon your officials, and upon your people, so that you may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth.

(Exodus 9:16 NRS) But this is why I have let you live: to show you My power, and to make My name resound through all the earth.

(Exodus 9:29 NRS) Moses said to him, As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will stretch out my hands to YHWH; the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is YHWH’S.

The archaic custom of using the title “LORD” to cover up the name YHWH in English translations of the Bible truly hinders the impact and power of these verses.  Let us look specifically at what YHWH intends for people to know about Him from these actions.

• We are to know that the one who fulfills His promises and accomplishes all He declares is YHWH
• We are to know that there is no other god like YHWH
• We are to know that YHWH is sovereign even in the land of Egypt
• We are to know that YHWH is unique in all the earth
• We are to know that YHWH has the power to be known in all the earth
• We are to know that YHWH is the rightful owner of the earth

It is to this end – that Israel and Egypt may know these things about YHWH – that YHWH institutes His course of action.  YHWH does not ask Israel for blind faith.  YHWH reveals Himself through His promises and His actions.  While Israel is surrounded by gods in Egypt, as it was in Canaan, YHWH reveals Himself in Egypt as superior to all of them.  We should also note that each sign and plague is specifically directed toward the gods and religious practices of Egypt.

Each sign and plague is designed specifically to reveal not only the power of YHWH but also the impotency of Egypt’s many gods.  Each plague Pharaoh and his people experience exposes the falsehood and impotency of another of their gods.  Below is a list of the gods of Egypt and the plagues that expose them.

•           HAPI—the god of the river—the river is turned to blood (Exodus 7:15-25)

•           HEQT—the frog-faced goddess—the plague of frogs (Exodus 8:2-15)

•           SEB—the earth god—the dust of the earth is turned to gnats (Exodus 8:16-19)

•           KHEPFI—the god of insects—the land is ruined by swarms of flies (Exodus 8:21-24)

•           HATHOR—the cow-faced goddess—the livestock are smitten (Exodus 9:2-7)

•           IMHOTEP—the deity of medicine—the plague of boils and blains (Exodus 9:8-11)

•           NUT—the sky goddess—the plague of hail and fire (Exodus 9:13-34)

•           SETH—the protector of fields and produce—the plague of locusts (Exodus 10:4-20)

•           HORUS/RA—the sun god—the plague of darkness (Exodus 10:21-23)

•           AMUNRI—the god of the firstborn—the death of the firstborn (Exodus 11:4-7; 12:29-30)

•           BAAL-ZEPHON—the god of war—defeated at the Red Sea (Exodus 14:2-31)

•           PHARAOH—considered to be a divine being and protector of Egypt—drowned in the Red Sea (Exodus 14:28)

Note that throughout the narrative of the plagues, we witness the gradual collapse of the religious systems of Egypt with their magicians and sorcerers.  In the beginning, the Egyptian magicians are shown to be able to counterfeit the signs, such as turning their staffs into snakes and water into blood.

(Exodus 7:20-22 NRS) Moses and Aaron did just as YHWH commanded.  In the sight of Pharaoh and of his officials he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the river, and all the water in the river was turned into blood, ²¹and the fish in the river died.  The river stank so that the Egyptians could not drink its water, and there was blood throughout the whole land of Egypt.  ²²But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts; so Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them; as YHWH had said.

(Exodus 8:6-7 NRS) So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.  ⁷But the magicians did the same by their secret arts, and brought frogs up on the land of Egypt.

These magicians are able to duplicate several of the signs with their arts, adding to the impact of the disaster, but they are never able to stop the plagues or reverse their effects.  In time, even the priests and magicians of Egypt are forced to admit their impotency and defeat.

(Exodus 8:18-19 NRS) The magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, but they could not.  There were gnats on both humans and animals.  ¹⁹And the magicians said to Pharaoh, This is the finger of God!  But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, just as YHWH had said.

(Exodus 9:11 NRS) The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils afflicted the magicians as well as all the Egyptians.

YHWH uses these miraculous events to reveal Himself as the all-powerful Sovereign of the universe, which, of course, includes Egypt.  We should be careful to recognize that through His control of the very elements of creation, YHWH reveals that the gods of Egypt are not in control of these elements but that He is.

That YHWH is in complete control of the events of Egypt is demonstrated by the orderly nature of the plagues.

The first thing we should note is that the plagues are broken down into three groups of three, followed by the last or tenth plague, which clearly stands alone from the rest.  There are several patterns clearly evident within the small groups of three.  Plagues (1) blood, (4) flies, and (7) hail are all preceded by warnings which are given by the water in the morning.

(Exodus 7:15-17 NRS) Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water; stand by at the river bank to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that was turned into a snake.  ¹⁶Say to him, YHWH, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you to say, Let My people go, so that they may worship Me in the wilderness.  But until now you have not listened.  ¹⁷Thus says YHWH, By this you shall know that I am YHWH.  See, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall be turned to blood.

(Exodus 8:20-21 NRS) Then YHWH said to Moses, Rise early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh, as he goes out to the water, and say to him, Thus says YHWH: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.  ²¹For if you will not let My people go, I will send swarms of flies on you, your officials, and your people, and into your houses; and the houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with swarms of flies; so also the land where they live.

(Exodus 9:13 NRS) Then YHWH said to Moses, Rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh, and say to him, Thus says YHWH, the God of the Hebrews: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.

(Exodus 9:18 NRS) Tomorrow at this time I will cause the heaviest hail to fall that has ever fallen in Egypt from the day it was founded until now.[3]

We might ask why it is necessary for Moses to go down to the river repeatedly to warn Pharaoh of the coming judgment.  The answer is very simple – Pharaoh is in DE-NILE (denial)![4]

The next group of plagues in the three sets, (2) frogs, (5) pestilence, and (8) locusts, is also preceded by warnings, but these warnings take place at Pharaoh’s palace.

(Exodus 8:1-2 NRS) Then YHWH said to Moses, Go to Pharaoh and say to him, Thus says YHWH: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.  ²If you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs.

(Exodus 9:1-3 NRS) Then YHWH said to Moses, Go to Pharaoh, and say to him, Thus says YHWH, the God of the Hebrews: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.  ²For if you refuse to let them go and still hold them, ³the hand of YHWH will strike with a deadly pestilence your livestock in the field: the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks.

(Exodus 10:1 NRS) Then YHWH said to Moses, Go to Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his officials, in order that I may show these signs of Mine among them.

(Exodus 10:3-4 NRS) So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, and said to him, Thus says YHWH, the God of the Hebrews, How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me?  Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.  ⁴For if you refuse to let My people go, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country.

The last of the plagues in each set, (3) gnats, (6) boils, and (9) darkness, all come suddenly and without any warning.

(Exodus 8:16 NRS) Then YHWH said to Moses, Say to Aaron, Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, so that it may become gnats throughout the whole land of Egypt.

(Exodus 9:8-9 NRS) Then YHWH said to Moses and Aaron, Take handfuls of soot from the kiln, and let Moses throw it in the air in the sight of Pharaoh.  ⁹It shall become fine dust all over the land of Egypt, and shall cause festering boils on humans and animals throughout the whole land of Egypt.

(Exodus 10:21 NRS) Then YHWH said to Moses, Stretch out your hand toward heaven so that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness that can be felt.

What we see is a simple and symmetrical pattern of plagues, which can be listed as follows:

1. Blood, with warning by water in the morning
2. Frogs, with warning in the palace
3. Gnats, without warning

1. Flies, with warning by water in the morning
2. Pestilence, with warning in the palace
3. Boils, without warning

1. Hail, with warning by water in the morning
2. Locusts, with warning in the palace
3. Darkness, without warning

These three groups of three equal nine plagues, which are clearly grouped together as a unit.  The first revelation in this pattern may well be found in the number nine.  E.W. Bullinger writes:

The number nine is a most remarkable number in many respects.  It is held in great reverence by all who study the occult sciences, and in mathematical science it possesses properties and powers which are found in no other number.  It is the last of the digits, and thus marks the end; and is significant of the conclusion of a matter.

It is akin to the number six, six being the sum of its factors (3×3=9, and 3+3=6), and is thus significant of the end of man and the summation of all man’s works.  Nine is, therefore, the number of finality and judgment, for judgment is committed unto Jesus as “the Son of man” (John v. 27; Acts xvii. 31).  It makes completeness the end and issue of all things as to man—the judgment of man and all his works.[5]

Robert D. Johnston likewise confirms that the number nine is connected with finality and judgment.

This is the last of those single numerals known as digits, beyond which we have merely combinations of those previous digits.  It, therefore, marks the end.  It is the number of finality and judgment.  But nine is also three times three, and three signifies Divine completeness.  Hence, nine denotes finality of Divine things.[6]

Given this understanding, we can see in these nine plagues the Sovereign’s divine judgment upon the work of Pharaoh. Johnston goes on to demonstrate this reality throughout the Scriptures.

In the prophecy of Haggai, the judgments of God are enumerated in nine particulars: “I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labor of the hands (1:11).”  Nine persons are recorded in the Scriptures as having been stoned: the blasphemer (Lev. 24:16); the Sabbath breaker (Num. 15:36); Achan (Josh. 7:25); Abimelech (Jud. 9:53); Adoram (1 Kings 12:18); Naboth (1 Kings 21:10); Zechariah (2 Chron. 24:21); Stephen (Acts 7:59); and Paul (Acts 14:19).[7]

The fact that these nine plagues are divided into three groups may underscore the fact that they are of divine origin, not simply a matter of nature.

Three, therefore, stands for that which is solid, real, substantial, complete, and entire…When we turn to the Scriptures, this completion becomes Divine, and marks Divine completeness or perfection.  Three is the first of four perfect numbers.  Three denotes Divine perfection.[8]

While we are on the subject of numbers, let us note that the last plague, the death of the firstborn, is the tenth plague, which lies outside of the above pattern.  The number ten likewise indicates completeness.  Again, Bullinger writes:

It has been already pointed out that ten is one of the perfect numbers, and signifies the perfection of Divine order, commencing, as it does, an altogether new series of numbers.  The first decade is the representative of the whole numerical system, and originates the system of calculation called “decimals,” because the whole system of numeration consists of so many “tens,” of which the first is a type of the whole.  Completeness of order, marking the entire round of anything, is, therefore, the ever-present signification of the number ten.  It implies that nothing is wanting; that the number and order are perfect; that the whole cycle is complete.[9]

We understand, therefore, that the first nine plagues are to communicate divine judgment upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians, while the tenth plague, the death of the firstborn, is to be the end of the matter.  While it is clear that the first nine plagues are a symmetrical unit apart from the tenth plague, we must understand the reasoning of the Sovereign One behind this pattern.  It would have been possible for the Sovereign One to simply hit Pharaoh with ten consistent and persistent plagues without warning or waiting.  Instead, we witness a very orderly approach in YHWH’S dealings with Pharaoh.  While it is clear that the plagues are indeed a manifestation of YHWH’S judgment upon Pharaoh’s behavior, we should also note in the pattern that YHWH shows him a great deal of mercy.

Let us remember that the threat of death to Pharaoh’s firstborn is given at the very beginning of the conflict.

(Exodus 4:22-23 NRS) Then you shall say to Pharaoh, Thus says YHWH: Israel is My firstborn son.  ²³I said to you, Let My son go that he may worship Me.  But you refused to let him go; now I will kill your firstborn son.

However, this threat is the last judgment to be carried out upon Pharaoh.  In between this threat and its final fulfillment, YHWH patiently applies progressive pressure upon Pharaoh.  With each new plague, Pharaoh is brought closer and closer to a place of genuine confession, repentance, and restitution.

Many scholars and critics have attempted to demonstrate that these plagues were merely familiar natural disasters, well attested to in the Ancient Near East.  Seasonal flooding of the  Nile can bring about unusual appearances of frogs, gnats, and flies.  These swarms of lice, gnats, and flies can likewise bring about various diseases upon man and livestock.  Swarms of locusts and severe hailstorms are well attested to in thelandofEgypt.  However, what we observe in the story of the plagues, given in their order and timing, defies such attempts to justify these events as merely “natural.”  Joseph P. Free lists five unique aspects of the plagues which set them apart as miraculous events, not merely freak acts of nature.

1. Intensification—while frogs, insects, murrain, and darkness were known in Egypt, these were intensified far beyond any ordinary occurrence.
2. Prediction—the fact that Moses predicted the moment of the arrival and departure sets them apart from purely natural occurrences (Cf. 8:10, 23; 9:5, 18, 29; 10:4).
3. Discrimination—certain of the plagues did not occur in the land of Goshen, where Israel was living (8:22, no flies; 9:4, no murrain; 9:26, no hail).
4. Orderliness—there is a gradual severity in the nature of the plagues, concluding with the death of the firstborn.
5. Moral purpose—these were not freaks of nature but were designed to teach moral precepts and lessons.[10]

That these plagues are at the hand and will of YHWH is made clear by the pattern, order, and intent of each plague.  One either believes that these plagues reveal YHWH as Sovereign over the universe or, like Pharaoh, hardens one’s heart and stubbornly refuses to acknowledge YHWH as God.  The clear orderliness and patterned response of YHWH to Pharaoh’s refusal simply will not let us be indifferent to the matter.

 OUTLINE:

•  Exodus 1:1-7 The death of a generation
• Exodus 1:8-22 The oppression of the Hebrew people
•  Exodus 2:1-10 The birth of Moses
• Exodus 2:11-15 Moses identifies with his people
• Exodus 2:16-22 Moses’ exile to Midian
• Exodus 2:23-25 God sees Israel’s suffering
•  Exodus 3:1-22 The calling of Moses
•  Exodus 4:1-9 YHWH gives Moses three signs
• Exodus 4:10-17 Moses’ two objections
• Exodus 4:18-23 Moses begins his journey to Egypt
• Exodus 4:24-26 The circumcision
• Exodus 4:27-31 Moses and Aaron return to Egypt
•  Exodus 5:1-21 Moses’ failed encounter with Pharaoh
• Exodus 5:22-23 Moses questions YHWH
•  Exodus 6:1 YHWH affirms His plan

STUDY QUESTIONS:

1. What connects the book of Bereshit to the book of Shemot?
2. What inconsistencies exist in the count of Genesis 46:5-27?
3. Why is the list abbreviated in Exodus 1:1-5?
4. What is the significance of the number seventy?
5. What is the meaning of “seventy” in the Bible?
6. How is the number seventy connected to the Canaanite religion?
7. How does this understanding of the number relate to Israel?
8. How does the number seventy revealIsrael’s calling?
9. Why does Moses ask for the Creator’s name?
10. Did the patriarchs know the name YHWH?
11. Did the Midianites know and worship YHWH?
12. What is the connection between El and YHWH?

TEACHING:

Our portion this week begins with the affirmation that allIsraelwas in thelandofEgypt.

(Exodus 1:1-5 NRS) These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: ²Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, ³Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, ⁴Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.  ⁵The total number of people born to Jacob was seventy.  Joseph was already in Egypt.

While only the fathers of the tribes are named in the above inventory, it is clear that this abbreviated version of the fuller inventory of souls, as found in the book of Bereshit/Genesis, serves to create a sense of continuity between the two books.

(Genesis 46:5-27 NRS) Then Jacob set out from Beer-sheba; and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him.  ⁶They also took their livestock and the goods that they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and they came into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him, ⁷his sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters; all his offspring he brought with him into Egypt.  ⁸Now these are the names of the Israelites, Jacob and his offspring, who came to Egypt.  Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, ⁹and the children of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.  ¹⁰The children of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman.  ¹¹The children of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.  ¹²The children of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan); and the children of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.  ¹³The children of Issachar: Tola, Puvah, Jashub, and Shimron.  ¹⁴The children of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel ¹⁵(these are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, together with his daughter Dinah; in all his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three).  ¹⁶The children of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.  ¹⁷The children of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah.  The children of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel ¹⁸(these are the children of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah; and these she bore to Jacob – sixteen persons).  ¹⁹The children of Jacob’s wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.  ²⁰To Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him.  ²¹The children of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard ²²(these are the children of Rachel, who were born to Jacob – fourteen persons in all).  ²³The children of Dan: Hashum.  ²⁴The children of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem ²⁵(these are the children of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel, and these she bore to Jacob – seven persons in all).  ²⁶All the persons belonging to Jacob who came into Egypt, who were his own offspring, not including the wives of his sons, were sixty-six persons in all.  ²⁷The children of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two; all the persons of the house of Jacob who came into Egypt were seventy.

Careful examination of the names and numbers contained in the fuller inventory given in Bereshit quickly reveals that there are a number of inconsistencies.  There are seventy-one names given in this list of Jacob’s offspring.  The list gives the totals of the offspring of both of Jacob’s wives and both of Jacob’s concubines.

(Genesis 46:15 NRS) These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, together with his daughter Dinah; in all his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three.

(Genesis 46:18 NRS) These are the children of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah; and these she bore to Jacob – sixteen persons.

(Genesis 46:22 NRS) These are the children of Rachel, who were born to Jacob – fourteen persons in all.

(Genesis 46:25 NRS) These are the children of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel, and these she bore to Jacob – seven persons in all.

When the totals given for each wife and concubine are added together, they do indeed equal seventy.  If we read the names associated with Leah, however, we will quickly realize that there are thirty-four names listed rather than thirty-three.  The number thirty-four is reduced by two when the fate ofJudah’s wicked sons, who died before the journey, is considered, reducing the total number associated with Leah to thirty-two rather than thirty-three.

(Genesis 46:12 NRS) The children of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan); and the children of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.

The subtraction of Er and Onan from the caravan leaves the total number of souls journeying toEgyptat sixty-nine rather than seventy.  Many scholars, rabbis and teachers have proposed solutions to this dilemma, such as counting Jacob or counting YHWH’S presence with the children ofIsrael, based upon His promise to Jacob.

(Genesis 46:1-4 NRS) When Israel set out on his journey with all that he had and came to Beer-sheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.  ²God spoke to Israel in visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob.  And he said, Here I am.  ³Then He said, I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there.  ⁴I Myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again; and Joseph’s own hand shall close your eyes.

It is possible that the inconsistency in the count is an intentional indication that we are not to take the total of seventy literally.  When we read the opening verses of this inventory of souls as reported in Bereshit, we quickly realize that there were more than seventy people heading toEgypt.

(Genesis 46:5-7 NRS) Then Jacob set out from Beer-sheba; and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him.  ⁶They also took their livestock and the goods that they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and they came into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him, ⁷his sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters; all his offspring he brought with him into Egypt.

The introduction to this list speaks of daughters (plural) and wives (plural), yet only two daughters are mentioned (Dinah and Serah).  It is difficult to believe that only two females were born to Jacob and his sons.  With the exception of Joseph’s Egyptian wife Asenath, none of the other sons’ wives are listed among the sixty-nine souls in the caravan.  Surely there were wives and daughters aplenty among the children ofIsrael.  Given the inconsistency of the count and the absence of women from the census, we should not take the number seventy literally.  This is made even clearer in the opening verses of Shemot, where only eleven names are given as traveling toEgypt.

(Exodus 1:1-5 NRS) These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: ²Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, ³Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, ⁴Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.  ⁵The total number of people born to Jacob was seventy.  Joseph was already in Egypt.

We may understand that the names given are not meant to represent the individual sons but the tribes that bear their names.  Therefore, I would suggest that the number seventy should be understood as symbolic in nature.  We have stated many times that the numbers “seven” and “ten” represent perfection or completeness.  The product of seven times ten is seventy.  In his classic work Number in Scripture, E. W. Bullinger, concerning the number seventy, writes:

Seventy is another combination of two of the perfect numbers, seven and ten.  We have seen something of the significance of their sum under the number seventeen;[1] their product is no less significant.  As compared with the sum of two numbers, the product exhibits the significance of each in an intensified form.  Hence 7X10 signifies perfect spiritual order carried out with all spiritual power and significance.  Both spirit and order are greatly emphasized.[2]

The inclusion of the number seventy in the opening verses of the book of Shemot serves several purposes.  First, as was stated earlier, the number seventy and the much abbreviated inventory of souls serve to create continuity between the book of Bereshit and the book of Shemot.  Clearly, the author wants us to understand that the book of Exodus is the continuation of the story concluded in the book of Genesis.  That we understand the book of Shemot to be the continuation of the story of the seventy souls mentioned earlier is made necessary by the declaration of the death of this original generation.

(Exodus 1:6 NRS) Then Joseph died, and all his brothers, and that whole generation.  But the Israelites were fruitful and prolific; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.

While the original “seventy” died inEgypt, their progeny lived on and multiplied abundantly in the land.  The inclusion of the number seventy ties the current generation to the previous generation as being one people and one story.

The second reason the number seventy is mentioned at the beginning of the book of Exodus has to do with its symbolic nature.  The number seventy, as expressed by Bullinger, clearly signifies spiritual order carried out by spiritual power.  In this regard, we should understand the number seventy as informing us that the Sovereign Creator is behind the events recorded.  This has already been affirmed for us by God’s promise to Abraham and by Joseph’s reassuring declarations to Pharaoh and his brothers.  YHWH promised Abraham that his descendants would live for a season in a land not their own and then return to the land given to Abraham.

(Genesis 15:13-16 NRS) Then YHWH said to Abram, Know this for certain, that your offspring shall be aliens in a land that is not theirs, and shall be slaves there, and they shall be oppressed for four hundred years; ¹⁴but I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.  ¹⁵As for yourself, you shall go to your ancestors in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age.  ¹⁶And they shall come back here in the fourth generation; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.

Here we see that long before the “seventy” ever journeyed down toEgypt, YHWH had already declared what He would do.  Joseph repeatedly affirmed that YHWH was behind all the events that took place in thelandofCanaanand in thelandofEgypt.

(Genesis 41:25 NRS) Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, Pharaoh’s dreams are one and the same; God has revealed to Pharaoh what He is about to do.

(Genesis 41:32 NRS) And the doubling of Pharaoh’s dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about.

To his brothers, Joseph declared:

(Genesis 45:5-8 NRS) And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.  ⁶For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are five more years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.  ⁷God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.  ⁸So it was not you who sent me here, but God; He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

(Genesis 50:20 NRS) Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as He is doing today.

The number seventy in the opening verses of Shemot informs us that what we are about to read is by the will and hand of YHWH.

Another possible purpose for the inclusion of the number seventy at the beginning of the book of Shemot may have been understood by the first hearers and readers of the story, while it is lost on us.  To understand this purpose, we must look to the stories of the Canaanite pantheon which surrounded Abraham and his descendants.  Let us recognize that Abraham (a descendant of Shem) and his descendants lived completely surrounded by the descendants of Ham – the Canaanites and Mitzrites (Egyptians).  Throughout the book of Bereshit we observed the heroic efforts on the part of our fathers to protect their families from being influenced by the cultures surrounding them.  Abraham forbade his servant from choosing a wife for his son Isaac from among the residents of the landof Canaan.[3]  Isaac sent Jacob away from the land of Canaan to find a wife.[4]  Joseph likewise does all in his power to settle his family apart from the influences of Egypt in their exile.[5]  In spite of all this protection, we must acknowledge that Abraham’s descendants were indeed touched by their neighbors.  Ishmael married an Egyptian;[6] Esau married Hittite women;[7] Judah married a Canaanite woman;[8] Joseph married an Egyptian;[9] and Jacob’s daughter Dinah went out to look at the women of Shechem.[10]

FromIsrael’s later history we easily recognize the great influences of the Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Greek, and Roman cultures upon the beliefs, culture, language, and people ofIsrael.  It is, therefore, impossible to believe that the people ofIsrael, living among the Canaanites and Egyptians for hundreds of years, were untouched by or unfamiliar with these cultures.  I state this only to indicate that the people ofIsraelwould have been quite familiar with the stories and cultic practices of the pagan pantheon of Canaan, where they lived and journeyed from on their way toEgypt.

John Day, in his book Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan, reveals:

At Ugarit we read in the Baal myth of ‘the seventy sons of Asherah (Athirat)’ … Since Asherah was El’s consort, this therefore implies that El’s sons were seventy in number.  Now Deut. 32:8, which is clearly dependent on this concept, declares, ‘When the Most High [Elyon] gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of men, he fixed the bounds of the people according to the number of the sons of God.’  The reading ‘sons of God’ (b^ene ‘^elohim) has the support of the Qumran fragment 4QDeut., the LXX, Symmachus, Old Latin and the Syro-Hexaplaric manuscript, Camb. Or. 929.  This is clearly the original reading, to be preferred to the MT’s ‘sons of Israel’ (b^ene yisra’el), which must have arisen as a deliberate alteration on the part of a scribe who did not approve of the polytheistic overtones of the phrase ‘sons of God.’[11]

The seventy gods of the Canaanite pantheon of El were clearly understood to be the “sons of El” or belonging to El.  In the books of Bereshit and Shemot, I would suggest that the number “seventy” would have been understood as a “sacred” number.  I would also contend that its inclusion in the Torah may be reflective of the Canaanite “divine family tree.”  In the book of Deuteronomy the relationship between YHWH andIsraelis made very clear.

(Deuteronomy 32:8) When the Most High apportioned the nations, when He divided humankind, He fixed the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel (MT – b^ene yisra’el) [or children of God (4QDeut., LXX – b^ene ‘^elohim)].

Clearly, the intent of this passage is to say thatIsraelis YHWH’S portion.  We should note that the number associated with the children ofIsraelin Exodus 1:5, as well as in Genesis 46:5-27, is seventy.  We should also note that the number of nations or people groups mentioned in Genesis 10 is likewise seventy.  While others among the “seventy” nations listed in Genesis 10 may worship other gods,Israelbelongs exclusively to YHWH.  The relationship betweenIsraeland YHWH is further strengthened in our portion in the description of the children ofIsraelas the firstborn of YHWH.  Just as El and Asherah gave birth to seventy sons in Canaanite mythology, we may understand the “seventy sons” ofIsraelto be the “descendants” of YHWH.  Let us not forget the numerous miraculous births and interventions of YHWH that “birthed” the people ofIsraelamong the nations!  The idea ofIsraelas a “son of YHWH” is further enhanced when YHWH declaresIsraelto be His “firstborn.”

(Exodus 4:22-23 NRS) Then you shall say to Pharaoh, Thus says YHWH: Israel is My firstborn son.  ²³I said to you, Let My son go that he may worship Me.  But you refused to let him go; now I will kill your firstborn son.

If we think of YHWH alone as the Sovereign God in the way the Canaanites saw El as the chief deity of their faith, then we may understand the seventy nations of Genesis 10 as all being b^ene ‘^elohim (children of God – i.e., YHWH’S creation), Israel in particular being the firstborn from among all the nations.  If this application of the number seventy is correct, then the Torah is declaring YHWH as sovereign over all the nations of the earth andIsrael indeed as His firstborn.  It is based upon the sovereignty of God that YHWH has the right to demand from Pharaoh the release of His firstborn.  It is based upon the sovereignty of YHWH that He has the right to do what he does to Pharaoh and the Egyptians to accomplish His will.  It is based upon the sovereignty of YHWH that He may rightly show great favor toIsrael, His firstborn.  It is also based upon the sovereignty of YHWH that He may expect from us our love, devotion, and obedience.  From this understanding, we may also understand that the other nations, who presently worship other would-be-gods, are estranged from YHWH, the one true God.  At one point, even our own ancestors, the ancient Hebrews, worshipped other gods.

(Joshua 24:2 NRS) And Joshua said to all the people, Thus says YHWH, the God of Israel: Long ago your ancestors – Terah and his sons Abraham and Nahor – lived beyond the Euphrates and served other gods.

Israel, as the firstborn, was the first among the seventy nations to come to exclusive faith in YHWH.  In this regard,Israelis the firstborn of the seventy nations to come to understanding and faith in YHWH alone as God.  As the firstborn, it is our calling to be a light to the other nations so that they too may genuinely become children of the living God, born of the incorruptible seed (Word) of YHWH.

(Isaiah 42:6 NRS) I am YHWH, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations.

(Isaiah 60:1-3 NRS) Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of YHWH has risen upon you.  ²For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but YHWH will arise upon you, and His glory will appear over you.  ³Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

(John 1:12 NRS) But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God.

(Romans 8:14 NRS) For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

(Romans 8:19-21 NRS) For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; ²⁰for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

(1 Peter 1:23 NRS) You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.

We see an affirmation of this understanding ofIsraelas the firstborn of the seventy nations in the offering prescribed for the Feast of Sukkot.

(Numbers 29:12-39 NRS) On the fifteenth day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations.  You shall celebrate a festival to YHWH seven days.  ¹³You shall offer a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to YHWH: thirteen young bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old.  They shall be without blemish.  ¹⁴Their grain offering shall be of choice flour mixed with oil, three-tenths of an ephah for each of the thirteen bulls, two-tenths for each of the two rams, ¹⁵and one-tenth for each of the fourteen lambs; ¹⁶also one male goat for a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering, its grain offering and its drink offering.  ¹⁷On the second day: twelve young bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, ¹⁸with the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, as prescribed in accordance with their number; ¹⁹also one male goat for a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offerings.  ²⁰On the third day: eleven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, ²¹with the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, as prescribed in accordance with their number; ²²also one male goat for a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its grain offering and its drink offering.  ²³On the fourth day: ten bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, ²⁴with the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, as prescribed in accordance with their number; ²⁵also one male goat for a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering, its grain offering and its drink offering.  ²⁶On the fifth day: nine bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, ²⁷with the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, as prescribed in accordance with their number; ²⁸also one male goat for a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its grain offering and its drink offering.  ²⁹On the sixth day: eight bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, ³⁰with the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, as prescribed in accordance with their number; ³¹also one male goat for a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offerings.  ³²On the seventh day: seven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old without blemish, ³³with the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bulls, for the rams, and for the lambs, as prescribed in accordance with their number; ³⁴also one male goat for a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering.  ³⁵On the eighth day you shall have a solemn assembly; you shall not work at your occupations.  ³⁶You shall offer a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to YHWH: one bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish, ³⁷and the grain offering and the drink offerings for the bull, for the ram, and for the lambs, as prescribed in accordance with their number; ³⁸also one male goat for a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its grain offering and its drink offering.  ³⁹These you shall offer to YHWH at your appointed festivals, in addition to your votive offerings and your freewill offerings, as your burnt offerings, your grain offerings, your drink offerings, and your offerings of well-being.

There are seventy bulls offered over the seven days of the Feast of Sukkot.  The Feast begins with the slaughter of thirteen bulls the first day and ends with the slaughter of seven bulls on the seventh day.  The number of bulls slaughtered decreases by one each day until the seventh day.  On the eighth day, only one bull is slaughtered.  The rabbis have long held that these seventy bull offerings represent the seventy nations.  The daily decreasing number of bulls is symbolic of the decreasing number of nations remaining alienated from YHWH.  In the end, on the eighth day, only one bull is slaughtered, representing the unity of all nations in service to YHWH.  This connection between the seventy bulls and the seventy nations is affirmed by the prophecy of Zechariah concerning the nations coming up toJerusalemto celebrate Sukkot in the end of days.

(Zechariah 14:16 NRS) Then all who survive of the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, YHWH of hosts, and to keep the festival of Sukkot.

In many respects, we may understand the trials and tribulations endured inEgyptas the labor pains leading up to the birth of a nation.  We may understand the history of Israel much like a pregnancy and birth.  Israel was conceived among the Canaanites in the time of the patriarchs, was birthed out of Egypt when the waters broke (the dividing of the Red Sea), matured in the wilderness, and was married at Mount Sinai.  The prophet Ezekiel utilized very similar imagery in his poetic history ofIsrael.

(Ezekiel 16:3-9 NRS) Thus says the Lord YHWH to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite, and your mother a Hittite.  ⁴As for your birth, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in cloths.  ⁵No eye pitied you, to do any of these things for you out of compassion for you; but you were thrown out in the open field, for you were abhorred on the day you were born.  ⁶I passed by you, and saw you flailing about in your blood.  As you lay in your blood, I said to you, Live! ⁷and grow up like a plant of the field.  You grew up and became tall and arrived at full womanhood; your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown; yet you were naked and bare.  ⁸I passed by you again and looked on you; you were at the age for love.  I spread the edge of My cloak over you, and covered your nakedness: I pledged Myself to you and entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord YHWH, and you became Mine.  ⁹Then I bathed you with water and washed off the blood from you, and anointed you with oil.

As the firstborn, Israel is to be a light to the nations.  Central to this calling is the revelation of YHWH as the one true Sovereign God of the universe.  It is for this reason that the revelation of the name YHWH is given to Moses.

(Exodus 3:13-17 NRS) But Moses said to God, If I come to the Israelites and say to them, The God of your ancestors has sent me to you, and they ask me, What is His name? what shall I say to them?  ¹⁴God said to Moses, [‘ehyah asher ‘ehyah’] I AM WHO I AM.  He said further, Thus you shall say to the Israelites, I AM [‘ehyah] has sent me to you.  ¹⁵God also said to Moses, Thus you shall say to the Israelites, YHWH, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.  This is My name forever, and this My title for all generations.  ¹⁶Go and assemble the elders of Israel, and say to them, YHWH, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying: I have given heed to you and to what has been done to you in Egypt.  ¹⁷I declare that I will bring you up out of the misery of Egypt, to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.

As we have already stated, El was the chief deity of the Canaanites, who surrounded Abraham and his descendants where they lived in thelandofCanaan.  It is also clear that Abraham and his descendants worshipped El.  Whether they understood Him to be one God alone or one God among many (seventy) is debatable.  That Abraham and his descendants worshipped El is clear by the various names and titles employed by the patriarchs – El, El Shaddai, El Elyon, Beth-El, El-eazar, Isra-El, etc.  The Sovereign One even declared to Moses that He had appeared to the patriarchs as El Shaddai.

(Exodus 6:3 NRS) I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as El Shaddai, but by My name YHWH I did not make Myself known to them.

This is not to say that the people of Israel were unaware of the name YHWH.  It is clear from the Scriptures that they knew the name YHWH.

(Genesis 4:26 NRS) To Seth also a son was born, and he named him Enosh.  At that time people began to invoke the name of YHWH.

(Genesis 13:3-4 NRS) He journeyed on by stages from the Negeb as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, ⁴to the place where he had made an altar at the first; and there Abram called on the name of YHWH.

We should especially note that Abraham specifically identifies YHWH with El in his response to the priest Melchizedek.  Melchizedek, most likely a Canaanite king and priest, worships El Elyon, (translated as God Most High).  Abraham, however, clarifies that YHWH is El Elyon.

(Genesis 14:18-23 NRS) And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of El Elyon.  ¹⁹He blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram by El Elyon, maker of heaven and earth; ²⁰and blessed be El Elyon, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!  And Abram gave him one tenth of everything.  ²¹Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.  ²²But Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have sworn to YHWH, El Elyon, maker of heaven and earth, ²³that I would not take a thread or a sandal-thong or anything that is yours, so that you might not say, I have made Abram rich.

We should understand the revelation of the name YHWH to Moses as a clarification that YHWH alone is God.  Many scholars have pointed out that YHWH was worshipped in Midian and that Moses learned the name of YHWH in Midian.  Some have gone so far as to suggest that it was Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, who introduced Moses to the cult of YHWH.

(Exodus 2:15-16 NRS) When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses.  But Moses fled from Pharaoh.  He settled in the land of Midian, and sat down by a well.  ¹⁶The priest of Midian had seven daughters.  They came to draw water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.

(Exodus 2:21 NRS) Moses agreed to stay with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah in marriage.

(Exodus 18:1 NRS) Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for His people Israel, how YHWH had brought Israel out of Egypt.

(Exodus 18:10-12 NRS) Jethro said, Blessed be YHWH, who has delivered you from the Egyptians and from Pharaoh.  ¹¹Now I know that YHWH is greater than all gods, because He delivered the people from the Egyptians, when they dealt arrogantly with them.  ¹²And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God; and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law in the presence of God.

That YHWH was worshipped among the Midianites should not surprise us, since Midian was, in fact, a descendant of Abraham through his wife Keturah.

(Genesis 25:1-2 NRS) Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah.  ²She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.

That Moses, who was born inEgypt, might encounter the worship of YHWH in Midian and then reintroduce it to his fellow Israelites is quite consistent with the story ofIsraelas told in the book of Shemot.

It may, at first, be difficult for many to genuinely understand the great religious diversity that surrounded and influenced our ancestors.  However, when we ponder the great struggle we face today in purging the leaven of Christian doctrine, the name “Jesus,” the western thinking, the traditions of Judaism, and the many cultural influences that shape the way we read, understand, and live out the teachings of the Bible, we should begin to understand that our ancestors were no different than we are.  Just as Israel, living among the culture and customs of Egypt, had to be reintroduced to the one true God, learn His name, and be liberated from former ways of thinking, we too must undergo the same rebirthing process so that we may claim our rightful inheritance as Israel, the firstborn of the nations.

The old man sat calmly at the foot of the granite mountain, patiently waiting for his mind, soul and breath to grow still and silent so that he could once again hear the voice of God.  The long and winding path leading to the clearing at the base of the mountain seemed longer and more difficult to navigate with each passing year, but the serenity of the spot made prayer not only possible but pleasurable.  Once the old man’s heart stopped racing and his breath returned to normal, the old man would simply sit among the sounds of the song birds and wait for the solitude and serenity to usher in the spirit of prayer.  The old man would listen carefully among the subtle breeze for the still small whisper of the Creator’s voice walking in his garden. The granite mountain stood majestic and motionless before the old man pointing heavenward and inspiring a sense of stability and strength.  Mostly the old man would spend the day alone with the mountain, but on occasion a backpacker, day hiker, or some other tourist would stumble up the path to the clearing and admire the mountain.  Rarely did the presence of other people or creatures disturb the old man’s meditation.

But life is dynamic not static or routine.  This day would be different than every other day.  As the old man sat silently before the mountain, his peace was violently disturbed by the sound of a person running and snorting up the path with reckless abandoned.  The old man opened his eyes momentarily and saw a young man of 16 or 17 years of age, flailing his harms and running with all the vigor of youth.  The old man looked to see if the boy was in danger, but saw nothing or no one threatening the boy.  The old man looked intently at the boy and could see the red flush of rage on his face.  Tears streamed down the young man’s cheeks and white froth was evident on the corners of his down turned mouth.  The young man ran aggressively right toward the mountain and yelled at the top of his lungs… “I hate you!”  “I hate you!” shouted the mountain back.  “You’re ugly!” shouted the boy.  “You’re ugly” shouted the mountain in return. “You’re mean,” said the boy angrily.  “You’re mean,” said the mountain just as angrily. “You shut up!” said the boy. “You shut up!” responded the mountain.  “I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!” screamed the boy.  “I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!” screamed the mountain.  Frustrated and crying the young man ran back down the pathway from the mountain just as angry as when he first arrived.

The old man looked at the mountain and pondered what had just occurred.  Seeing the mountain once more serene and silent the old man returned to his own stillness and tried again to calm his startled heart and racing mind.  As he closed his eyes and took in a long soothing breath he heard the sound of gentle footsteps coming up the path toward the mountain.  Again he opened his eyes to see if the boy had returned.  Instead, the old man was surprised to see a young maiden of about 10 years of age.  Quietly and peacefully the young maiden made her way up to the mountain.  She looked so very small and delicate against the large rocky mountain, and yet she showed no fear at all.  As the old man watched, the young girl stood face to face with the mountain.  With a voice as sweet as the song birds the little girl spoke to the mountain in her small but steady voice.  “I love you!”  “I love you” said the mountain gently.  “You are sweet,” said the girl.  “You are sweet,” said the mountain.  “You are beautiful,” said the girl.  “You are beautiful,” said the mountain in reply.  “I love you,” said the little girl tenderly.  “I love you,” said the mountain to her just as tenderly. “Good bye,” said the maiden.  “Good bye” said the mountain.  The little girl bowed toward the mountain and then turned peacefully and happily headed down the path from which she came.

Again the old man watched intensely and pondered anew what he had observed.  Many a time the old man sat before the mountain in silence and the mountain never spoke a word to him.  But then the angry boy came shouting hateful and angry words and the mountain spoke back equally hateful and angry words in the same tone of voice.  When the little maiden spoke lovingly and kindly to the mountain, however, the mountain spoke lovingly and tenderly back to the little girl.  Truly there was much to be learned from the mountain this day.  The old man pondered whether it was the mountain that spoke or was it the voice of God that was now speaking to the old man in the events of this very peculiar day.

The words of wisdom found in the scriptures now echoed in the heart and mind of the old man.

(Proverbs 18:21 NRS) Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits. 

(Proverbs 15:1 NRS) A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

The old man pondered how the young man stormed and raged at the mountain and how the mountain stormed and raged right back.  The young man’s anger kindled a rage within him and provoked the mountain to likewise rage against him.  Clearly speaking in anger is not productive.  The boy vented his rage and yet left just as angry as when he came.  The young man accomplished nothing in his angry speech.  Instead he made an enemy out of an otherwise quiet and peaceful mountain.

(Proverbs 15:18 NRS) Those who are hot-tempered stir up strife, but those who are slow to anger calm contention. 

(Proverbs 19:11 NRS) Those with good sense are slow to anger, and it is their glory to overlook an offense. 

(Ecclesiastes 7:9 NRS) Do not be quick to anger, for anger lodges in the bosom of fools. 

(Psalm 37:8 NRS) Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath. Do not fret– it leads only to evil. 

(Proverbs 16:32 NRS) One who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and one whose temper is controlled than one who captures a city. 

(James 1:19-20 NRS) You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; ²⁰  for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. 

The old man likewise pondered the young maiden who spoke softly, lovingly, and tenderly to the mountain invoking the mountain to speak to her in tenderness and love.

(Proverbs 24:26 NRS) One who gives an honest answer gives a kiss on the lips. 

(Proverbs 23:16 NRS) My soul will rejoice when your lips speak what is right. 

 (Galatians 6:7-9 NRS) Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. ⁸  If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. ⁹  So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. 

(James 3:17-18 NRS) But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. ¹⁸  And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.  

The old man began to understand the message of the mountain.  What we speak and how we speak to others, effects how they speak to us in return.  If we speak angrily, sarcastically, arrogantly, and hurtfully to others, we will provoke them to treat us with the same anger, sarcasm, arrogance and hurtful intentions.   The young man shouted to the mountain in anger and received anger in return.  The young maiden, however, turned the mountain’s wrath to tenderness with her soft and tender voice.  If we speak lovingly to others they will indeed speak lovingly in return.  Our words, like seeds, bring forth a harvest—they will not return to us empty.  What we sow we shall reap.

(Luke 8:11 NRS) “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 

(Isaiah 55:10-11 NRS) For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, ¹¹  so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it. 

Then the old man contemplated his own actions.  He sat silent before the mountain and said nothing.  In return the mountain honored his desire for silence and let the old man pray without interruption. The old man loved coming to the clearing before the mountain for prayer and has enjoyed a long prayerful life with the mountain.

(Psalm 34:12-13 NRS) Which of you desires life, and covets many days to enjoy good? ¹³  Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. 

(Proverbs 13:3 NRS) Those who guard their mouths preserve their lives; those who open wide their lips come to ruin. 

(Proverbs 21:23 NRS) To watch over mouth and tongue is to keep out of trouble. 

(Proverbs 10:19 NRS) When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but the prudent are restrained in speech. 

(Proverbs 17:28 NRS) Even fools who keep silent are considered wise; when they close their lips, they are deemed intelligent. 

The old man pondered anew the great power of the tongue.  The young man by the power of his tongue moved a mountain to anger.  The young maiden by the power of her tongue soothed the mountain and restored its peace. The old man by restraining his tongue caused the mountain to remain silent. “Truly,” thought the old man, “we must learn to tame the tongue if we are to serve the righteous purpose of God.”

(James 3:2-12 NRS) For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. ³  If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. ⁴  Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. ⁵  So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! ⁶  And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. ⁷  For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, ⁸  but no one can tame the tongue– a restless evil, full of deadly poison. ⁹  With it we bless YHWH and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. ¹⁰  From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. ¹¹  Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? ¹²  Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh. 

“What drives our tongue to such mischief?” the old man questioned. “Surely it is not the tongue that is to blame,” said the old man.  “After all,” he mused, “the young man was angry before he spoke, and the young maiden was filled with love before she spoke.”  “No,” he said, “there is more to be learned from the mountain.”  Then the old man contemplated further upon the words of scripture.

(Matthew 12:34 NRS) You brood of vipers! How can you speak good things, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 

(Matthew 15:18 NRS) But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. 

(Luke 6:45 NRS) The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks. 

“Yes!” cried the old man aloud, “It is our hearts that drive our tongues.  We must not only tame our tongues but purge our hearts of all anger, malice, bitterness, and hurtful intent.”

(Colossians 3:8 NRS) But now you must get rid of all such things– anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. 

(James 3:14-16 NRS) But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. ¹⁵  Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. ¹⁶  For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. 

(2 Timothy 2:19-23 NRS) But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this inscription: “YHWH knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who calls on the name of YHWH turn away from wickedness.” ²⁰  In a large house there are utensils not only of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for special use, some for ordinary. ²¹  All who cleanse themselves of the things I have mentioned will become special utensils, dedicated and useful to the owner of the house, ready for every good work. ²²  Shun youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on YHWH from a pure heart. ²³  Have nothing to do with stupid and senseless controversies; you know that they breed quarrels.

“Even our tongues may become vessels of honor to the Creator if we cleanse our hearts,” declared the old man with understanding and joy.

(Psalm 24:3-5 NRS) Who shall ascend the hill of YHWH? And who shall stand in his holy place? ⁴  Those who have clean hands and pure hearts, who do not lift up their souls to what is false, and do not swear deceitfully. ⁵  They will receive blessing from YHWH, and vindication from the God of their salvation. 

(Psalm 73:1 NRS) Truly God is good to the upright, to those who are pure in heart. 

(Matthew 5:8 NRS) “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.  Truly God is good to the upright, to those who are pure in heart. 

“How do we cleanse our hearts and bridle our tongues?” thought the old man to himself.

(Proverbs 20:9 NRS) Who can say, “I have made my heart clean; I am pure from my sin”? 

Then the old man recalled the promises of the Creator.

(Ezekiel 11:19 NRS) I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them; I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, 

(Ezekiel 36:26 NRS) A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 

And so the old man bowed his head, closed his eyes and prayed.

(Psalm 51:10-12 NRS) Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. ¹¹  Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. ¹²  Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.

And when he had finished his prayer the old man stood and bowed before the mountain and calmly said, “Shalom.” The mountain blessed the old man in return and calmly said “Shalom.”

]]> http://fromthemountain.net/from-the-heart/the-talking-mountain/feed/ 1 http://fromthemountain.net/teachings/2012-vayechi/ http://fromthemountain.net/teachings/2012-vayechi/#comments Fri, 06 Jan 2012 16:54:23 +0000 Glenn http://fromthemountain.net/?p=1011 PORTION: Vayechi  Bereshit 47:28-50:26
OUTLINE:

• Genesis 47:28-31 Joseph swears an oath to bury Israel in the promised land
• Genesis 48:1-6 The adoption of Manasseh and Ephraim
• Genesis 48:7 The report of Rachel’s death and burial
• Genesis 48:8-20 Israel blesses Ephraim and Manasseh
• Genesis 48:21-22 Joseph receives a double portion
• Genesis 49:1-28 Israel blesses his sons
• Genesis 49:29-33 Israel’s sons swear an oath to bury him at Machpelah
• Genesis 50:1-14 The death and burial of Jacob
• Genesis 50:15-23 Joseph comforts his brothers in Egypt
• Genesis 50:24 Joseph prophesies of Israel’s return to the land of promise
• Genesis 50:25 The children of Israel swear to take Joseph’s bones to the promised land
• Genesis 50:26 The death of Joseph

STUDY QUESTIONS:

1. What could this portion be called?
2. What “concludes” in this portion?
3. In what direction does this portion point?
4. Why is the name of this portion ironic?
5. What alternate translation can be given for Genesis 47:27?
6. How does this alternate understanding explain Jacob’s actions?
7. Why does Jacob make Joseph swear an oath?
8. What contrast exists between thelandofGoshenand the land of promise?
9. Why does Jacob adopt Joseph’s sons?
10. Why does Jacob mention Rachel’s death?
11. What lesson can be learned from Joseph’s double portion and Ephraim’s elevation over Manasseh?

TEACHING:

In many respects, the final portion of the book of Bereshit could be called “Conclusions.”  In this portion we come to the conclusion of the book of Origins (Genesis), the conclusion of the Joseph narrative, the conclusion of the life of Jacob, the conclusion of the life of Joseph, and the conclusion of the patriarchal era.  It is most ironic that the portion which reports the deaths of Jacob and Joseph is called “Vayechi,” which means “he lived.”  Generally, when a book or story comes to a close, there is a tendency to “look back” over the course of the whole story, summarizing and celebrating the whole narrative of the book and tying the end to the beginning.  However, this is not the case with the book of Bereshit.  While we have stated from the beginning that the stories contained in the book of Origins are written from a present perspective looking backward in time in order to reveal the origins of present realities, we must note that this final portion of the book points emphatically forward to the future and solidly establishes the foundation for what is to come in the ever-evolving history of Israel.

In our previous portion Joseph was reconciled with his brothers and his father.

(Genesis 45:1-4 NRS) Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, Send everyone away from me.  So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers.  ²And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it.  ³Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph.  Is my father still alive?  But his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence.  ⁴Then Joseph said to his brothers, Come closer to me.  And they came closer.  He said, I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.

(Genesis 45:15 NRS) And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers talked with him.

(Genesis 46:28-30 NRS) Israel sent Judah ahead to Joseph to lead the way before him into Goshen.  When they came to the land of Goshen, ²⁹Joseph made ready his chariot and went up to meet his father Israel in Goshen.  He presented himself to him, fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.  ³⁰Israel said to Joseph, I can die now, having seen for myself that you are still alive.

The previous portion concluded with a statement concerning the people ofIsraelsettling in thelandofEgypt.

(Genesis 47:27 NRS) Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the region of Goshen; and they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied exceedingly.

This final verse of the previous portion is important for several reasons.  First, it assures us that YHWH is faithful to the promises He made to our fathers.

(Genesis 12:1-3 NRS) Now YHWH said to Abram, Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.  ²I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.  ³I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

(Genesis 13:16 NRS) I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth; so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted.

(Genesis 15:5 NRS) He [God] brought him [Abraham] outside and said, Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.  Then He said to him, So shall your descendants be.

(Genesis 28:12-14 NRS) And he [Jacob] dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the messengers of God were ascending and descending on it.  ¹³And YHWH stood beside him and said, I am YHWH, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; ¹⁴and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring.

(Genesis 46:1-4 NRS) When Israel set out on his journey with all that he had and came to Beer-sheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.  ²God spoke to Israel in visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob.  And he said, Here I am.  ³Then He said, I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there.  ⁴I Myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again; and Joseph’s own hand shall close your eyes.

In the final verse of the previous portion we observe the fulfillment of YHWH’S promises to our fathers that their offspring would increase and multiply until they would become a great nation, as numerous as the dust of the earth and the stars of the heavens.

Second, we should understand that the final verse, declaring the great increase of the children ofIsrael, serves to establish the context from the tension, anxiety, and fear experienced by the later Pharaoh, who would seeIsraelnot as a blessing but as a threat.

(Exodus 1:8-10 NRS) Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.  ⁹He said to his people, Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we.  ¹⁰Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.

Let us recall that Joseph’s brothers expressed jealousy and apprehension over the favor shown to Joseph by their father and by God.  It should not surprise us that the nations aroundIsraeloften experienced the same jealousy and apprehension overIsrael’s favor and blessings.

Finally, the closing verse of the previous portion helps to explain the actions of Jacob and, possibly, those of Joseph in the final portion of Genesis.  The final sentence of the previous portion is generally translated as follows:

(Genesis 47:27 NRS) Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the region of Goshen; and they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied exceedingly.

In the Hebrew, however, the verse may be read as though the land possessedIsrael.

(Genesis 47:27) Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen; and they were possessed by it, and were fruitful and multiplied exceedingly.

The expression “and they were possessed by it” can be understood in two distinct ways.  First, it can be understood in terms of the fulfillment of YHWH’S promise to Abraham thatIsraelwould be enslaved in thelandofEgypt.

(Genesis 15:13 NRS) Then YHWH said to Abram, Know this for certain, that your offspring shall be aliens in a land that is not theirs, and shall be slaves there, and they shall be oppressed for four hundred years.

Understood this way, we see the verse as establishing the context for the opening narratives of the book of Shemot or Exodus, in whichIsraelis persecuted and enslaved by a future Pharaoh.

(Exodus 1:11-14 NRS) Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor.  They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh.  ¹²But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites.  ¹³The Egyptians became ruthless in imposing tasks on the Israelites, ¹⁴and made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and brick and in every kind of field labor.  They were ruthless in all the tasks that they imposed on them.

The expression “and they were possessed by it” can also be understood, in an emotional sense, in reference to thelandofGosheninEgypt.  We have already been told of the great favor shown to Joseph and his brothers in thelandofEgypt.  The best and most fruitful land inEgyptis at their disposal.

(Genesis 41:38-45 NRS) Pharaoh said to his servants, Can we find anyone else like this – one in whom is the Spirit of God?  ³⁹So Pharaoh said to Joseph, Since God has shown you all this, there is no one so discerning and wise as you.  ⁴⁰You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command; only with regard to the throne will I be greater than you.  ⁴¹And Pharaoh said to Joseph, See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.  ⁴²Removing his signet ring from his hand, Pharaoh put it on Joseph’s hand; he arrayed him in garments of fine linen, and put a gold chain around his neck.  ⁴³He had him ride in the chariot of his second-in-command; and they cried out in front of him, Bow the knee!  Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt.  ⁴⁴Moreover Pharaoh said to Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.  ⁴⁵Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, as his wife.  Thus Joseph gained authority over the land of Egypt.

(Genesis 45:16-20 NRS) When the report was heard in Pharaoh’s house, Joseph’s brothers have come, Pharaoh and his servants were pleased.  ¹⁷Pharaoh said to Joseph, Say to your brothers, Do this: load your animals and go back to the land of Canaan.  ¹⁸Take your father and your households and come to me, so that I may give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you may enjoy the fat of the land.  ¹⁹You are further charged to say, Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come.  ²⁰Give no thought to your possessions, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.

(Genesis 46:33-34 NRS) When Pharaoh calls you, and says, What is your occupation? ³⁴you shall say, Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our ancestors – in order that you may settle in the land of Goshen, because all shepherds are abhorrent to the Egyptians.

(Genesis 47:3-6 NRS) Pharaoh said to his brothers, What is your occupation?  And they said to Pharaoh, Your servants are shepherds, as our ancestors were.  ⁴They said to Pharaoh, We have come to reside as aliens in the land; for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks because the famine is severe in the land of Canaan.  Now, we ask you, let your servants settle in the land of Goshen.  ⁵Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, Your father and your brothers have come to you.  ⁶The land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the land; let them live in the land of Goshen; and if you know that there are capable men among them, put them in charge of my livestock.

Joseph and his brothers are enjoying favor and living in the best and richest part of thelandofEgyptunder the present Pharaoh.  When we compare the description ofGoshen– the best, most luxurious area of land inEgypt– with the repeated description of the promised land, it is easy to understand why the people ofIsraelgrow emotionally attached to thelandofEgypt.  Throughout the patriarchal era we hear of repeated and severe famines in thelandofCanaan.

(Genesis 12:10 NRS) Now there was a famine in the land.  So Abram went down to Egypt to reside there as an alien, for the famine was severe in the land.

(Genesis 26:1 NRS) Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham.  And Isaac went to Gerar, to King Abimelech of the Philistines.

(Genesis 42:5 NRS) Thus the sons of Israel were among the other people who came to buy grain, for the famine had reached the land of Canaan.

(Genesis 43:1 NRS) Now the famine was severe in the land.

(Genesis 45:11 NRS) I will provide for you there – since there are five more years of famine to come – so that you and your household, and all that you have, will not come to poverty.

(Genesis 47:13 NRS) Now there was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe.  The land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine.

Who would want to leave a rich, fertile, luxurious land with ample water for irrigation and pasture land for grazing only to return to a perpetually drought-stricken land that depends on the morning dew for survival?  It is easy to understand the children ofIsraelbeing drawn to remain in thelandofEgypteven after the drought that threatened their survival is over.  We should recall that Pharaoh’s dream revealed that there would be seven years of plenty and seven years of famine.

(Genesis 41:25-30 NRS) Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, Pharaoh’s dreams are one and the same; God has revealed to Pharaoh what He is about to do.  ²⁶The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one.  ²⁷The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, as are the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind.  They are seven years of famine.  ²⁸It is as I told Pharaoh; God has shown to Pharaoh what He is about to do.  ²⁹There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt.  ³⁰After them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; the famine will consume the land.

We were told that Jacob and his family moved toEgyptduring the second year of the famine.

(Genesis 45:9-11 NRS) Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay.  ¹⁰You shall settle in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, as well as your flocks, your herds, and all that you have.  ¹¹I will provide for you there – since there are five more years of famine to come – so that you and your household, and all that you have, will not come to poverty.

In our portion we are told that Jacob lives in thelandofEgyptfor seventeen years before his death.

(Genesis 47:7-9 NRS) Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob, and presented him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.  ⁸Pharaoh said to Jacob, How many are the years of your life?  ⁹Jacob said to Pharaoh, The years of my earthly sojourn are one hundred thirty; few and hard have been the years of my life.  They do not compare with the years of the life of my ancestors during their long sojourn.

(Genesis 47:28 NRS) Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; so the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were one hundred forty-seven years.

If Jacob lives in thelandofEgyptfor seventeen years, thenIsraelremains inEgypttwelve years after the threat of the famine is over.  This seems to indicate that the people ofIsraelare giving no thought to returning to the land of promise.

Our portion begins with the narrative of Jacob’s final days.  Jacob calls for Joseph and asks him to swear an oath that he will bury Jacob in the family’s ancestral burial place in thelandofCanaan.

(Genesis 47:29-31 NRS) When the time of Israel’s death drew near, he called his son Joseph and said to him, If I have found favor with you, put your hand under my thigh and promise to deal loyally and truly with me.  Do not bury me in Egypt.  ³⁰When I lie down with my ancestors, carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.  He answered, I will do as you have said.  ³¹And he said, Swear to me; and he swore to him.  Then Israel bowed himself on the head of his bed.

We should note that Jacob ultimately makes all his sons swear to bury him in the cave at Machpelah.

(Genesis 49:29-33 NRS) Then he charged them, saying to them, I am about to be gathered to my people.  Bury me with my ancestors – in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, ³⁰in the cave in the field at Machpelah, near Mamre, in the land of Canaan, in the field that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site.  ³¹There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried; there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried; and there I buried Leah – ³²the field and the cave that is in it were purchased from the Hittites.  ³³When Jacob ended his charge to his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed, breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.

There are several questions we should ask concerning these oaths.  First, we should ask why it is necessary to charge Joseph separately from his brothers.  The answer to this question is found in Jacob’s understanding of Joseph’s position.  Joseph is an essential and powerful part of Pharaoh’s court.  By causing Joseph to swear a solemn vow, Jacob gives Joseph the means to persuade Pharaoh to permit him to leaveEgypt.

(Genesis 50:4-6 NRS) When the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph addressed the household of Pharaoh, If now I have found favor with you, please speak to Pharaoh as follows: ⁵My father made me swear an oath; he said, I am about to die.  In the tomb that I hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me.  Now therefore let me go up, so that I may bury my father; then I will return.  ⁶Pharaoh answered, Go up, and bury your father, as he made you swear to do.

Were the oath taken by the brothers collectively, including Joseph, it would be possible for Pharaoh to permit Joseph’s brothers to leave and bury their father while keeping Joseph inEgyptto perform his duty.  However, since Jacob swears Joseph personally and particularly, when the time comes, Joseph will be able make the case that he was asked personally and swore an oath to bury his father in their ancestral burial place in thelandofCanaan.

The second question we might ask is why it is necessary for Jacob to have the brothers swear an oath at all.  The answer to this question is twofold.  If Jacob does not bind all his sons by an oath concerning his burial, it is possible that Pharaoh might permit Joseph to leave but prohibit the rest of the brothers from returning to the land.  By having all the brothers swear an oath, Jacob makes it possible for all of them to leave.  If, however, the final verse of the previous portion is declaring that the people ofIsraelare emotionally attached to the land, as is stated earlier, then it is possible that Jacob swears his children to an oath in order to guarantee their return to the land of promise.  Jacob is well aware that the promise given to Abraham, Isaac, and him was not just about multiple seed but about a particular land as well.

(Genesis 12:7 NRS) Then YHWH appeared to Abram, and said, To your offspring I will give this land.  So he built there an altar to YHWH, who had appeared to him.

(Genesis 13:15 NRS) For all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever.

(Genesis 15:18-21 NRS) On that day YHWH made a covenant with Abram, saying, To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, ¹⁹the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, ²⁰the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, ²¹the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.

(Genesis 26:3 NRS) Reside in this land as an alien, and I will be with you, and will bless you; for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will fulfill the oath that I swore to your father Abraham.

(Genesis 28:13 NRS) And YHWH stood beside him and said, I am YHWH, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring.

(Genesis 35:12 NRS) The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.

Even in his later blessing over Joseph, Jacob recalls the promise of multiple seed and a specific land.

(Genesis 48:1-4 NRS) After this Joseph was told, Your father is ill.  So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.  ²When Jacob was told, Your son Joseph has come to you, he summoned his strength and sat up in bed.  ³And Jacob said to Joseph, God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and He blessed me, ⁴and said to me, I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers; I will make of you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your offspring after you for a perpetual holding.

While thelandofGoshenis beautiful, lush, fertile, and beneficial for the children ofIsraelduring this time of draught, it is not the land apportioned toIsraelby the Sovereign Creator of the universe.  By having his children swear an oath to return his body to the family’s ancestral burial place in the land of Canaan, Jacob provides the opportunity for his descendants to return to the land of their inheritance and see that twelve years after the famine, it has once again become a land flowing with milk and honey.

We should note that Jacob’s plan does indeed lead his sons back to the land of promise.  After Jacob’s death, the sons ofIsraelfulfill their promise to their father and bury him in the cave at Machpelah.

(Genesis 50:7-13 NRS) So Joseph went up to bury his father.  With him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, ⁸as well as all the household of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s household.  Only their children, their flocks, and their herds were left in the land of Goshen.  ⁹Both chariots and charioteers went up with him.  It was a very great company.  ¹⁰When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they held there a very great and sorrowful lamentation; and he observed a time of mourning for his father seven days.  ¹¹When the Canaanite inhabitants of the land saw the mourning on the threshing floor of Atad, they said, This is a grievous mourning on the part of the Egyptians.  Therefore the place was named Abel-mizraim; it is beyond the Jordan.  ¹²Thus his sons did for him as he had instructed them.  ¹³They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field at Machpelah, the field near Mamre, which Abraham bought as a burial site from Ephron the Hittite.

Unfortunately, the comfort, wealth, power, and position the people ofIsraelenjoy inEgyptpossess them and draw them body and soul back down toEgypt.

(Genesis 50:14 NRS) After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.

(Genesis 50:22-23 NRS) So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father’s household; and Joseph lived one hundred ten years.  ²³Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation; the children of Machir son of Manasseh were also born on Joseph’s knees.

It will take more than a mere oath to dislodgeIsrael’s love ofEgyptfrom the hearts ofIsrael.  It will take an act of God.  Here we learn that the bondage experienced byIsraelinEgyptis more than just a physical bondage; it is an emotional bondage as well.  To liberateIsraelfromEgypt, YHWH will have to turn this sweet experience into a bitter one that will cause the children ofIsraelto cry out for deliverance and a land of their own.  It will be a long time and a number of generations before the children ofIsraelwill finally cut their ties withEgyptand long to return to the land of their inheritance.  It is interesting to note that before he dies, Joseph, like his father before him, has his family swear an oath to take his bones with them when they eventually leaveEgyptand return to the land of promise.

(Genesis 50:24-26 NRS) Then Joseph said to his brothers, I am about to die; but God will surely come to you, and bring you up out of this land to the land that He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.  ²⁵So Joseph made the Israelites swear, saying, When God comes to you, you shall carry up my bones from here.  ²⁶And Joseph died, being one hundred ten years old; he was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt.

It is Moses who eventually fulfills this promise and carries Joseph’s bones to the promised land, where he is buried in Shechem by Joshua.

(Exodus 13:19 NRS) And Moses took with him the bones of Joseph who had required a solemn oath of the Israelites, saying, God will surely take notice of you, and then you must carry my bones with you from here.

(Joshua 24:32 NRS) The bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem, in the portion of ground that Jacob had bought from the children of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for one hundred pieces of money; it became an inheritance of the descendants of Joseph.

Between the stories of the oaths taken by the people ofIsraelto bury Jacob and Joseph in the promised land, there are several stories of interest we should note.  The first is Jacob’s blessing of Joseph and the adoption of Manasseh and Ephraim as equal sons of Jacob.

(Genesis 48:1-6 NRS) After this Joseph was told, Your father is ill.  So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.  ²When Jacob was told, Your son Joseph has come to you, he summoned his strength and sat up in bed.  ³And Jacob said to Joseph, God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and He blessed me, ⁴and said to me, I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers; I will make of you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your offspring after you for a perpetual holding.  ⁵Therefore your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are now mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are.  ⁶As for the offspring born to you after them, they shall be yours.  They shall be recorded under the names of their brothers with regard to their inheritance.

The reason for the adoption is explained by the report of Rachel’s death, which follows the story of the adoption.

(Genesis 48:7 NRS) For when I came from Paddan, Rachel, alas, died in the land of Canaan on the way, while there was still some distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).

At first, the report of Rachel’s death and burial at Ephrath may seem quite out of place, but we learn later that Leah is buried at Machpelah from Jacob’s statement concerning the oath he has his sons swear to bury him there.

(Genesis 49:29-31 NRS) Then he charged them, saying to them, I am about to be gathered to my people.  Bury me with my ancestors – in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, ³⁰in the cave in the field at Machpelah, near Mamre, in the land of Canaan, in the field that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site.  ³¹There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried; there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried; and there I buried Leah.

Rachel, the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, is buried by herself in Ephrath, where she died.

(Genesis 35:16-20 NRS) Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel was in childbirth, and she had hard labor.  ¹⁷When she was in her hard labor, the midwife said to her, Do not be afraid; for now you will have another son.  ¹⁸As her soul was departing (for she died), she named him Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin.  ¹⁹So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), ²⁰and Jacob set up a pillar at her grave; it is the pillar of Rachel’s tomb, which is there to this day.

We should also note that Leah was the mother of six of Jacob’s sons – Reuben, Simeon,Levi,Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.  Leah’s handmaid, Zilpah, gave birth to two sons, Asher and Gad.  Rachel gave birth to two sons, Joseph and Benjamin; and Rachel’s handmaid, Bilhah, gave birth to two sons, Dan and Naphtali.  Here we clearly see that Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah all share the status of a mother of two children.  This means that Rachel, although she is a wife rather than a concubine, shares only the honor of the concubines.  By adopting Joseph’s sons as his own, Rachel becomes the mother of four children – Joseph, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh – affording her an elevated status and honor above the two concubines.

The adoption of Manasseh and Ephraim also means that each of these sons will inherit a parcel of land with their brothers.  The fact that two of Joseph’s sons will inherit land means that Joseph will ultimately receive one portion more than his brothers, declaring Joseph to be the firstborn and inheritor of the double portion.

(Genesis 48:22 NRS) I now give to you one portion more than to your brothers, the portion that I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.

We should note from this event that the title “firstborn” is not necessarily given to the physical firstborn.  In fact, we see the pattern of the second born superseding the firstborn throughout the biblical narrative.  Let us recall that Cain was the firstborn of Adam, yet it was Abel’s offering that was accepted.  Ishmael was the firstborn of Abraham, yet it was with Isaac that the covenant was made.  Esau was the firstborn of Isaac, yet it was Jacob who inherited the promise of Abraham.  Reuben was the firstborn of Jacob, yet it is Joseph who receives the double portion.  Manasseh is the firstborn of Joseph, yet it is Ephraim who receives the greater blessing.

(Genesis 48:14-20 NRS) But Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands, for Manasseh was the firstborn.  ¹⁵He blessed Joseph, and said, The God before whom my ancestors Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, ¹⁶the Messenger who has redeemed me from all harm, bless the boys; and in them let my name be perpetuated, and the name of my ancestors Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude on the earth.  ¹⁷When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; so he took his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.  ¹⁸Joseph said to his father, Not so, my father!  Since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head.  ¹⁹But his father refused, and said, I know, my son, I know; he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great.  Nevertheless his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.  ²⁰So he blessed them that day, saying, By you Israel will invoke blessings, saying, God make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh.  So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.

On a spiritual level, we should understand that it was not the carnal Adam who inherited the blessings; it is the last Adam who is the heir.

(1 Corinthians 15:45-49 NRS) Thus it is written, The first man, Adam, became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.  ⁴⁶But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the physical, and then the spiritual.  ⁴⁷The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.  ⁴⁸As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven.  ⁴⁹Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven.

Just as Jacob becameIsrael, so too we, who are born in the flesh, must become spiritual to receive our inheritance.

(John 3:3-6 NRS) Yeshua answered him, Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.  ⁴Nicodemus said to him, How can anyone be born after having grown old?  Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?  ⁵Yeshua answered, Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.  ⁶What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.

(John 6:63 NRS) It is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless.  The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

(1 Corinthians 15:50 NRS) What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

After blessing Joseph and his sons, Jacob blesses all his sons before his death.  We should note that once again, these blessings, while often recalling events in the past, still prophetically point to the future.

(Genesis 49:1-2 NRS) Then Jacob called his sons, and said: Gather around, that I may tell you what will happen to you in days to come.  ²Assemble and hear, O sons of Jacob; listen to Israel your father.

Thus, while the lives of Jacob and Joseph, as well as the book of Genesis, all find their conclusion in this portion, it is clear thatIsrael’s life is not concluded with the death of the fathers but continues on by the abundant grace and blessings of YHWH.  It is this very hope and expectation of life that is expressed in Jacob’s brief declaration:

(Genesis 49:18 NRS) I wait for Your salvation, O YHWH.

By Brian Plescher

2012

(Mark 5:1-17 NRS) They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. ²  And when he had stepped out of the boat, immediately a man out of the tombs with an unclean spirit met him. ³  He lived among the tombs; and no one could restrain him anymore, even with a chain; ⁴  for he had often been restrained with shackles and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he broke in pieces; and no one had the strength to subdue him. ⁵  Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always howling and bruising himself with stones. ⁶  When he saw Yeshua from a distance, he ran and bowed down before him; ⁷  and he shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Yeshua, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” ⁸  For he had said to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” ⁹  Then Yeshua asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” ¹⁰  He begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. ¹¹  Now there on the hillside a great herd of swine was feeding; ¹²  and the unclean spirits begged him, “Send us into the swine; let us enter them.” ¹³  So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and were drowned in the sea. ¹⁴  The swineherds ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came to see what it was that had happened. ¹⁵  They came to Yeshua and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the legion; and they were afraid. ¹⁶  Those who had seen what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine reported it. ¹⁷  Then they began to beg Yeshua to leave their neighborhood. 

On the “From the Mountain Messianic Fellowship” Facebook page, a number of people have expressed the difficulty of interpreting various passages from Matthew, Mark, and Luke with regard to demon possession and the subsequent casting of those demons into a herd of swine by Yeshua. These are difficult passages to interpret. Although the written accounts seem to be contradictory, I think we can, at least, affirm that there are two distinct instances in the gospel accounts: Matthew 8:28-34, Mark 5:1-20, and Luke 8:26-39. The Matthean account takes place before the complete calling of the disciples, and the Markan and Lukan accounts take place after the calling of the disciples.

Let’s look at the larger context. For the purposes of trying to do biblical exegesis in a small space, I’ll try to be as brief as possible. Also, one of the things we are trying to do, at From the Mountain Ministry, is to understand Scripture, as much as possible, in its original context. In our Shabbat studies, we have been learning about story-telling in the Torah—the purpose of stories and how they were told and transmitted to people over time.  We need to apply this to the gospel writings as well; we know that they were written many years after Yeshua’s ministry.  For example, Matthew was written between 80 and 90 CE, some 50 years after Yeshua’s death and resurrection. It is a mixture of different literary genres that resist neat classification.  Although all the gospels allude to the life of Yeshua, they were written much later for a specific purpose and to a specific community.

So, we need to ask ourselves, “how would the people who heard or read these gospel accounts have understood this idea of demons being cast into swine?” In all three passages, these stories of demons being cast into or entering into swine are preceded by the story of Yeshua calming the sea. The metaphor of the sea is common throughout the synoptic gospels. It clearly demonstrates the command of Yeshua over the forces of nature, but the sea also held very dark connotations of evil. It was thought to be the place where evil forces had their home. So Yeshua’s calming the stormy sea was more than just demonstrating his command over nature; it demonstrated that he had command over darkness and evil as well.

After calming the sea, Yeshua lands in a very distinct location. In Matthew, he lands in Gadarenes, and in the other accounts, he lands in the country of the “Gerasenes.” This area of Galilee, Gadara, and the Gergesenes was historically known as the primary location of the tenth Roman legion. Archaeological evidence shows that a number of Roman legions, including the tenth, marched under the banner of a boar, pig, or swine. There are emblems discovered which show an image of a ship with a form of a pig underneath it. The strong oppression by the Romans throughout these territories (Gadara, Gergesenes), combined with the unclean image of the pig would have been a double oppression: not only were they physically and politically under the control of Rome, but the image of the pig would have been repugnant as well.

I would suggest, then, a possible interpretation. If we are to understand the sea as metaphor, it might also be possible to understand these “demon into swine” accounts as parable rather than historical fact. The recounting of this story, in the minds of the original hearers, would have made sense given their context and history as the Hebrew people. The demons, or “legion,” may be a reference to the tenth Roman legion. Yeshua casting the demons into swine is doubly satisfying for the Jewish hearers: they are understood to be “unclean” but they are also cast into the very “unclean” image which they parade around on their emblems and banners.

The enemy being cast into the sea also recounts the Exodus narrative which represents the liberation of the Hebrew people from the bondage of Egypt. The casting of these swine into the sea, over which Yeshua just demonstrated his complete authority by calming the storm and waves, is then another image for the Roman Empire being defeated by Yahweh in the sea, just as He defeated the Egyptians so long ago.

This may not be the definitive interpretation, but I think it is a way forward. I hope this provides some clarity as we move forward in this very compelling discussion.

• Genesis 44:18-34 Judah offers his life for Benjamin
• Genesis 45:1-3 Joseph reveals his identity to his brothers
• Genesis 45:4-8 Joseph reveals God’s plan
• Genesis 45:9-15 Joseph sends for his father
• Genesis 45:16-20 Pharaoh invites Joseph’s family to Egypt
• Genesis 45:21-24 Joseph blesses/tests his brothers
• Genesis 45:25-28 The sons return to Jacob
• Genesis 46:1-4 God appears to Jacob
• Genesis 46:5-7 Jacob and his family head to Egypt
• Genesis 46:8-27 The genealogy of Jacob’s family
• Genesis 46:28-30 Jacob reunites with Joseph
• Genesis 46:31-34 Joseph prepares his family to meet Pharaoh
• Genesis 47:1-6 Joseph’s brothers meet Pharaoh
• Genesis 47:7-10 Jacob meets Pharaoh
• Genesis 47:11-12 Israel settles in Goshen
• Genesis 47:13-26 Joseph purchases Egypt for Pharaoh
• Genesis 47:27 Israel takes possession of land in Egypt

STUDY QUESTIONS:

1. What are the wages of sin?
2. Why does sin lead to death?
3. Of what do the two creation narratives declare God to be the source?
4. What is the Creator depicted as in the first creation narrative?
5. What is the Creator depicted as in the second creation narrative?
6. What did Joseph fear about sin?
7. What is the result of Joseph’s brothers’ sin?
8. For what type of sin are there sacrifices?
9. What is the process for intentional sin?
10. What is the purpose of forgiveness?

TEACHING:

There is a very powerful lesson about sin, separation, forgiveness, and reconciliation in the biblical account of Joseph and his family.  From the very first account of sin in the Bible we are told that sin separates us from others.  In the first narrative of creation, the Creator is depicted as a transcendent God living in eternal time and space and speaking things into existence from a distance.  By His transcendent will and Word the Creator called forth the universe, created order, and then rested from His labors.

(Genesis 1:1-3 NRS) In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, ² the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.  ³Then God said, Let there be light; and there was light.

(Genesis 1:6 NRS) And God said, Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.

(Genesis 1:9 NRS) And God said, Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.  And it was so.

(Genesis 1:11 NRS) Then God said, Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.  And it was so.

(Genesis 1:14 NRS) And God said, Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years.

(Genesis 1:26-27 NRS) Then God said, Let Us make humankind in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.  ²⁷So God created humankind in His image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.

(Genesis 2:1-4 NRS) Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude.  ²And on the seventh day God finished the work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all the work that He had done.  ³So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that He had done in creation.  ⁴These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.  In the day that YHWH God made the earth and the heavens…

In the second narrative of creation, however, we receive a different picture of the Creator, as well as a very different account of creation.  In the second narrative of creation the Creator is presented as the immanent God who is very “hands on” and intimately involved with His creatures.

(Genesis 2:5-9 NRS) …when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up – for YHWH God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground; ⁶but a stream would rise from the earth, and water the whole face of the ground – ⁷then YHWH God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.  ⁸And YHWH God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there He put the man whom He had formed.  ⁹Out of the ground YHWH God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

(Genesis 2:15-17 NRS) YHWH God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.  ¹⁶And YHWH God commanded the man, You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; ¹⁷but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.

(Genesis 2:18-24 NRS) Then YHWH God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.  ¹⁹So out of the ground YHWH God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.  ²⁰The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner.  ²¹So YHWH God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.  ²²And the rib that YHWH God had taken from the man He made into a woman and brought her to the man.  ²³Then the man said, This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken.  ²⁴Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.

The intimacy once enjoyed by Adam and Chava with their Creator is evident even after their fall, when it is reported that the voice of the Creator was heard calling to them in the garden.

(Genesis 3:8-10 NRS) They heard the sound of YHWH God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of YHWH God among the trees of the garden.  ⁹But YHWH God called to the man, and said to him, Where are you?  ¹⁰He said, I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

This later encounter between Adam and Chava and their Creator was notably different than their first encounters.  Due to Adam and Chava’s sin, they were no longer clothed in the image and glory of God but were exposed as naked before their Creator.  Fearing that their sinfulness and nakedness would be exposed, they attempted to hide their nakedness from the omniscient presence of God.

(Genesis 3:7 NRS) Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.

Showing mercy toward His creatures, the Creator granted them a more appropriate covering.

(Genesis 3:21 NRS) And YHWH God made garments of skins for the man and for his wife, and clothed them.

The “naked” intimacy experienced by Adam and Chava was diminished by the barrier of clothing, and the Creator expelled Adam and Chava from the Garden of Eden and prevented them from eating of the Tree of Life, once freely available to them.  Death is the ultimate separation from the living God.

(Genesis 2:16-17 NRS) And YHWH God commanded the man, You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; ¹⁷but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.

(Genesis 3:6 NRS) So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate.

(Genesis 3:23-24 NRS) Therefore YHWH God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken.  ²⁴He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden He placed the cherubim, and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life.

The apostle Shaul clearly understood the consequences of the fall when he declared the separation of death to be the wages for our sin.

(Romans 6:23 NRS) For the wages of sin is death…

The prophet Isaiah likewise spoke of the separation from God caused by sin.

(Isaiah 59:2 NRS) Rather, your iniquities have been barriers between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.

The separation of sin is a separation not only between the sinner and God but also between the sinner and other creatures, and even from the land itself.  In the story of Cain and Abel, Cain, as a result of his own murderous sin, was separated from the brother he slew, from the land he tilled, and from the face of God.

(Genesis 4:8-9 NRS) Cain said to his brother Abel, Let us go out to the field.  And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him.  ⁹Then YHWH said to Cain, Where is your brother Abel?  He said, I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?

(Genesis 4:10-14 NRS) And YHWH said, What have you done?  Listen; your brother’s blood is crying out to Me from the ground!  ¹¹And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.  ¹²When you till the ground, it will no longer yield to you its strength; you will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.  ¹³Cain said to YHWH, My punishment is greater than I can bear!  ¹⁴Today You have driven me away from the soil, and I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and anyone who meets me may kill me.

Joseph understood that sin against another person was a sin against God.  Fearing alienation from the God who was sustaining him inEgypt, as well as alienation from the earthly master who had shown him trust and favor, Joseph refused the seductive offer of Potiphar’s wife.

(Genesis 39:6-9 NRS) So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge; and, with him there, he had no concern for anything but the food that he ate.  Now Joseph was handsome and good-looking.  ⁷And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, Lie with me.  ⁸But he refused and said to his master’s wife, Look, with me here, my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my hand.  ⁹He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife.  How then could I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?

We see this same threat of separation from God and the land in the later teachings of the covenant betweenIsraeland YHWH.  When the children ofIsraelviolate the prohibition against making an image of YHWH, YHWH withdraws His immanent presence from them.

(Exodus 32:2-5 NRS) Aaron said to them, Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.  ³So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears, and brought them to Aaron.  ⁴He took the gold from them, formed it in a mold, and cast an image of a calf; and they said, These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!  ⁵When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, Tomorrow shall be a festival to YHWH.

(Exodus 32:30 NRS) On the next day Moses said to the people, You have sinned a great sin.  But now I will go up to YHWH; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.

(Exodus 33:1-3 NRS) YHWH said to Moses, Go, leave this place, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, and go to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, To your descendants I will give it.  ²I will send a messenger before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.  ³Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, or I would consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.

Violations of the covenant (especially of the protocol concerning the sacrifices and offerings) lead to individual violators being “cut off” from among the people and, ultimately, from the promised land, which may lead to the exile of the entire nation.

(Exodus 12:15 NRS) Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day shall be cut off from Israel.

(Exodus 31:14 NRS) You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you; everyone who profanes it shall be put to death; whoever does any work on it shall be cut off from among the people.

(Leviticus 7:21 NRS) When any one of you touches any unclean thing – human uncleanness or an unclean animal or any unclean creature – and then eats flesh from YHWH’S sacrifice of well-being, you shall be cut off from your kin.

(Leviticus 17:3-4 NRS) If anyone of the house of Israel slaughters an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or slaughters it outside the camp, ⁴and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, to present it as an offering to YHWH before the tabernacle of YHWH, he shall be held guilty of bloodshed; he has shed blood, and he shall be cut off from the people.

(Leviticus 26:27-33 NRS) But if, despite this, you disobey Me, and continue hostile to Me, ²⁸I will continue hostile to you in fury; I in turn will punish you Myself sevenfold for your sins.  ²⁹You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters.  ³⁰I will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars; I will heap your carcasses on the carcasses of your idols.  I will abhor you.  ³¹I will lay your cities waste, will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your pleasing odors.  ³²I will devastate the land, so that your enemies who come to settle in it shall be appalled at it.  ³³And you I will scatter among the nations, and I will unsheathe the sword against you; your land shall be a desolation, and your cities a waste.

In the story of Joseph and his brothers, jealousy, covetousness, greed, pride, hatred, and deceit causedIsraelto be divided.  It was the brothers’ sin that separated them from their brother Joseph and from their grieving father.

(Genesis 37:3-4 NRS) Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he had made him a long robe with sleeves.  ⁴But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.

(Genesis 37:5-8 NRS) Once Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.  ⁶He said to them, Listen to this dream that I dreamed.  ⁷There we were, binding sheaves in the field.  Suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright; then your sheaves gathered around it, and bowed down to my sheaf.  ⁸His brothers said to him, Are you indeed to reign over us?  Are you indeed to have dominion over us?  So they hated him even more because of his dreams and his words.

When the brothers saw Joseph at a distance, they began scheming to put an end to him.

(Genesis 37:19-20 NRS) They said to one another, Here comes this dreamer.  ²⁰Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams.

Eventually, the brothers spared Joseph’s life, not out of love for Joseph or even out of concern for their father but out of a desire to profit from selling him to the Ishmaelites.

(Genesis 37:26-27 NRS) Then Judah said to his brothers, What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?  ²⁷Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.  And his brothers agreed.

The brothers were also separated from their father’s heart, which was lost to them in inconsolable grief because of their sinful behavior.

(Genesis 37:31-35 NRS) Then they took Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a goat, and dipped the robe in the blood.  ³²They had the long robe with sleeves taken to their father, and they said, This we have found; see now whether it is your son’s robe or not.  ³³He recognized it, and said, It is my son’s robe!  A wild animal has devoured him; Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.  ³⁴Then Jacob tore his garments, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many days.  ³⁵All his sons and all his daughters sought to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and said, No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.  Thus his father bewailed him.

Shortly after this wickedness on the part of the sons of Jacob, thelandofCanaanwas plagued by a great famine that forcedIsraelout of the land of their inheritance and into bondage in a foreign land.  We should not miss the connection between these events and those ofIsrael’s later sins and exiles.  Sin clearly separates the children ofIsraelfrom their land.

As we learn later from the progressive nature of the chastisements in the holiness code and elsewhere in the Torah, the purpose of these separations and exiles is not to destroy but to inspire repentance and facilitate reconciliation.

(Leviticus 26:14-16 NRS) But if you will not obey Me, and do not observe all these commandments, ¹⁵if you spurn My statutes, and abhor My ordinances, so that you will not observe all My commandments, and you break My covenant, ¹⁶I in turn will do this to you: I will bring terror on you; consumption and fever that waste the eyes and cause life to pine away.  You shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.

(Leviticus 26:21 NRS) If you continue hostile to Me, and will not obey Me, I will continue to plague you sevenfold for your sins.

(Leviticus 26:23-24 NRS) If in spite of these punishments you have not turned back to Me, but continue hostile to Me, ²⁴then I too will continue hostile to you: I Myself will strike you sevenfold for your sins.

(Leviticus 26:27-28 NRS) But if, despite this, you disobey Me, and continue hostile to Me, ²⁸I will continue hostile to you in fury; I in turn will punish you Myself sevenfold for your sins.

We should be clear to understand that these progressive chastisements are not designed to utterly destroyIsraelbut to provoke them to confession, repentance, and reconciliation.

(Leviticus 26:40-42 NRS) But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their ancestors, in that they committed treachery against Me and, moreover, that they continued hostile to Me – ⁴¹so that I, in turn, continued hostile to them and brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, ⁴²then will I remember My covenant with Jacob; I will remember also My covenant with Isaac and also My covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.

(Leviticus 26:44-45 NRS) Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not spurn them, or abhor them so as to destroy them utterly and break My covenant with them; for I am YHWH their God; ⁴⁵but I will remember in their favor the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, to be their God: I am YHWH.

We should not miss the connection between the sin of the sons of Jacob and the famine that drives them into exile.  The holiness code clearly states that famine is one of the curses to come upon the children ofIsraelfor their sinfulness.

(Leviticus 26:19-20 NRS) I will break your proud glory, and I will make your sky like iron and your earth like copper.  ²⁰Your strength shall be spent to no purpose: your land shall not yield its produce, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit.

It is in exile and under the threat of extinction from the famine that the reconciliation ofIsraeltakes place.  It is important to note that upon his brothers’ first appearance, Joseph does not immediately reveal himself or welcome his brothers.

(Genesis 42:6-8 NRS) Now Joseph was governor over the land; it was he who sold to all the people of the land.  And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground.  ⁷When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke harshly to them.  Where do you come from? he said.  They said, From the land of Canaan, to buy food.  ⁸Although Joseph had recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him.

Instead of “unconditionally” welcoming his brothers, Joseph put them through a series of tests to see what their reactions would be.  Joseph hid his true identity from his brothers while questioning them and accusing them of being spies.  Joseph imprisoned all his brothers and demanded that they bring Benjamin, their youngest brother, as proof that they were honest men.

(Genesis 42:18-20 NRS) On the third day Joseph said to them, Do this and you will live, for I fear God: ¹⁹if you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here where you are imprisoned.  The rest of you shall go and carry grain for the famine of your households, ²⁰and bring your youngest brother to me.  Thus your words will be verified, and you shall not die.  And they agreed to do so.

While it may at first appear that Joseph was merely sporting with his brothers out of some sick sense of personal revenge or justice, this is not the case.  Instead, we see that the result of Joseph’s testing was, in fact, setting up the possibility of reconciliation.  Joseph’s carefully planned tests provoked his brothers to confession.

(Genesis 42:21-22 NRS) They said to one another, Alas, we are paying the penalty for what we did to our brother; we saw his anguish when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen.  That is why this anguish has come upon us.  ²²Then Reuben answered them, Did I not tell you not to wrong the boy?  But you would not listen.  So now there comes a reckoning for his blood.

Confession without repentance is meaningless.  Genuine confession and repentance must bear genuine fruit.  Let us recall the words of John the Baptist on this matter.

(Matthew 3:7-8 NRS) But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, You brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  ⁸Bear fruit worthy of repentance.

Joseph did not stop his charade until there was indeed evidence of a change of heart and ways among his once treacherous brothers.  Joseph further tested the treacherous and jealous sons of Leah by abundantly blessing the son of Rachel.

(Genesis 43:33-34 NRS) When they were seated before him, the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth, the men looked at one another in amazement.  ³⁴Portions were taken to them from Joseph’s table, but Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs.  So they drank and were merry with him.

(Genesis 45:21-22 NRS) …Joseph gave them wagons according to the instruction of Pharaoh, and he gave them provisions for the journey.  ²²To each one of them he gave a set of garments; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five sets of garments.

Possibly the greatest test, however, was the imprisonment of the youngest brother Benjamin.  Joseph set up the situation to ensnare Benjamin as his prisoner to test whether the brothers would treat the lone son of Rachel in the same manner they treated Joseph earlier.  Joseph was testing whether the jealous sons of Leah would abandon their brother and seek the double portion of the firstborn for themselves or whether they would genuinely defend their brother and honor their father.  But once Benjamin was taken captive, all the brothers returned with him and offered to stay with him.

(Genesis 44:14-17 NRS) Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house while he was still there; and they fell to the ground before him.  ¹⁵Joseph said to them, What deed is this that you have done?  Do you not know that one such as I can practice divination?  ¹⁶And Judah said, What can we say to my lord?  What can we speak?  How can we clear ourselves?  God has found out the guilt of your servants; here we are then, my lord’s slaves, both we and also the one in whose possession the cup has been found.  ¹⁷But he said, Far be it from me that I should do so!  Only the one in whose possession the cup was found shall be my slave; but as for you, go up in peace to your father.

Judah, however, who originally suggested profiting from the sale of Joseph, now intercedes for Benjamin and offers his life in exchange for Benjamin’s. Judahalso demonstrates a great love and concern for the effect of Benjamin’s captivity on their father, a concern that was clearly lacking whenJudahsuggested the sale of Joseph.

(Genesis 44:18-20 NRS) Then Judah stepped up to him and said, O my lord, let your servant please speak a word in my lord’s ears, and do not be angry with your servant; for you are like Pharaoh himself.  ¹⁹My lord asked his servants, saying, Have you a father or a brother?  ²⁰And we said to my lord, We have a father, an old man, and a young brother, the child of his old age.  His brother is dead; he alone is left of his mother’s children, and his father loves him.

(Genesis 44:29-34 NRS) If you take this one also from me, and harm comes to him, you will bring down my gray hairs in sorrow to Sheol.  ³⁰Now therefore, when I come to your servant my father and the boy is not with us, then, as his life is bound up in the boy’s life, ³¹when he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die; and your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant our father with sorrow to Sheol.  ³²For your servant became surety for the boy to my father, saying, If I do not bring him back to you, then I will bear the blame in the sight of my father all my life.  ³³Now therefore, please let your servant remain as a slave to my lord in place of the boy; and let the boy go back with his brothers.  ³⁴For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me?  I fear to see the suffering that would come upon my father.

During this long period of famine and testing, Joseph’s brothers confessed their guilt, showed genuine remorse, and, above all, demonstrated the truth of their repentance by offering to remain with Benjamin in adversity.  In our portionJudaheven offers to exchange his life for that of his brother Benjamin.  This is all Joseph needs to see.  With confession and repentance evident, Joseph reveals his true identity to his brothers, and the process of reconciliation begins.

(Genesis 45:1-3 NRS) Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, Send everyone away from me.  So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers.  ²And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it.  ³Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph.  Is my father still alive?  But his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence.

Taken totally by surprise by this sudden revelation, the brothers show some fear and trepidation, which Joseph quickly dispels by further revealing the will and hand of God in all that they have experienced.

(Genesis 45:4-8 NRS) Then Joseph said to his brothers, Come closer to me.  And they came closer.  He said, I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.  ⁵And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.  ⁶For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are five more years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.  ⁷God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.  ⁸So it was not you who sent me here, but God; He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

Once confession and genuine repentance take place, reconciliation is quick and joyous.  We may even see in this process a sense of death and resurrection in that Joseph was dead and is now alive to his father.

(Genesis 45:25-28 NRS) So they went up out of Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan.  ²⁶And they told him, Joseph is still alive!  He is even ruler over all the land of Egypt.  He was stunned; he could not believe them.  ²⁷But when they told him all the words of Joseph that he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived.  ²⁸Israel said, Enough!  My son Joseph is still alive.  I must go and see him before I die.

The reconciliation is not only between the brothers and their father; the whole family also joins Joseph inEgypt.

(Genesis 46:5-7 NRS) Then Jacob set out from Beer-sheba; and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him.  ⁶They also took their livestock and the goods that they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and they came into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him, ⁷his sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters; all his offspring he brought with him into Egypt.

Possibly the greatest of reconciliations is declared in the presence of God withIsraeland his family in the land of their exile.

(Genesis 46:2-4 NRS) God spoke to Israel in visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob.  And he said, Here I am.  ³Then He said, I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there.  ⁴I Myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again; and Joseph’s own hand shall close your eyes.

The Torah later prescribes sacrifices for the covering (atonement) for unintentional sins.

(Leviticus 4:2-4 NRS) Speak to the people of Israel, saying: When anyone sins unintentionally in any of YHWH’S commandments about things not to be done, and does any one of them: ³if it is the anointed priest who sins, thus bringing guilt on the people, he shall offer for the sin that he has committed a bull of the herd without blemish as a sin offering to YHWH.  ⁴He shall bring the bull to the entrance of the tent of meeting before YHWH and lay his hand on the head of the bull; the bull shall be slaughtered before YHWH.

(Leviticus 4:13-15 NRS) If the whole congregation of Israel errs unintentionally and the matter escapes the notice of the assembly, and they do any one of the things that by YHWH’S commandments ought not to be done and incur guilt; ¹⁴when the sin that they have committed becomes known, the assembly shall offer a bull of the herd for a sin offering and bring it before the tent of meeting.  ¹⁵The elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before YHWH, and the bull shall be slaughtered before YHWH.

(Leviticus 4:22-24 NRS) When a ruler sins, doing unintentionally any one of all the things that by commandments of YHWH his God ought not to be done and incurs guilt, ²³once the sin that he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring as his offering a male goat without blemish.  ²⁴He shall lay his hand on the head of the goat; it shall be slaughtered at the spot where the burnt offering is slaughtered before YHWH; it is a sin offering.

(Leviticus 4:27-29 NRS) If anyone of the ordinary people among you sins unintentionally in doing any one of the things that by YHWH’S commandments ought not to be done and incurs guilt, ²⁸when the sin that you have committed is made known to you, you shall bring a female goat without blemish as your offering, for the sin that you have committed.  ²⁹You shall lay your hand on the head of the sin offering; and the sin offering shall be slaughtered at the place of the burnt offering.

There is, however, no such sacrifice for intentional sins.  This is not to say that grace is not shown to the intentional sinner.  As demonstrated in the story of Joseph, the Sovereign One did allow, in many circumstances, the opportunity for the intentional sinner to be reconciled by intentionally confessing, repenting, and making restitution (bearing the fruit of repentance).  There is no such thing as “cheap grace” in the Bible.  Some may point to Yeshua’s demand that we forgive our brother every time he sins against us.

(Matthew 18:21-22 NRS) Then Peter came and said to him, Lord, if another member of the assembly sins against me, how often should I forgive?  As many as seven times?  ²²Yeshua said to him, Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.

While our Master desires us to be ever ready to forgive, he also speaks elsewhere about when we are to forgive.  It is clear that confession and repentance must precede forgiveness and reconciliation.

(Luke 17:4 NRS) And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, I repent, you must forgive.

Others may point to our Master’s words of forgiveness from the cross.

(Luke 23:33-34 NRS) When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Yeshua there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.  ³⁴Then Yeshua said, Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.  And they cast lots to divide his clothing.

Let us note that Yeshua pleads for those who crucify him on the basis of their ignorance.  In other words, although their actions were indeed intentional, they were motivated by ignorance.  Yeshua spoke of such actions to come even after his death.

(John 16:2 NRS) Indeed, an hour is coming when those who kill you will think that by doing so they are offering worship to God.

Misguided zeal is indeed a sin of ignorance that may be covered when it is recognized.  Therefore, Yeshua could plead for forgiveness for those who, in their zeal, crucified him, thinking they were protecting the Torah.

When we are victimized by our brothers (or others) who intentionally sin against us, there can be no reconciliation until the sin is admitted, restitution is made, and the sinning is stopped.  To extend forgiveness and reconciliation without confession and genuine repentance is to cast pearls before swine.  YHWH cannot accept His people back as long as they continue in their wickedness.  For forgiveness and reconciliation to take place, the children ofIsraelmust turn away from their wickedness and return their hearts fully to YHWH.

(Deuteronomy 4:26-31 NRS) I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to occupy; you will not live long on it, but will be utterly destroyed.  ²⁷YHWH will scatter you among the peoples; only a few of you will be left among the nations where YHWH will lead you.  ²⁸There you will serve other gods made by human hands, objects of wood and stone that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.  ²⁹From there you will seek YHWH your God, and you will find Him if you search after Him with all your heart and soul.  ³⁰In your distress, when all these things have happened to you in time to come, you will return to YHWH your God and heed Him.  ³¹Because YHWH your God is a merciful God, He will neither abandon you nor destroy you; He will not forget the covenant with your ancestors that He swore to them.

(2 Chronicles 7:14 NRS) If My people who are called by My name humble themselves, pray, seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

If we are to experience the joy, healing, reconciliation, and new life enjoyed by Joseph and his family, then we too must be ready to confess, repent, and restore when we have sinned against others and God.  We must also be ready to forgive when our brother or sister turns to us with genuine confession, repentance, and restitution.  The excommunication or shunning of an unrepentant sinner is never for the purpose of personal justice, revenge, hatred, or destruction of the guilty; it is done in the hopes of evoking in the sinner a desire for confession, repentance, and reconciliation.

OUTLINE:

• Genesis 41:1-8 Pharaoh has two dreams
• Genesis 41:9-13 Joseph is remembered
• Genesis 41:14-24 Pharaoh reports his dreams to Joseph
• Genesis 41:25-32 Joseph interprets the dreams
• Genesis 41:33-36 Joseph instructs Pharaoh concerning the dreams
• Genesis 41:37-45 Joseph is exalted
• Genesis 41:46-52 The seven years of abundance
• Genesis 41:53-57 The seven years of famine begin
• Genesis 42:1-5 Jacob sends his sons toEgypt
• Genesis 42:6-38 Joseph’s encounter with his ten brothers
• Genesis 43:1-12 The brothers petition Jacob for Benjamin
• Genesis 43:13-34 Joseph’s encounter with his eleven brothers
• Genesis 44:1-13 Joseph’s cup is placed in Benjamin’s sack and discovered
• Genesis 44:14-17 Joseph’s third encounter with his brothers

STUDY QUESTIONS:

1. What key literary device is used throughout the story of Joseph?
2. What is the definition of “irony”?
3. How is irony used in relation to Joseph’s dreams?
4. What irony did Joseph face?
5. What did Joseph expect after his dreams?  What did he get?
6. What lesson can we learn from Joseph’s experience?
7. What irony do Joseph’s brothers face?
8. What do Joseph’s brothers try to prevent?  What do they accomplish?
9. Who is responsible for Pharaoh’s dreams?  Who is responsible for their interpretation?
10. How is Pharaoh’s response different than that of the brothers?

TEACHING:

The chronicle of Joseph is a wonderful story which reads much like a modern-day novel.  The plot of the story is filled with promises, suspense, conflict, tension, disappointments, surprises, and a great sense of irony.  The Oxford Dictionary of English defines the term “irony” as follows: “Irony:  noun, the expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect … A state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often wryly amusing as a result …”[1]

Much of the irony in the story revolves around Joseph’s childhood dreams.

(Genesis 37:5-11 NRS) Once Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.  ⁶He said to them, Listen to this dream that I dreamed.  ⁷There we were, binding sheaves in the field.  Suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright; then your sheaves gathered around it, and bowed down to my sheaf.  ⁸His brothers said to him, Are you indeed to reign over us?  Are you indeed to have dominion over us?  So they hated him even more because of his dreams and his words.  ⁹He had another dream, and told it to his brothers, saying, Look, I have had another dream: the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.  ¹⁰But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him, and said to him, What kind of dream is this that you have had?  Shall we indeed come, I and your mother and your brothers, and bow to the ground before you?  ¹¹So his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

The first instance of irony is found in the implied direction of Joseph’s life.  Joseph is the favored son of his father.

(Genesis 37:2-4 NRS) This is the story of the family of Jacob.  Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a helper to the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father.  Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he had made him a long robe with sleeves.  ⁴But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.

It is difficult to discern from the text of the story whether Joseph was a spoiled brat who never missed an opportunity to squeal on his brothers while reveling in his special status of favored son to his father or if he was simply a typical naïve and endearing boy who genuinely thought that his brothers would rejoice in the positive message of his dreams.  Regardless of Joseph’s character, it is clear that Joseph’s favored status with his father and the content of his two dreams indicated that young Joseph was going places.  All the evidence serves to raise great expectations for the life of Joseph.  However, instead of Joseph being elevated by his brothers, he was cast down.

(Genesis 37:23-24 NRS) So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore; and they took him and threw him into a pit.  The pit was empty; there was no water in it.

Instead of being adored and worshipped by his brothers, Joseph was despised, mocked, hated, and threatened by them.

(Genesis 37:4 NRS) But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.

(Genesis 37:8 NRS) His brothers said to him, Are you indeed to reign over us?  Are you indeed to have dominion over us?  So they hated him even more because of his dreams and his words.

(Genesis 37:11 NRS) So his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

(Genesis 37:18 NRS) They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him.

(Genesis 37:19-20 NRS) They said to one another, Here comes this dreamer.  ²⁰Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams.

To further confound and frustrate Joseph’s expectation of exaltation, he was kidnapped by Midianites, sold to Ishmaelites, and then sold as a slave inEgypt, where he was falsely accused of rape and cast into prison.

(Genesis 37:28 NRS) When some Midianite traders passed by, they drew Joseph up, lifting him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver.  And they took Joseph to Egypt.

(Genesis 37:36 NRS) Meanwhile the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard.

(Genesis 39:19-20 NRS) When his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, saying, This is the way your servant treated me, he became enraged.  ²⁰And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; he remained there in prison.

In spite of all the adversity that befell Joseph after receiving the positive prophecies of his dreams, we are repeatedly told that YHWH was still with him.

(Genesis 39:2-3 NRS) YHWH was with Joseph, and he became a successful man; he was in the house of his Egyptian master.  ³His master saw that YHWH was with him, and that YHWH caused all that he did to prosper in his hands.

(Genesis 39:21-23 NRS) But YHWH was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love; He gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.  ²²The chief jailer committed to Joseph’s care all the prisoners who were in the prison, and whatever was done there, he was the one who did it.  ²³The chief jailer paid no heed to anything that was in Joseph’s care, because YHWH was with him; and whatever he did, YHWH made it prosper.

Here again, we must appreciate the irony in that the pagan master and heathen jailer could see that YHWH was favoring Joseph, even when his own family could not.  While Joseph’s own brothers – the eventual heads of the tribes ofIsrael– could not or would not recognize Joseph’s favor with God, Pharaoh, the head ofEgypt, does.

(Genesis 41:38-40 NRS) Pharaoh said to his servants, Can we find anyone else like this – one in whom is the Spirit of God?  ³⁹So Pharaoh said to Joseph, Since God has shown you all this, there is no one so discerning and wise as you.  ⁴⁰You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command; only with regard to the throne will I be greater than you.

While it is important for translation and interpretation purposes to understand the various genres and literary devices used in telling biblical stories, it is also important that we do not overlook the biblical principles they reveal.  Such is clearly the case in the story of Joseph.  We should note that through the use of irony, the Bible instructs us concerning expectations based upon dreams and revelations.  Let us begin by recognizing that God’s ways are not always our ways.

(Isaiah 55:8-11 NRS) For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says YHWH.  ⁹For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.  ¹⁰For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, ¹¹so shall My word be that goes out from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

YHWH is the Sovereign Creator of the universe.  YHWH is infinite, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent.  We, on the other hand, are limited in time, space, and understanding.  It is completely beyond our human capacity to comprehend the fullness of YHWH; therefore, when we receive revelation from the Creator, we process it through our finite minds and reasoning.  The limitation of our finite minds, understanding, reason, and experience often leads us to false conclusions or expectations.  Without God’s grace we simply do not have the capacity to comprehend all the wonderful works of God.  Instead of waiting for the Creator to do what He revealed in His own time and in His own way, we often try to take matters into our own hands and implement the revelation ourselves.  This is what Abram and Sarai did when they tried to fulfill the promise of YHWH by their own reasoning.

(Genesis 15:3-5 NRS) And Abram said, You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.  ⁴But the word of YHWH came to him, This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.  ⁵He brought him outside and said, Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.  Then He said to him, So shall your descendants be.

(Genesis 16:1-2 NRS) Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bore him no children.  She had an Egyptian slave-girl whose name was Hagar, ²and Sarai said to Abram, You see that YHWH has prevented me from bearing children; go in to my slave-girl; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.  And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

In time, YHWH fulfilled His promise to Abram and Sarai according to His Word and His plan.

(Genesis 18:9-10 NRS) They said to him, Where is your wife Sarah?  And he said, There, in the tent.  ¹⁰Then one said, I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.  And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him.

(Genesis 21:1-2 NRS) YHWH dealt with Sarah as He had said, and YHWH did for Sarah as He had promised.  ²Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him.

Let us note that the same sense of irony, based upon false expectations, is experienced by Moses and the children ofIsraelprior to the exodus fromEgypt.

While in exile, Moses has a profound encounter with the living God in the burning bush.  Moses carries on an extensive dialogue with Sovereign One and receives a unique calling to return to Egyptand deliver the people of Israelout of bondage in Egyptto the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants.  Fearful that his people will not believe he has been sent by God to deliver them, Moses asks the Sovereign One for an affirming sign.  YHWH grants Moses three miracles and His name to share with the people of Israel.[2]  Armed with the memorial name of God and the three miracles, Moses makes his way back toEgypt and shares the signs with the children ofIsrael.

(Exodus 4:30-31 NRS) Aaron spoke all the words that YHWH had spoken to Moses, and performed the signs in the sight of the people.  ³The people believed; and when they heard that YHWH had given heed to the Israelites and that He had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshipped.

Based upon the positive promises of Moses and the affirmation of the miraculous signs performed by Moses and Aaron, the children ofIsrael’s expectation of release and better days soars.  Ironically, instead of their situation improving as expected, it becomes significantly worse.

(Exodus 5:6-9 NRS) That same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, as well as their supervisors, ⁷You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as before; let them go and gather straw for themselves.  ⁸But you shall require of them the same quantity of bricks as they have made previously; do not diminish it, for they are lazy; that is why they cry, Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.  ⁹Let heavier work be laid on them; then they will labor at it and pay no attention to deceptive words.

Pharaoh’s harsh response instantly quenches all hope of release among the children ofIsrael.

(Exodus 5:20-21 NRS) As they left Pharaoh, they came upon Moses and Aaron who were waiting to meet them.  ²¹They said to them, YHWH look upon you and judge!  You have brought us into bad odor with Pharaoh and his officials, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.

Even Moses is confused by the ironic response to his expectations.

(Exodus 5:22-23 NRS) Then Moses turned again to YHWH and said, O YHWH, why have You mistreated this people?  Why did You ever send me?  ²³Since I first came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has mistreated this people, and You have done nothing at all to deliver Your people.

In time, as we all well know, YHWH does fulfill everything He promised the children ofIsrael.  Though their release fromEgyptdoes not happen when or how the children ofIsraelexpect it, it does happen when and how YHWH promised it would.  Ultimately, YHWH delivers the people in such a grand and spectacular way that we continue to marvel and tell the story to this very day.

Another instance of delayed promises concerns David’s anointing as king.  During the reign of King Saul, the young David is anointed by Samuel as the future king.

(1 Samuel 16:1 NRS) YHWH said to Samuel, How long will you grieve over Saul?  I have rejected him from being king over Israel.  Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for Myself a king among his sons.

(1 Samuel 16:11-13 NRS) Samuel said to Jesse, Are all your sons here?  And he said, There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep.  And Samuel said to Jesse, Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.  ¹²He sent and brought him in.  Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome.  YHWH said, Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.  ¹³Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the Spirit of YHWH came mightily upon David from that day forward.  Samuel then set out and went to Ramah.

Following his anointing David serves in Saul’s court and in Saul’s army, but instead of being elevated to the throne, David is the subject of King Saul’s suspicion, jealousy, and wrath.

(1 Samuel 18:10-11 NRS) The next day an evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house, while David was playing the lyre, as he did day by day.  Saul had his spear in his hand; ¹¹and Saul threw the spear, for he thought, I will pin David to the wall.  But David eluded him twice.

(1 Samuel 19:9-11 NRS) Then an evil spirit from YHWH came upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand, while David was playing music.  ¹⁰Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear; but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall.  David fled and escaped that night.  ¹¹Saul sent messengers to David’s house to keep watch over him, planning to kill him in the morning.  David’s wife Michal told him, If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.

(1 Samuel 19:15 NRS) Then Saul sent the messengers to see David for themselves.  He said, Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.

In spite of all the persecution, we are told that YHWH is with David, just as He was with Joseph and the Israelites in their adversity.

(1 Samuel 16:13 NRS) Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the Spirit of YHWH came mightily upon David from that day forward.  Samuel then set out and went to Ramah.

(1 Samuel 18:12 NRS) Saul was afraid of David, because YHWH was with him but had departed from Saul.

In God’s time David is made king over allIsrael, as YHWH declared over him when he was but a young man.

(2 Samuel 5:3-5 NRS) So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron; and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before YHWH, and they anointed David king over Israel.  ⁴David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.  ⁵At Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months; and at Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.

In all these stories we see that YHWH is faithful to His promises.  In all these stories we also see that YHWH’S ways are not our ways.  Therefore, we must learn to wait upon YHWH to fulfill His Word.  We should also note that everything endured by Joseph, byIsrael, and by David in the stories between the receiving of the promise and its fulfillment is preparation for what they will face in the fulfillment of the promise.  YHWH does not set us up for failure but for success in our calling.  Therefore, we should expect to face challenges, tests, and surprises that will strengthen and equip us for what we will face in the fulfillment of our calling.  We should not lose faith in the promises of God but recognize that YHWH is with us throughout these times of trial, testing, and training.

Another example of irony in the story of Joseph involves Joseph’s brothers.  Clearly unsettled by the idea of their brother ruling over them, they do everything in their power to prevent the fulfillment of Joseph’s dreams.

(Genesis 37:18-20 NRS) They saw him [Joseph] from a distance, and before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him.  ¹⁹They said to one another, Here comes this dreamer.  ²⁰Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams.

In spite of all their scheming, conniving efforts to be rid of their brother Joseph and prevent him from ever exercising dominion over them, this is exactly what happens to them.  Joseph repeatedly exercises power and authority over his brothers, manipulating them and playing with them like puppets.

(Genesis 42:1-6 NRS) When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, Why do you keep looking at one another?  ²I have heard, he said, that there is grain in Egypt; go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die.  ³So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt.  ⁴But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he feared that harm might come to him.  ⁵Thus the sons of Israel were among the other people who came to buy grain, for the famine had reached the land of Canaan.  ⁶Now Joseph was governor over the land; it was he who sold to all the people of the land.  And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground.

So thorough is Joseph’s power over his brothers that he moves them to reveal the news of his younger brother Benjamin and to present his younger brother before him.

(Genesis 42:15-20 NRS) Here is how you shall be tested: as Pharaoh lives, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here!  ¹⁶Let one of you go and bring your brother, while the rest of you remain in prison, in order that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you; or else, as Pharaoh lives, surely you are spies.  ¹⁷And he put them all together in prison for three days.  ¹⁸On the third day Joseph said to them, Do this and you will live, for I fear God: ¹⁹if you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here where you are imprisoned.  The rest of you shall go and carry grain for the famine of your households, ²⁰and bring your youngest brother to me.  Thus your words will be verified, and you shall not die.  And they agreed to do so.

(Genesis 43:15-16 NRS) So the men took the present, and they took double the money with them, as well as Benjamin.  Then they went on their way down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.  ¹⁶When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, Bring the men into the house, and slaughter an animal and make ready, for the men are to dine with me at noon.

Possibly the greatest irony concerning the brothers is that the very actions they carried out with the intention of preventing God’s revealed will concerning Joseph actually brought it about.  The brothers sought to prevent the prophetic dreams from happening but fulfilled them by their actions.

(Genesis 45:4-5 NRS) Then Joseph said to his brothers, Come closer to me.  And they came closer.  He said, I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.  ⁵And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.

(Genesis 50:25 NRS) So Joseph made the Israelites swear, saying, When God comes to you, you shall carry up my bones from here.

Here we learn that no man or group of men has the power to overcome the sovereign will of YHWH.  Let us contrast Joseph’s brothers’ response to his prophetic dreams with that of Pharaoh, who likewise had prophetic dreams.

(Genesis 41:1-8 NRS) After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile, ²and there came up out of the Nile seven sleek and fat cows, and they grazed in the reed grass.  ³Then seven other cows, ugly and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile.  ⁴The ugly and thin cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows.  And Pharaoh awoke.  ⁵Then he fell asleep and dreamed a second time; seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk.  ⁶Then seven ears, thin and blighted by the east wind, sprouted after them.  ⁷The thin ears swallowed up the seven plump and full ears.  Pharaoh awoke, and it was a dream.  ⁸In the morning his spirit was troubled; so he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men.  Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.

After the failure of all the magicians and wise men ofEgyptto comfort Pharaoh with an acceptable interpretation of his dreams, Joseph is called for and brought before Pharaoh.

(Genesis 41:9-14 NRS) Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, I remember my faults today.  ¹⁰Once Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me and the chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard.  ¹¹We dreamed on the same night, he and I, each having a dream with its own meaning.  ¹²A young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard.  When we told him, he interpreted our dreams to us, giving an interpretation to each according to his dream.  ¹³As he interpreted to us, so it turned out; I was restored to my office, and the baker was hanged.  ¹⁴Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was hurriedly brought out of the dungeon.  When he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came in before Pharaoh.

Pharaoh recounts his dreams to Joseph, who assures him that God will give him an answer.

(Genesis 41:16 NRS) Joseph answered Pharaoh, It is not I; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.

(Genesis 41:25-32 NRS) Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, Pharaoh’s dreams are one and the same; God has revealed to Pharaoh what He is about to do.  ²⁶The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one.  ²⁷The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, as are the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind.  They are seven years of famine.  ²⁸It is as I told Pharaoh; God has shown to Pharaoh what He is about to do.  ²⁹There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt.  ³⁰After them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; the famine will consume the land.  ³¹The plenty will no longer be known in the land because of the famine that will follow, for it will be very grievous.  ³²And the doubling of Pharaoh’s dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about.

The fact that God gives Joseph the interpretation of the dreams may seem sufficient enough for most of us, but Joseph presumes to go much further and advises Pharaoh as to how he should prepare for the fulfillment of the dreams.

(Genesis 41:33-36 NRS) Now therefore let Pharaoh select a man who is discerning and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.  ³⁴Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land, and take one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven plenteous years.  ³⁵Let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming, and lay up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it.  ³⁶That food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that are to befall the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish through the famine.

Pharaoh is pleased with the answer of Joseph’s God and puts Joseph’s advice into action by giving Joseph, God’s wise and discerning servant, authority over all thelandofEgypt.

(Genesis 41:37-45 NRS) The proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants.  ³⁸Pharaoh said to his servants, Can we find anyone else like this – one in whom is the Spirit of God?  ³⁹So Pharaoh said to Joseph, Since God has shown you all this, there is no one so discerning and wise as you.  ⁴⁰You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command; only with regard to the throne will I be greater than you.  ⁴¹And Pharaoh said to Joseph, See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.  ⁴²Removing his signet ring from his hand, Pharaoh put it on Joseph’s hand; he arrayed him in garments of fine linen, and put a gold chain around his neck.  ⁴³He had him ride in the chariot of his second-in-command; and they cried out in front of him, Bow the knee!  Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt.  ⁴⁴Moreover Pharaoh said to Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.  ⁴⁵Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, as his wife.  Thus Joseph gained authority over the land of Egypt.

(Genesis 41:48-49 NRS) He gathered up all the food of the seven years when there was plenty in the land of Egypt, and stored up food in the cities; he stored up in every city the food from the fields around it.  ⁴⁹So Joseph stored up grain in such abundance – like the sand of the sea – that he stopped measuring it; it was beyond measure.

We should note that Pharaoh sees Joseph’s faith in God’s promises.  Joseph believes that the dreams came from God.  Joseph believes that God showed this revelation concerning the years of abundance and famine for a purpose.  Joseph believes that God will fulfill His Word to Pharaoh.  Instead of trying to prevent God’s will from happening, as his brothers did, Joseph suggests that Pharaoh take precautions and prepare for what God will surely bring about.  Seeing Joseph’s faith in his God’s faithfulness, Pharaoh takes appropriate action to prepare for what YHWH will surely do.  Let us take careful note that in both sets of dreams (Joseph’s two dreams and Pharaoh’s two dreams), YHWH does exactly what He reveals.  The difference is that Joseph’s brothers, in working to prevent the fulfillment of his dreams, ironically fulfilled them, while Pharaoh, under Joseph’s guidance, prepares for the fulfillment of his dreams.

We should also note that God alone fulfills His revelations in spite of Joseph’s brothers’ interference and without the help or aid of Pharaoh.  YHWH is clearly declared to be the Sovereign God of the universe.  He controls believers and unbelievers, kings and prisoners, sun and rain.  We should learn from these stories not to interfere with the Word and promises of YHWH.  He does not need us to manipulate people, circumstances, or elements to fulfill His Word.  We should also learn to trust YHWH to fulfill His Word in spite of how impossible or opposite our circumstances may appear to our finite reason.  If YHWH is loving, faithful, and merciful, as His Word declares, then in spite of what we may endure, we must trust that He will carry out His will in a loving, merciful, and faithful fashion.

The storm was truly the fiercest and most savage that any of the trees of the forest had ever experienced in all of their years.  The rain poured down upon them bending their bows with the weight of the water.  Hail fell with such ferocious force that it ripped holes through their leaves and broke small twigs from their branches. The winds ravaged the remaining leaves and twisted large branches to the breaking point, snapping them with great explosive power.  Even some of the oldest trees of the forest were uprooted and pushed onto younger trees which buckled and broke under the great weight of the mighty fallen stalwarts. But the worst was yet to come. Flash, bang, flash, bang, flash, flash, boom, boom, boom, the lightning strikes were everywhere.  Unable to run or duck for cover the tall trees of the forest were easy targets for the relentless strikes of lightning.  Fires burned uncontrolled all over the forest. The winds helped the flames to spread from tree, to tree, to tree, until the whole forest was ablaze. There was simply no escape.  When it was over, the entire forest was reduced to nothing more than smoking ash.

But as is the case in the cycle of nature, where there was death, new life eventually began.  After a year of laying quiet, a small sprout of a tree began growing in the center of the burned out forest.  It was not much at first, just a sprout, a twig, and then leaves.  Eventually other trees began sprouting and growing around it.  Slowly the scorched earth was healed and a fledgling forest began to emerge.  The little sapling of a tree at the center of the forest boasted to all the other trees, how he was the first tree in the forest. “Therefore,” said he, “I should be the King of Trees and all other trees should bow to me and respect me.”  “After all,” boasted the little tree proudly, “I was the first to sprout, the first to get leaves, and the first to branch!”  At first all the other saplings listened to the boasting of the little tree and directed their attention toward this self-appointed “King of Trees”. But in time the other trees begin looking heaven ward stretching and reaching for the sky. Year after year all the trees grew taller, fuller, thicker and more majestic in appearance.  All, that is, with the exception of the little tree in the center of the forest. The little tree continued to remain focused only upon himself. While the other trees sought to bring honor and beauty to the whole forest, the little tree was always boasting and bragging, about how he was the first to sprout, the first to leaf, the first to branch and how he was the center of the forest.  Because he was in the center of the forest the other trees received more rain and sunlight and grew much faster and taller.  But the little tree in the center would daily remind them all, “I was the first to sprout, the first to leaf, the first to have branches, the first, the first, the first, I am the King of Trees!” he would shout.  The other trees would listen and humbly declare, “Yes, you were the first, you are the center, you are the King of Trees”.

Eventually the other trees grew even larger, taller, thicker, and their combined canopy crowned the forest and looked quite royal in appearance.  But the little tree in the center of the forest appeared puny in comparison.  The little tree would not be out done by his fellow trees and continued to boast and brag to the other trees, “I was first to sprout, I was first to leaf, I was first to branch, I am the King of Trees!”   But the other taller trees hardly listened to the puny little squirt of a tree hidden in the shadows of their grandeur in the center of the forest.  This caused the little tree to shout even louder and brag even more, “Look at me all you other trees; I am the center of the forest!  All other trees grow around me!  I am the center of the forest!    I was first to sprout, I was first to leaf, I was first to branch, I am the center of the forest.  I am the King of Trees!”  But to all the other trees his puny little voice just sounded like a small insignificant breeze blowing through the forest floor.  All the other trees had grown above the little tree’s arrogance, boasting, and claim of superiority.  All the other trees were happy just being trees in the forest.

“This will never do” squeaked the little tree, “They have to listen to me. I was first to sprout, I was first to leaf, I was first to branch!  I am the center of the forest! I am the King of Trees!”  So the little tree boasted louder and louder, and with greater vehemence. “They’re just jealous” cried the little tree, “because I am the center of the forest, I am the King of Trees.” Realizing that no one was really listening, the little tree started attacking the other trees, accusing them of stealing his sunlight, robbing him of his rain, and trying to over shadow his glory.  It was all the other trees’ fault that he was so small.  He called the other trees evil names, and tried to spread malicious rumors around the forest about the trees that grew all around him.  And still he boasted “I was first to sprout, I was first to leaf, I was first to branch, I am the center of the forest, I am King of Trees!”  But the other trees no longer listened to the pathetic and insignificant little tree with the great big ego.

This enraged the little tree even more, so he made a deal with the mindless little squirrels of the forest that sometimes played in his branches.  He convinced the little squirrels that he would give them more nuts if they would just break off the branches of the big trees so he could get more sunlight and rain.  Being somewhat mindless the squirrels attacked the big trees and broke off many small branches.  The little pathetic tree rejoiced in the damage they caused his bigger subjects.  “Now, with command of my squirrel army, these big trees will soon see that I truly am the King of Trees!” said the little tree proudly.   But while climbing the big trees, the squirrels discovered that the big trees had bigger nuts and many more than the puny little tree that was bossing them around.  So the squirrels abandoned the little tree and forgot all about him and his tiny nuts.   Since the squirrels had pruned some of the smaller sucker branches from the big trees they grew even bigger, taller, thicker and fuller.  The more the little tree tried to tear down the bigger trees, whether by his words or by his actions, the bigger the other trees became and the small and more pathetic the little tree appeared.  But still the little tree kept boasting, “look at me, listening to me, bow to me, I was first to sprout, I was first to leaf, I was first to branch, I live in the center of the forest, I am King of Trees!”  But no one listened, not even the mindless squirrels.

One day a truck filled with foresters drove into the forest.  The men got out and began looking and marveling at the great and giant trees that had grown in the once burned forest.  “What marvelous trees” said the men one to another. “Truly spectacular!” said another of the foresters.  “Finally,” said the littler tree, “Someone my size who will listen to me.”  “If I can just get their attention, I’ll tell them how rebellious these other trees are and how selfish they are, how they won’t give me the respect and homage I’m owed, and how they rob me of sunlight and rain.“  So the little tree began waving his little branches and shaking his leaves, and bragging, “Look at me, look at me, I was first to sprout, I was first to leaf, I was first to branch, I am the center of the forest, I am the King of Trees.”  Then the foresters looked at the pathetic and puny tree shaking in the breeze at the center of the forest. “Good!” thought the little tree, “I have their attention now. Clearly they can see that I am the King of Trees.” The little tree quickly began rehearsing his complaint to the forester. Then one of the foresters grabbed an ax from the back of the truck and approached the puny looking tree in the center of the forest.  “Yes!” cried the little self-appointed King of Trees with joy, “They will hear my complaint and chop down all these giant rebels. Now they will see that I am King of Trees.”  Oh how happy the little tree was at the thought of the giant trees being chopped down to size. “When these rebellious trees lay on the ground in pieces, then I will tower over them, then they will see that I am truly the King of Trees,” declared the puny tree. But to his total shock and astonishment, he heard the forester say, “Look at this pathetic little tree in the center of the forest, he will never amount to anything.”  ”He’s just taking up space, sucking up nutrients, and becoming a fire hazard,” said the other forester.  “WHAT?!” shouted the little tree indignantly.  But before he could begin his explanatory boast, “But I was first to sprout, first to leaf, first to branch, I am the center of the forest, I am the King of Trees!”, the ax fell with a thud and silenced the pathetic little tree. All the other trees simply stared at the heavens and basked in its light content and happy just to be trees of the forest.

A man who feels the need to tear down others in order to look big in his own eyes is truly a small person to begin with. A man who continues to tear down others to look big in the eyes of others, reveals that he is indeed a very, very small person to begin with.  Such a person sees their world like the Israelites who gave an evil report about the land of Israel.

(Numbers 13:32-33 NRS) So they brought to the Israelites an unfavorable report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land that we have gone through as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people that we saw in it are of great size. ³³ There we saw the Nephilim (the Anakites come from the Nephilim); and to ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.” 

Filled with fear and unbelief, these Israelite spies described the inhabitants of the land as the giants of ancient folklore, while at the same time describing themselves as helpless little grasshoppers.  That there were no such giants in the land at the time was revealed by Moses in the Book of Deuteronomy.

(Deuteronomy 2:9-13 NRS) YHWH said to me: “Do not harass Moab or engage them in battle, for I will not give you any of its land as a possession, since I have given Ar as a possession to the descendants of Lot.” ¹⁰  (The Emim– a large and numerous people, as tall as the Anakim– had formerly inhabited it. ¹¹  Like the Anakim, they are usually reckoned as Rephaim, though the Moabites call them Emim. ¹²  Moreover, the Horim had formerly inhabited Seir, but the descendants of Esau dispossessed them, destroying them and settling in their place, as Israel has done in the land that YHWH gave them as a possession.) ¹³  ”Now then, proceed to cross over the Wadi Zered.” So we crossed over the Wadi Zered. 

Moses was trying to comfort and assure the children of Israel that there was really nothing to be afraid of.  Note how Moses speaks of the giants as formerly inhabiting the land.  In other words, there were no mythical giants living in the land at the time of the spies reports, it was complete exaggeration. There was truly nothing to be afraid of.  But since the Israelite spies saw their adversaries as big, strong and invincible, while at the same time, they saw themselves as being little, frail and vulnerable, they were afraid and put fear in the hearts of others by giving an evil report of the Promise Land.

The man or woman that attempts to look big by tearing down others reveals that in their own eyes, they see their enemies as huge, strong and invincible while seeing themselves as small and helpless grasshoppers. Only a truly small and weak person has to destroy, tear down or chop down others in order to look big themselves.

When a person begins attacking and tearing down another person without provocation, it reveals another reality. We are told in the Torah that those who violate the Torah and are under a curse and will be afraid even when no one is attacking them.  The cursed will feel threatened when no one is threatening them.  In other words, they will imagine all manner of threats and offenses against themselves.

(Leviticus 26:14-17 NRS) But if you will not obey me, and do not observe all these commandments, ¹⁵  if you spurn my statutes, and abhor my ordinances, so that you will not observe all my commandments, and you break my covenant, ¹⁶  I in turn will do this to you: I will bring terror on you; consumption and fever that waste the eyes and cause life to pine away. You shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. ¹⁷  I will set my face against you, and you shall be struck down by your enemies; your foes shall rule over you, and you shall flee though no one pursues you. 

(Leviticus 26:36 NRS) … the sound of a driven leaf shall put them to flight, and they shall flee as one flees from the sword, and they shall fall though no one pursues. 

Those who attack others and tear them down without provocation are not only small and weak in their own eyes, but are also feeling threatened for no apparent reason.  This would seem to indicate that they are not walking in accordance with the Torah but are feeling the sting of the curse.  Generally such people are afraid that their own sins, faults, flaws, shortcomings, and weaknesses will be exposed.  These tiny trees are afraid that people will see how small and weak they are.  Fearful of exposure and judgment these little people seek to blame their faults and failures on others. These poor puny souls spread rumors and attack others because they are afraid that others will see their faults and weaknesses and see how small and pathetic they really are. To distract from their own sins and shortcomings, these self-appointed kings begin to attack others, pointing out everyone else’s flaws (whether real or imagined) to avert such attention from themselves.

The Hebrew word galah (gimmel, lamed, hey) means to “uncover” something.  Fourteen times in the eighteenth chapter of the Book of Leviticus the children of Israel are prohibited from “uncovering” the nakedness of others.  The Hebrew word kafar (kaf, fey, resh) means “to cover”.  Fourteen times in chapters sixteen through seventeen of the same book we are told to make “coverings” (atonements).  In other words, as the covenant people of YHWH we are not to expose people’s shortcomings, faults, and weaknesses but cover them in love.

(Leviticus 19:16 NRS) You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not profit by the blood of your neighbor: I am YHWH. 

(Proverbs 11:13 NRS) A gossip goes about telling secrets, but one who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a confidence. 

(Proverbs 18:8 NRS) The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body. 

(Proverbs 20:19 NRS) A gossip reveals secrets; therefore do not associate with a babbler. 

(Proverbs 26:20 NRS) For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases. 

 (Proverbs 10:12 NRS) Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses. 

(1 Peter 4:8 NRS) Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. 

Gossiping, exposing other people’s weaknesses, judging others unfairly or by a different standard than used for oneself, and bearing false witness against another person, are all contrary to the Torah.

(Exodus 20:16 NRS) You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 

(Proverbs 10:9 NRS) Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever follows perverse ways will be found out. 

(Proverbs 19:9 NRS) A false witness will not go unpunished, and the liar will perish. 

(Exodus 23:1 NRS) You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with the wicked to act as a malicious witness. 

(Proverbs 20:10 NRS) Diverse weights and diverse measures are both alike an abomination to YHWH. 

When we encounter those who utilize these unrighteous means to make themselves look big, we should resist the temptation to fight back measure for measure. We need not stoop to their size or bow to their pathetic claims. Instead, we should recognize that we are already bigger than them.  We have already risen above such things.  Like the trees of the forest we should turn our gaze heavenward, bask in its light and rejoice at being a part of the forest.  We need not defend or fight back. Their words are nothing more than an insignificant breeze blowing on the forest floor. It is the Creator who has raised us up and placed us in his forest.

(1 Corinthians 12:18 NRS) But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 

Each member has a purpose, a talent, a gifting, a calling.

(1 Corinthians 12:28-30 NRS) And God has appointed in the assembly first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. ²⁹  Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? ³⁰  Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 

(1 Corinthians 12:17 NRS) If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 

When we are unjustly attacked by those who see themselves as small and weak, we must learn to rise above the fray, turn the other cheek, and even pray for those who feel the need to tear down others in order to appear big in their own eyes.

(Matthew 5:39 NRS) But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; 

(Luke 6:22-23 NRS) “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. ²³  Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets. 

(Luke 6:27-28 NRS) “But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸  bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 

The petty persecution we endure from such little sickly trees will only serve to strengthen us for the greater challenges and offenses yet to be endured. We must not lose heart at such futile attacks from the small and weak, but we must be strong and courageous. The time will come when the keeper of the forest and true King of Trees will come and lay the ax to the root of  such fruitless trees.  In the meantime we would do well to heed the words of the psalmist.

(Psalm 1:1-6 NRS) Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; ²  but their delight is in the instruction  of YHWH, and on his instruction they meditate day and night. ³  They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper. ⁴  The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. ⁵  Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; ⁶  for YHWH watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.