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6:2. Now Elohim spoke to Moshe and told him, "I am YHWH,
This is the beginning of the first commandment (20:2), and it is where everything begins for Israel: recognizing who YHWH is. Here He is telling Moshe, “I am taking care of this, even though it may not look like it. Before you get there, I will be there.”
3. "and I appeared (va’era) to Avraham, To Yitzhaq, and to Yaaqov as El Shaddai, but by my Name YHWH, was I not known to them?"
Both Noakh (Gen. 9:26) and all of these patriarchs did know His Name was YHWH (Gen. 12:8; 13:4; 13:18; 14:22; 15:7; 16:2; 16:5; 18:14; 21:33; 22:14; 24:3, 7; 24:27; 24:40; 26:25; 27:7, 20, 27; 28:13, 21; 29:32, etc.) But this was not the attribute He emphasized to them. El means "mighty one" and emphasizes His power and justice. Shaddai seems to stem from shad (breast in the specific context of nursing) combined with "dai" (enough); He is sufficient. He intervened for the patriarchs whenever they needed Him to, but now Israel is a people; He wants to dwell permanently with us. Both they and Pharaoh must experience the fact that He is very different from Egypt’s elohim. He had proven Himself to the patriarchs through abnormally-timed births of children and provision in lean times. He promised them a home, as one would to a bride. But that is not all there is to Him. He relates to us as King, Husband, and Father—or even Mother. He did not want Moshe to think His power was one-faceted, like the gods of Egypt, who supposedly each controlled only one aspect of weather, etc. What He was going to do to Pharaoh was not a motherly thing. He would not even drive Israel out gently. He is both the fierce protector, as seen in the pillar of fire, and the comforter, as seen in the cloud, which brings us shade. He was not only a merciful friend; He could avenge them in a magnificent manner as well. Though He does not mind honest argument, when Moshe said, "I can't", it angered YHWH, because He was there to support him. He had ways of making this work that Moshe did not know about, but He had already shown him enough to let him know that He could be trusted.
4. "And I also confirmed My covenant with them, to give them the Land of Kanaan--the land of their sojournings, in which they were temporary dwellers.
He has not forgotten that Egypt is not their home. There is no better way than when sojourning to constantly see that our provision comes only from YHWH. Now a different kind of slavery keeps us from the heritage again promised to us in Ezekiel 28:25-26. (“The borrower is slave to the lender”, Prov. 22:7, or in other cases slavery to self.) But this precedent shows YHWH can solve our current predicament as well!
5. "And I have also perceived the groaning of the descendants of Israel, whom the Egyptians are compelling to labor, and I remember My covenant.
I remember: in the continuous, regular, or recurring sense, and it actually means, “I mark it down so I won’t forget”. It can mean “I will remember”, so it is not limited to this particular time, but applies to our own day as well. When what we ask Him is in line with the covenant, we are on firm footing and He can still “move heaven and earth” to help us, as He did here.
6. "So tell the descendants of Israel, ‘I am YHWH, and I will bring you out from [under] the tyrannical service of the Egyptians, and I will snatch you away from their slave-labor, and I will avenge you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.
I am YHWH: Moshe is speaking for Him as a prophet; when Y’shua said similar things, people attributed the words to him rather than the One who sent him, and gross errors ensued. Judgment: both punishment for the unjust Egyptians and vindication for the oppressed Israelites.
7. "Moreover, I will acquire you for Myself as a people, and I will be an Elohim for you, and you will come to know that I am YHWH your Elohim, who is bringing you out from [under] the compulsory service of the Egyptians.
As a people: a new nation. The Exodus interrupts the natural flows of history as usual. The "repair of the world" had begun! Thus far the story has just been that He will take them to a celebration in the wilderness; now it goes a lot further, because Pharaoh has gone too far. Now His people will be completely brought out. I will acquire you for Myself: This is the terminology of taking a bride.
8. "Then I will bring you into the Land which I raised My hand to give to Avraham, to Yitzhaq, and to Yaaqov. And I will give it to you as an inheritance. I am YHWH!"
Raised My hand: i.e., swore an oath. An inheritance is something slaves do not receive, so He is also telling them they will be free men.
9. So Moshe spoke to the descendants of Israel, but they did not listen to Moshe, due to the impatience of spirit and the cruel slave-labor.
Impatience of spirit: or shortness of breath. When one is in such straits, it is hard to believe things will get any better. Last time they had listened to him, things only got harder for them. When they tried to do the right thing, their situation became worse. They were disappointed, and it is hard to blame them. Thus far all they had was promises. They thought they would already have had relief by this time. But YHWH had more to teach them on the way there, so He did not just work magic. He required action on their part as well, or they would not be able to live with the shame of letting Him do all the work. Things usually get tough before they get better. But hang in there, because we have each other to help—and YHWH knows when it is time to act.
10. Then YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying,
11. "Go in and warn Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, [to] set the descendants of Israel free from his land."
Set free: literally "send away”. He would not just “let us go”, but would want to be rid of us.
12. But Moshe spoke before YHWH, saying, "Look, the people of Israel have not listened to me; how then will Pharaoh listen to me--I, [who have] uncircumcised lips?"
Not only had Pharaoh shown great disrespect for YHWH; the Israelites themselves have put doubts in Moshe’s mind. Uncircumcised lips: or, "overhanging"--i.e., he stumbled over his own mouth as he spoke. After 40 years away from Egypt, his command of the Egyptian language was probably not the best either, but he had not spoken much Hebrew since he was about three years old, and now he is 80, and Hebrew is the language he would need to speak to give Pharaoh YHWH’s words verbatim. But if the Israelites, who stood to benefit from his words, did not understand his broken Hebrew, how much less would Pharaoh? But he would have a translator in Aharon, and it might not matter how clearly he could speak if he had the signs to show him what he meant.
13. Thus YHWH spoke to Moshe and Aharon and commanded the descendants of Israel and Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to bring the descendants of Israel out of the land of Egypt.
Everyone involved was now responsible to get the Israelites out of Egypt—not just Moshe, Aharon, and Pharaoh himself , but also the Israelite slaves themselves! Even if the government made it hard, they were each also responsible to see to it that the others got out. And if we want Egypt to let us go, we have to start letting go of Egypt. To be compassionate to some, we may have to be a devastator to others, as Moshe was to Pharaoh because he refused to do his part. Even if we now have to gather the “straw” that used to be provided for us, we need to find out what our part in the deliverance is. Moshe is not responsible to do this alone. We would think slaves would surely want to leave Egypt behind! But they feared for their lives,so the people gave Moshe a hard time. Why could he not leave well enough alone? They were growing accustomed to their bondage and even becoming comfortable in it, just as hostages often learn to identify with their captors’ goals. People who experience harsh treatment begin to see it as normal. Others were probably even married to Egyptians, with the advantages that might have brought them. They might not have been treated as badly, but this kept their hearts in Egypt. But though Yaaqov and Yosef died in Egypt, they did not consider Egypt home, and took steps to make sure they could leave even after their lives were over. YHWH does not accept our captivity as inevitable. We must begin to think as free men and see ourselves where YHWH sees us. We are not just leaving Egypt, but going to a particular place and for a particular purpose. Studying Torah, gathering with other Israelites, and visiting the Land of Israel are the things that will steer us the right way. Kings are to carry our children home on their shoulders, orYHWH will have to interfere as He did with Pharaoh. He had to earn his judgment by making the wrong choices, because YHWH is “overly” fair in waiting for his cup to be full. Moshe is emphasizing that every Israelite must take responsibility, so he moves directly to this list of Israel’s leaders:
14. These were the heads of the houses of their fathers:
The sons of Reuven [Look! A son!], the firstborn of Israel, were:
Hanokh [dedicated or disciplined],
Pallu [distinguished, set apart],
Hezron [surrounded by a wall], and
Karmi [my vineyard or the gardener].
These were the clans of Reuven.
Reuven lost the rights of a firstborn because of a wicked deed (Gen. 49:3, 4), so that later Efrayim, Yosef's son, is called the firstborn (Yirmeyahu/Jeremiah 31:9), because the birthright was transferred.
15. The sons of Shim'on [the one who really heard, or the great hearing]:
Y'mu-El [Day of Elohim],
Yamin [right hand],
Ohad [united or made one],
Yachin [he will establish],
Tzohar [dazzling whiteness], and
Sha'ul [asked for], the son of a Kanaanitess.
These were the families of Shim'on.
16. And these were the sons of Levi [joining] according to their birth order
[or generations]:
Gershon,
Q'hath, and
Merari,
and the lifetime of Levi was 137 years.
17. Then the sons of Gershon [exile]:
Livni [my white one]
Shimei [my "heard-of" or renowned one], by their clans.
18. And the sons of Q'hath [an assembly of those allied together]:
Amram [an exalted people],
Yitzhar [shining oil],
Hevron [closest friendship or association], and
Uzzi-El [Elohim is my strength].
And the lifetime of Q'hath was 133 years.
Who says genealogies have to be boring? They can in themselves be prophetic. Q'hath's sons ended up with the most EXALTED positions of all the Levites because of their special faithfulness, and they brought Israel CLOSE to Elohim. The high priesthood came from the line of Amram through his son Aharon. The Menorah, a lampstand in which OIL is burned, giving forth a SHINING light in YHWH's temple, was tended by descendants of Q’hath.
19. And the sons of Merari [my bitterness]:
Mahli [sickly or weak] and
Mushi [sensitive, touchy, weakly yielding].
These are the clans of Levi according to their genealogies.
Bitterness bears, as its fruit, sickliness (so that one is of no benefit to his neighbors) and thin-skinned self-consciousness in which one is too easily offended, because one thinks too highly of himself. The raw nerves of oversensitivity are a symptom of the root of bitterness (Deut. 29:18) that causes many to be defiled. The word for rebellion in Hebrew shares the same root as “Merari”. It means serving our own purpose, rather than what YHWH is leading His people to do. Rebellion or insolence is counted as being as evil as witchcraft and idolatry (1 Shmuel 15:22-23), and leaves a bitter taste in YHWH’s mouth. Sensitivity to self, in turn, breeds selfishness in others, so those infected with it must be put off-limits so the sickness cannot spread. (Thus ritual defilement is a picture of selfishness, which is not in itself sin, for a certain amount of self-preservation and sensitivity are necessary, but can very easily lead to it.) The more time YHWH has put into His craftsmanship, the angrier He is when it goes awry, and He had put everything into Israel. (Yeshayahu/Isa. 5) He will separate such people from His tribes (Deut. 29:18), for we cannot serve Him and our own hearts at the same time. He has given us all that we need to reverse this, but He will not do it without our cooperation.
20. Then Amram took his beloved Yokheved as a wife, and she bore him Aharon [light-bringer] and Moshe [drawn out], and the lifetime of Amram was 137 years.
Beloved: or his aunt; the word is ambiguous, but if no generations are skipped in Numbers 26:59, she would be from an earlier generation than his. Marrying one’s father’s sister would later be forbidden by Torah, but this early in the gene pool it must not have been as serious a cause for concern in regard to in-bred mutations.
21. And the sons of Yitzhar [shining oil]:
Qorakh [bald],
Nefeg [sprout], and
Zichri [memorable].
Yitzhar: also called Amminadav, Qorakh’s father according to 1 Chron. 6:22, but different from the Amminadav of verse 23, who was from Yehudah; there was at least one other in Scripture by this name as well. (1 Chron. 15:10-11)
22. And the sons of Uzzi-El [Elohim is my strength]:
Mishael [Who is what Elohim is?],
Elitzafan [My Elohim has protected], and
Sithri [my hiding-place].
23. Then Aharon took as a wife Elisheva, daughter of Amminadav, sister of
Nachshon, and she bore him Nadav. Avihu, El'azar, and Ithamar.
The fruit of Aharon (the “light-bearer”) and Elisheva (“My Elohim has sworn an oath") are Nadav (“one who is noble, willing, or generous”), and Avihu ("he is my father"), El'azar ("Elohim has helped"), and Ithamar ("coast of palms"). Nachshon, son of Amminadav, was a leader from the tribe of Yehudah (Num. 1:7; 10:14) and ancestor of Boaz (Ruth 4:20ff).
24. And the sons of Qorakh [were]:
Asir [prisoner],
Elqanah [Elohim has acquired], and
Aviasaf [My father has gathered].
These are the families of the Qorkhites.
25. And Aharon's son El'azar took for himself one of the daughters of Putiel
[disparaged by Elohim] as a wife, and she bore him Pin’has [mouth of bronze];
these are the heads of the progenitors of the Levites, according to their
clans.
The genealogy ends at Pin’has, a generation beyond Moshe, because YHWH was satisfied with him. (Number 25:12) His zeal and action earned his family an eternal covenant.
26. These are that [same] Aharon and Moshe to whom YHWH had said, "Bring the descendants of Israel out from Egypt according to their companies."
Thus Moshe and Aharon were of the fourth generation living in Egypt. Companies: really battle divisions or armies. (See 7:4) One title of Elohim is YHWH Tz'vaoth (YHWH of the armies, the same term, so this is probably what that refers to). The Tabernacle yard's layout resembled the field-camp of the Pharaohs, according to ancient Egyptian rock-carvings. So when this several million-strong community was traveling through the wilderness, the other peoples saw them coming and were struck with respect for this company that resembled Pharaoh's army, but was much larger.
27. They are the ones who were speaking to Pharaoh, king of Egypt about leading the descendants of Israel out from Egypt; these are the [same] Moshe and Aharon.
Moshe is showing his pedigree, for the Israelites were probably accusing him of not even really being one of them. Last time they had seen him, he was an Egyptian official. People feel that if they can find fault with the leadership, they do not have to take responsibility either. He is showing that he does have authority to speak after all, and there may be something of a veiled threat in the reminder that he is of the tribe of Levi: “Remember what he did, and realize that we are going to leave, but if you do not listen to me, you will not be part of this.” But he still introduces himself not as first in line, even in his own family, and shows that his tribe is not the firstborn either, but the third. He shows respect for the tribes of his ancestor’s elder brothers, and his tribe should not be mentioned without theirs coming first.
28. Now what took place on the day when YHWH spoke to Moshe in the land of Egypt
29. was that YHWH told Moshe, "I am YHWH; declare to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, all that I tell you.”
30. But Moshe said before YHWH, "Look, I am uncircumcised of lips, so how will Pharaoh listen to me?"
We are back to where we began. Why this digression, then, into genealogies? They put Moshe and Aharon into perspective, but why the other two tribes? ? (And, for that matter, why not the other nine?) It relates to the fact that Moshe was told to gather the elders of Israel. He is speaking about everyone taking responsibility (v. 13), and the leaders are expected to make sure everyone under them acts responsibly. Re’uven did not live up to his birthright and Shim’on disappointed his father as well, but there is a tribe that is taking the risks needed to get this job done.
CHAPTER 7
1. So YHWH told Moshe, "Look: I have made you an elohim to Pharaoh, and Aharon your brother will be your prophet.
Prophet: or simply a spokesman; in Hebrew, the terms used throughout the Torah are not limited to religious settings. The father of a household is its elohim, and anyone who speaks his will to another is his prophet. If his words reflect any will other than that of the one who sent him, he is not a true prophet. An elohim is the one with the authority to hold others responsible to do what is right. If the claim that Yeshua is actually YHWH is based on Thomas calling him his elohim, then by the same token we must posit a doctrine of the deity of Moshe! But there is also some psychological warfare involved here, as Moshe does not speak to Pharaoh, but has a "servant" who speaks for him. Pharaoh, supposedly a god himself, would start to get angered by this man who "thinks he's too noble to speak to me"—especially since he was a sheepherder, and, as far as Egypt was concerned, a murderer. But he must not let what took place 40 years ago stop him from speaking.
2. "You must say all that I command you, and Aharon your brother will speak to Pharaoh, so [that] he will send away the descendants of Israel from his land.
Aharon was a brave man; he trusted his brother to really be saying words he heard from YHWH. Send away: YHWH could have simply brought them out and destroyed Egypt by His word, but He wished to show that He was powerful enough to make Pharaoh willing to actually command them to leave, not just let them go.
3. "But I will toughen Pharaoh's resolve, then cause My distinguishing proofs and miracles to multiply in the land of Egypt.
Toughen Pharaoh's resolve: or, harden his heart; Aram., make it stubborn. After Pharaoh hardens his own heart several times, YHWH makes him unable to get off this slippery slope. He would make sure Pharaoh would ultimately listen to Him by making him unable to listen at first.
4. "Yet Pharaoh will [still] not listen to you, so I have employed My hand over Egypt and will bring My armies, My people, the children of Israel, out from their midst with great acts of judgment.
My armies: They were armies-in-training to reclaim the Land of Kanaan for those to whom it was promised. Egypt was blessed by Israel’s presence among them, so YHWH would judge them for how they treated Israel in return. Through the tests of the power of the things he bowed down to, Pharaoh would be found legally guilty. He would pay for bowing down to things that were not ultimately elohim. The Israelites were never officially enslaved to Pharaoh as the rest of Egypt was (during Yosef’s day), yet they, too, were treated as slaves.
5. "Then the Egyptians will know that I am YHWH, through My employing My hand upon Egypt and My bringing the descendants of Israel out from among them."
If Moshe avoided the confrontation, not only would Israel suffer; so would those from among the Egyptians whom YHWH wanted to know Him. He does not include Pharaoh at this point, but He wants some of Pharaoh’s subjects to stop being fooled by idols of wood and stone.
6. So Moshe and Aharon did as YHWH had commanded; they did indeed.
They did things YHWH’s way rather than the least offensive way or as their own fears, hesitations, or even morality dictated.
7. Now Moshe was 80 years old and Aharon 83 when they spoke to Pharaoh.
Not only does this show that Aharon, the elder brother, subjected himself to Moshe as YHWH had commanded. The Hebrew word rendered “your prophet” in verse 1 also has the numeric value of 83, so his very age demanded that his would be his role! As for Moshe, his life thus far has been neatly divided into two 40-year periods, with a clear distinction between them, for 40 in Scripture is a number representing testing and transition. Now he is entering the third and final 40-year period of his life, and what takes place here is defining who he will be for the rest of his life.
8. Then YHWH said to Moshe and Aharon,
9. "When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Produce a token for yourselves', then you shall tell Aharon, ‘Take hold of your rod and fling it in front of Pharaoh, and it will become a crocodile.’"
Token: i.e., evidence that you have authority to tell me to do this. When Moshe appeared before the elders of Israel, the rod became a nachash (serpent, the same word used of the tempter in the Garden of Eden, and communicated to them that the promise to crush his head was still remembered); when before Pharaoh, it becomes a tanin (in Scripture, always depicted as in water—a crocodile, dragon, or amphibious dinosaur—also serpentlike, but more familiar to the Egyptians to this day; even one of their hieroglyphic “letters” was a crocodile, and the Egyptian word for “king” was composed of a hawk and two crocodiles. So Pharaoh’s very position was linked with crocodiles.) The crocodile was one of Egypt's gods, named Sobek, who in their view created the Nile from its sweat. It was feared because it was the most terrible creature in the Nile, but according to Herodotus, the Egyptians paid homage to it by keeping a tame one as a pet, hanging its ears with rings, encircling its forepaws with bracelets, and finally embalming it when it died. It was considered the protector of the royal dead. So YHWH was making war on Pharaoh’s title, his afterlife, and the strength of Egypt. So YHWH was employing His “left hand” against Egypt, to divide it against itself.
10. So Moshe and Aharon went in to Pharaoh, and did just what YHWH had commanded them: Aharon threw his rod [down] in the presence of Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a crocodile.
11. But Pharaoh also summoned the wise men and those practicing sorcery, and the magicians of Egypt did the same with their enchantments:
Magic was flourishing at this time. Magical texts and even magic books have been found in Egypt from this time period. Pharaoh must have been somewhat impressed, because he did not just say, “So what?” but called in his best to counter it. Enchantments: literally, "flames" in the sense of making something blaze up. Nachmanides (Ramban) said these magicians could manage the negative supernatural forces of destruction, but could not remove them, as YHWH could. These forces were already in motion, and they were tapping into already-active energy. Any time worship is established, some spirit will come to receive it. The “disorderly energy” cast out of YHWH’s presence seeks to be increased through such acknowledgement. HaSatan was once in charge of leading the worship of YHWH (Y’hezqEl 28:12-15), so he knows well how these principles work. The magicians are dealing with a power they do not understand; they do not know who they are really calling on. YHWH sometimes gives haSatan permission to do things beyond our understanding, but the source and the fruit must be taken into account before it is acclaimed. Those who do not welcome the love of the truth end up deceived by "lying wonders" based in the "secret of lawlessness". (2 Thess. 2:7ff)
12. Each of them threw his rod down, and they became crocodiles, but Aharon's rod swallowed up their rods.
If Pharaoh had paid attention to the history of Yosef, he would have been warned that one animal eating another of the same kind was a bad sign for Egypt. Sobek was actually depicted as four crocodiles rather than one, so this multiplicity of crocodiles being swallowed up would be a definite message that Sobek was not all-protective. But the rod is a symbol of authority, so it is saying Moshe’s authority superseded Pharaoh’s in this case. This same rod that belonged to Moshe (sometimes called the Rod of Elohim) would also be the one Aharon used--the one which would later blossom in order to show that YHWH had chosen Aharon as high priest (Numbers 17).
13. Yet Pharaoh's heart was strengthened so that he would not listen to them, just as YHWH had said.
Though his own magicians were outdone, the fact that they could nonetheless do something upheld his preconceived ideas, confirming in his mind that his worldview was correct and he need not change anything. In his opinion , this “trick” was not worthy of his attention.
14. Then YHWH told Moshe, "Pharaoh's heart is burdensome; he has refused to let the people go.
Burdensome: literally, heavy or given importance--i.e., he gave more weight to his own heart, and let this be his authority. He considered it to be right, and decided to "follow his heart"--a philosophy so common in today's media, though the human heart is profoundly deceitful (Yirmeyahu 17:9) and can lead us astray (Numbers 15:39).
15. "Go to Pharaoh in the morning. Pay attention [to when] he is coming out of the water, and be [already] stationed by the river's edge to meet him, and take in your hand the rod that was changed into a serpent.
Coming out of the water: after either bathing or relieving himself--a vulnerable moment for the reputation of this "god" who supposedly had no such needs; it is more psychological warfare designed to unsettle him. YHWH gave them leverage to accomplish more than they think they can by catching him at such an undignified moment when he was not on his throne or in his royal finery and would be in a hurry to conclude this interruption as quickly as possible. YHWH refers Moshe back not to the most recent usage of his rod, but to the one that would remind him of Sinai where his underlying purpose—that of shepherding Israel—was defined. The time it turned into a serpent (rather than a crocodile) was when he first encountered YHWH. He was real then, and He is real now, and He had brought him this far. The rod does not actually get used at this time, but by the river, Pharaoh cannot call for his other magicians, and if Moshe were to turn it into a crocodile here—in its own element—he would not be able to outrun it.
16. “Then you shall tell him, ‘YHWH, the Elohim of the Hebrews, sent me to you to say, “Let My people go, so they may serve Me in the uncultivated land.” But thus far you have not obeyed.’
17. "Thus says YHWH, ‘This is how you will know that I am YHWH: Watch--I myself will strike the water of the River with the rod that is in my hand, and it will be transformed into blood.
Pharaoh had asked who YHWH was and why he should care. Now he will find out very clearly who He is, but he will meet the side of Him that he should not be eager to meet.
18. “‘Then [all the species of] fish that are in the River will collectively die, and the River will stink, and the people of Egypt will find it offensive to drink the water from the River.’"
The Nile was considered one of the gods of Egypt, since their livelihood depended on it. It was also tied inextricably to the people's perception of Pharaoh's power. (Y'hezq'el 29:3) Thus this would weaken his image in their eyes as well. Find it offensive: or impossible; targum Neofiti: “they will weary themselves to find drinkable water ". This was the first of YHWH's direct litmus tests of the power (or lack of it) in the things they trusted in.
19. Then YHWH told Moshe, "Say to Aharon, ‘Take your rod and extend your hand over the waters of Egypt--over their rivers, over their canals, over their marshes, and over every pool of water, so that they may become blood. And there will be blood throughout the whole land of Egypt, and in wooden and stone [containers as well].’"
Now He is making war on Hapi, the river god, who is depicted as a man with breasts—a counterfeit of El Shaddai. It was seen as the creator of fish and grain, since only after the Nile’s annual floods would the crops grow. This was where their “happi-ness” came from. The Egyptians did not use wooden or stone containers to store water in, but clay vessels. Thus this appears to be referring to the containers in which Israelites stored water, which would not retain ritual impurity like clay would. (Compare Lev. 6:28 and 11:32 with 11:33.) There is no evidence of any difference in the Hebrews’ condition until chapter 9, for as long as we are mixed in among the Egyptians, we will suffer the same things they suffer. This was in the whole land. (v. 21)
20. So Moshe and Aharon did as YHWH had commanded: he raised up the rod and sent judgment upon the waters that were in the river in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, and all the waters in the river were being changed into blood.
21. And the fish [population] that was in the river died, and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink from the river's water; there was blood throughout the whole land of Egypt.
Most Egyptians, though paying homage to many deities in certain times of crisis, would normally consider themselves chiefly worshippers of one particular elohim, and those elohim were often in opposition to one another. They would devote themselves to one particular temple which they frequented, paying its priests, which became their livelihood. Even Pharaoh was not allowed to enter some temples; only the priests connected to it were, and this gave them a great commercial advantage. The northern and southern kingdoms of Egypt worshipped two different elohim, both of which were supposedly the creators of the Nile. Thus,when Sobek was thus dishonored, Horus’ priests would rejoice! So this began further dividing Egypt against itself. Josephus adds that the bloody water caused great pain to those who ventured to drink it.
22. But the magicians of Egypt did the same with their secret arts, so Pharaoh's heart was strengthened, and he did not listen to them, as YHWH had said.
Whatever Moshe and Aharon had not already turned into blood, they did—as if they needed more—thus leaving no drinkable water left at all, proving they were a foolish kingdom divided against itself, being more concerned to rival Moshe than to retain at least some recourse to water!
23. Then Pharaoh turned away and went into his house, and he did not lay this to heart either.
As long as he had his “holy” counterfeit, he did not think he needed to pay attention to the real thing. If he can get by with his substitute, he thinks he will be all right. If he was not so prosperous, he might have appreciated the Hebrews instead of oppressing them, like his predecessor, who knew he was in trouble and rewarded Yosef as he deserved for his rescuing the nation from oblivion. But even if this Pharaoh’s interest in YHWH was piqued by things going wrong, when they returned to normal, his fingers went right back into his ears.
24. But all the Egyptians had to dig all around the river for water to drink, because they could not drink the water of the river.
The water was corrupted by blood, so they had to dig new wells. This difficult-to-reach fresh water may have been the source of the water the magicians turned into blood. In any case, it kept the Egyptians too busy to harass the Israelites further.
25. And a full seven days [passed] after YHWH sent judgment upon the river.
By this time, his people are dying of thirst, but Pharaoh does not take it seriously enough to ask Moshe to stop the plague, and there is no record that it did stop, though the Aramaic targum assumes that it stopped after this complete cycle of seven days. Judgment upon the river: YHWH again demonstrates that the thing they worship is not adequate to meet their needs all the time.
CHAPTER 8
1. [7:26 in Hebrew] Then YHWH told Moshe, "Go to Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘This is what YHWH says: "Send My people off, so that they may serve Me.
Send off: YHWH had said (Ex. 6:1) that Pharaoh would drive us out with a “strong hand”. The Hebrew denotes a “tightly-clenched” hand—i.e., He would be unwilling, preferring and trying to hold us back, yet would be forced to not just let us go, but give us a military escort out of his land, though not in the way anyone expected. Serve Me: instead of Pharaoh! This is the key. Pharaoh sees them as his slaves; what would be in it for him if he let them go? YHWH sees them as His people, according to an agreement made long before this Pharaoh ever existed. So the rivalry here reaches dramatic proportions. The Hebrew word used here for “send away” (shalakh) can be a term for divorce. (Lev. 21:7. Num. 30:9; Deut. 24:1) They are to come out of Egypt so they can come into His household, as His bride. He is telling Pharaoh to divorce himself from them—to say not, “You can go, but be sure you come back”, but “I never want to see you again!” YHWH’s message has not changed, but now there is an overt penalty for not doing so:
2. "‘"And if you are unwilling to let them go, behold, I am about to strike all the territory within your borders with frogs.
Frogs: another of the things very sacred to the Egyptians because of how they "die" and are "resurrected" when metamorphosed from tadpoles. The ancient Egyptians saw thousands of frogs appear all along the Nile at certain times of the year. Their appearance came to symbolize fruitfulness and coming life. But the four primeval deities of Egypt, Nun (representing water), Amun (invisibility), Heh (infinity), and Kek (darkness), were all also illustrated as frogs. Frogs were consecrated to Osiris and were a symbol of inspiration. If someone killed a frog, even unintentionally, the person was punishable by death. Egypt saw frogs as a beneficial thing, but YHWH would use them against it. They saw Heqt, a frog goddess, as a hastener of births, but now these frogs were the harbinger of the birth of a new nation out of another, and Egypt would nearly die in childbirth.
3. "‘"And the River will swarm with teeming frogs, which will come up and enter your house, and your innermost rooms, and your bed, and come into the houses of your servants, and into your people, and into your cooking ovens, and into your kneading bowls [when dough is in them].
Heqt (Heket) was depicted as a frog-headed woman, who was “reborn” through her many children. As a water goddess, she was also a goddess of fertility where she was particularly associated with the later stages of labour. Her priestesses were trained as midwives. So having Heket in one’s bed might have sounded like a wonderful idea to them—until YHWH actually brought the frogs into their beds! Now they were not such a blessing anymore! Into your people: Some Rabbinic writers say they even entered all of their bodily orifices. Thus even men would be “delivering” frogs! Rabbi Hirsch says He took away their privacy so they would know what their slaves were constantly experiencing.
4. "‘"And the frogs will [go] up into you and your people, and your slaves."'"
5. [8:1 in Hebrew] Then YHWH told Moshe, "Tell Aharon, ‘Extend your hand with your rod [in it] over the rivers, canals, and marshes, and cause frogs to come up onto the land of Egypt.'"
6. So Aharon extended his hand over the waters of Egypt, and frogs came up and overwhelmed the land of Egypt.
Overwhelmed: covered or concealed. Josephus adds that they caused a filthy slime to be over everything. Psalm 78:45 tells us that the frogs corrupted them (caused them to rot).
7. But the magicians did the same with their secret arts, and brought frogs up onto the land of Egypt.
As if there were not already enough, the magicians conjured up more! Arrogance can lead people to do very strange things. Why not try to make them disappear instead? But the dark side can only counterfeit what YHWH is doing through His servants; they cannot create anything original. The term “secret arts” (mysterious enchantments, things kept tightly under wraps) suggests that they were even using sleight of hand.
8. But Pharaoh summoned Moshe and Aharon, and said, "Plead with YHWH to make these frogs leave me and my people. Then I will let the people go to make a slaughter to YHWH.”
In Egypt, only the priests did the slaughtering, whereas in Israel, the one who brought the offering slaughtered it himself, while the priest merely officiated, assisted, and dealt with the blood. It is a a personal, intimate experience. The animal has the offerer’s hands laid firmly on it to show his identification with it, for he is intending to kill off the “animal nature” within himself. This also tells us that Israel had not been slaughtering animals to YHWH the whole time they had been enslaved in Egypt. YHWH withholds from Pharaoh the knowledge that He intends to ask of him a greater challenge—that of letting Israel go altogether. He mercifully allows him to prove faithful in a smaller thing first. This time Pharaoh does not ask his magicians to take the frogs away. He admits this is from YHWH, acknowledging Him at last, after a taste of what He is capable of. Yet he still puts himself before his people—the opposite of what YHWH looks for in a leader. He makes no mention at all of removing the frogs from his slaves. He did not care what became of the Israelites. Moshe corrects him by placing them before his own people:
9. So Moshe said to Pharaoh, "Glorify yourself above me: When shall I pray for you and your slaves and your people, to eliminate the frogs from you, so they'll only be left in the river?"
Glorify yourself over me: Here, apparently, "I’ll let you be the one to choose!" In the river: their normal habitat, where they would not be a nuisance.
10. So he said, "Tomorrow." And he [replied], "According to your word, so that you may know that there is none like YHWH our Elohim.
Amazingly, Pharaoh did not say, “Right now!”, as if he wanted to enjoy the dirty feeling of frogs for one last day. Or he may have just wanted to preserve some sense of control in this matter. In any case, this gave him ample, though not unlimited, time to truly repent. The longer one hesitates, the more blessing “evaporates” from what YHWH offers. Egyptian deities were limited by time or territory, and had to ask permission of other gods to act outside their jurisdiction, but YHWH is not bound like this. By setting a specific time he could prove it was YHWH acting, not just Moshe doing tricks.
11. "Thus the frogs will leave you, from your houses, from your servants, and from your people; they will only remain in the [Nile] River."
12. Then Moshe and Aharon departed from Pharaoh, and Moshe cried out [for help] to YHWH about the matter of the frogs which He had brought upon Pharaoh.
13. And YHWH did according to Moshe's word, and the frogs perished from the houses, enclosed settlements, and cultivated fields.
YHWH did according to Moshe’s word: “Moshe” symbolizes the Torah that he wrote, and YHWH does honor that in everything He does.
14. So they piled them up in heaps, and the land stank.
15. But when Pharaoh saw that there was breathing-space, he honored his own wishes and would not listen to them, as YHWH had said.
How typical to relax our zeal and repentance when things get back to normal and the pressure is off. The heart is more inclined to YHWH when there is trouble, so another plague is needed…
16. So YHWH told Moshe, "Tell Aharon, ‘Extend your rod and strike the dust of the land, so that it will become lice throughout the land of Egypt.
Lice: while it is sometimes translated gnats, the Hebrew word indicates something that fastens [its egg] onto a shoot or stalk, somewhat like a grape cluster. It could also be interpreted as something that inserts, like a mosquito or tick, but lice are the reason the Pharaohs usually kept their heads shaved. This time Pharaoh receives no warning; those he received earlier should have been enough.
17. So Aharon indeed stretched out his hand on his rod, and struck the dust of the land, and lice were upon man and beast; all the dust of the ground became lice throughout the whole land of Egypt.
Adam was created from the dust of the land of Israel, since Eden is above Yerushalayim. But from the dust of Egypt, all that can be created is stinging, discomforting parasites. But what was YHWH making war on this time? There was no god of gnats or lice in Egypt. Rather, he is told to strike the ground. The people of Egypt worshipped the land from which these came. An elohim called Geb is depicted as a man wearing a white crown with a goose on it, and his body is called the “house of the Earth”. So YHWH will turn the very earth against them, if they continue to want to see it as something to worship. That does not sound too far-fetched today, does it?
18. Then the magicians prepared to bring forth lice with their secret arts, but they could not. But there were lice upon man and beast,
This is where their power ran out. It may be that this was because they had no advance lead time to work up a counterfeit as they could in previous cases. Josephus also adds that they were "not able to destroy this sort of vermin with either washes or ointments" as one normally could.
19. so the magicians told Pharaoh, "That is a finger of Elohim!" But Pharaoh's heart was made heavy, and he did not listen to them.
Psalm 8:3 describes the heavens, the moon, and the stars as the work of YHWH’s fingers. So this is creation force that they are dealing with, not something they can imitate. With incantations they could coax frogs out of the river, but could not create life from “scratch”. When the Assyrians spoke of the finger of Elohim, it always referred to devastation, but in Egypt the phrase implies something miraculous. The lice probably now disappeared, because this was the response YHWH was looking for. They were starting to realize that YHWH really was greater than their elohim. But Pharaoh did not acknowledge this.
20. So YHWH told Moshe, "Get an early start and station yourself in Pharaoh's way; take notice [of when] he comes out toward the water, and tell him, ‘This is what YHWH says: "Send My people off, so that they may serve Me."'
21. "‘And if you do not send My people off, look out! I am about to send swarms upon you, your slaves, and your people, and into your houses, and the houses of the Egyptians will be filled with swarming things, and also the ground which they are on."
Swarms: it does not specify what type of animals or insects this entailed, though the LXX says the "dogfly"; an Aramaic targum has gnats. Its name means "mixture", "with constant or involved motion", or what “darkens” the ground. Josephus calls it "various sorts of pestilential creatures". (See also note on 9:24) At this specific time period in Egypt, the “Order of the Golden Fly” was a much-coveted military decoration. The fly also graced the rods of the heads of Egypt’s armies. A golden chain with three pendants bearing the fly motif was found in the tomb of Queen Ahotep from 1550 B.C.E. The fly hieroglyph signified bravery. Flies can drive you crazy without even hurting you in any way. Pharaoh’s armies had conquered the whole world like such a swarm; to hear of them would make anyone’s knees weak. So YHWH is symbolically turning Egypt’s own armies against it.
22. And in that day I will isolate the Land of Goshen on which My people are remaining, until no swarms will be there, in order that you [who are] in the midst of the land may acknowledge that I am YHWH."
YHWH esentiually means “the One who exists”. This is the first plague that He says would not affect that part of the land, , possibly because the Israelites were not listening well enough before this, but possibly so that they could empathize with what the Egyptians were going through, and be willing to let some of the Egyptians join them in leaving the land, because YHWH shows Himself merciful to those who are merciful. It was only for the later plagues that affected the people themselves that the land of Goshen (which was only under Egypt’s military jurisdiction) received a different treatment than the land of Egypt proper. YHWH is now making a way for Israel to be unaffected by the sufferings being brought on Egypt. With the Egyptians preoccupied with the plagues, Israel had an open door to come back to where they were supposed to remain a separate people. Goshen means "drawing near", and this regathering was an essential prerequisite for their departure from Egypt. “What has been is what will be”. (Qoheleth/ Eccles. 1:9) When YHWH opens the door to gather in “Goshen”, do not remain in bondage!
23. "And I will put a division between My people and your people; this distinguishing sign will come about for tomorrow."
We hear no more about them making bricks, so this may have brought reprieve from their hard labor. Those who were not in Goshen by “tomorrow” would be considered to be in Pharaoh’s camp, not YHWH’s, no matter what kind of blood was running through their veins. No one outside Goshen would receive the benefit of YHWH’s shielding. “For tomorrow” also suggests a fulfillment for the time to come as well, when for those gathered together in "the secret place of the Most High", plagues will not come near their dwellings. (Psalm 91)
24. So that is just what YHWH did: heavy swarms came into Pharaoh's house and his slaves’ houses, and into the whole land of Egypt, and the land was corrupted in the face of the swarm.
Another possibility of what this "swarm" was is the scarab beetle, also known as the dung beetle, because it rolls 1½-inch balls of animal dung along the ground in balls to build its nest--thus infecting every place over which it moves. They were thought to be able to bring life out of inanimate matter, because they laid their eggs, too tiny for the human eye, in the dung balls, then the newborn young would eat the dung and emerge when grown larger. Thus the Egyptians worshiped them; they even considered the sun to be a large ball rolled by a huge scarab beetle! This swarm would disrupt Egyptian religious life, since the priests were required to shave all their hair and bathe twice a day if even lice were found on them; now they would be forbidden from even entering their temples.
25. So Pharaoh summoned Moshe and Aharon, and said, "Go, make your slaughter to your Elohim--[but here] in the land!"
26. But Moshe said, "It is not safe to do that, because we will be making a slaughter to YHWH our Elohim that is abominable to the Egyptians; if we slaughter what is an abomination to the Egyptians where they can see us, won't they stone us [to death]?
Slaughter that is abominable: Yosef had told his family (Gen. 46-47) that shepherds and herdsmen were an abomination to the Egyptians, much like in India today. The Aramaic targum says, "We are taking as our sacrifice the very cattle which the Egyptians worship." This would not work when we are surrounded by people who do not believe in what we are doing. As it turned out, since Pharaoh would not cooperate, the Israelites would have to slaughter many sheep right in front of the Egyptians.
27. "We will go three days' distance into the uncultivated land, and make a slaughter to YHWH our Elohim, in whatever way He may tell us."
We have to go to the “place of the Word” to be able to truly keep YHWH’s festivals, and do things His way, not the way that is convenient to others among whom we dwell.
28. So Pharaoh said, "I will let you go, so you may make a slaughter to YHWH your Elohim in the wilderness. Just don't go very far away. Say a prayer for me!"
He is probably saying, "Pray that this will stop now!"
29. So Moshe said, "Note well! I am departing from [being] with you, and I will make a request to YHWH that the swarms may be removed from Pharaoh, from his slaves, and from his people tomorrow. Just do not let Pharaoh add another instance of deceit by not allowing the people to go make a slaughter to YHWH.”
I.e., it had better be real this time! His slaves: apparently any Israelites who had still not gathered in Goshen. Note the stern formality of his reply to Pharaoh’s casual manner with those he still did not take seriously enough.
30. So Moshe went out from Pharaoh, and pleaded with YHWH.
He would not even speak to YHWH in front of Pharaoh; there was no need to let him get hold of—and profane—any intimate truth about YHWH.
31. Now YHWH does according to the word of Moshe, so He caused the swarmers to turn away from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his nation, and not one was left.
YHWH does: or even, will do—the imperfect tense, so this remains a standing principle. Since Moshe had upheld YHWH’s word, He upholds his.
32. But Pharaoh made his heart weighty this time also, and he did not let the people go.
The situation had made it obvious that he had to let the people go, but he again gave more authority to what his own heart wanted (a dangerous practice—Yirmeyahu 17:9) He could say, “What right does this foreign Elohim have to do anything in my land?” According to Egyptian culture, he was right, but although Israel was in Egypt, Israel belonged to YHWH, so this superseded any rights Pharaoh had.
CHAPTER 9
1. So YHWH said to Moshe, "Go in to Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘This is what YHWH, the Elohim of the Hebrews, says: "Let My people go, so that they may serve Me!"
His message has not changed, nor has His reason. It is still about pleasing the One who made us. If we do our part and get our motivation right but Pharaoh still does not do his part, YHWH will take care of hitting whatever stands in our way hard enough to make it want to release us. YHWH knew Pharaoh would not agree to obey; the plagues were mainly to get Israel back to Goshen and ready to leave.
2. "‘Because if you refuse to let them go, and keep detaining them,
Detaining: literally, holding them within your grip. This corresponds to the next thing he will say:
3. "‘[then] pay attention! YHWH's hand is going to be on your livestock which are in the field--on the horses, the donkeys, the camels, upon the cattle-herds, and the flocks [in the form of] a very severe plague.'
Livestock: the Hebrew word means “acquired possessions”. YHWH would hold onto what he owned if he held onto what YHWH owned. Though Pharaoh and his people did not eat sheep, they kept great herds to trade for other things they want, and of course they would use the wool for clothing. Sheep and goats were the standard of trade in the fertile crescent. Horses were Egypt’s military advantage. They were so skilled with chariots that they even hunted from them. Donkeys and camels were the equivalent of vehicles to modern men, and cattle were of the highest value because they had so many uses—plowing, grinding grain, pulling great loads, and food. So though this does not sound as bad as some of the previous plagues, it would devastate the economy. The word for “plague” here, dever, actually comes from the root davar, which means “word” or “to speak”. Since all of creation came from YHWH’s word, it is as if He is saying, “Don’t make me say it, because if I do, it will definitely come to be!”
4. "Moreover, YHWH will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, and not a thing belonging to the descendants of Israel will die.
5. "Now YHWH has set an appointed time, saying, ‘Tomorrow YHWH will carry out this matter in the land.'"
He is no longer letting Pharaoh have the option of deciding when He will act. Matter: or “thing”, another meaning of the word davar.
6. And YHWH did that [very] thing the next day, and all of Egypt's livestock died, but not one of the livestock of the descendants of Israel died.
The great bull Apis was considered a manifestation of the Egyptian god Osiris. One bull was chosen to represent him, and when it died, another had to be chosen, and there were 29 criteria it had to meet in regard to its markings and qualities. After the cattle of all who were remaining loyal to the Egyptian religion were destroyed, it would be very difficult for them to find a replacement.
7. And Pharaoh sent [envoys], and, sure enough, not one of the Israelites' animals was dead. Yet Pharaoh's heart was heavy, and he did not send the people out.
He even checked to see if the prophecy had come true, but then he did nothing about it. YHWH was weighing his heart. He could have argued, “You said send and I sent!” But he sent the wrong people to the wrong place. We cannot simply do something related to what YHWH has commanded, but must carry out His actual commands. Since Goshen was the best pastureland, many of Pharaoh’s livestock may have been there too, and died in the presence of Israel’s cattle. One may be in the place of safety, but if he does not fully align with YHWH, he will continue to suffer along with the Egyptians.
8. Then YHWH told Moshe and Aharon, "Take for yourselves handfuls of ash from the furnace, and have Moshe scatter it toward the sky in the eyes of Pharaoh.
9. "And it will become [clouds of] fine, powdery dust over the whole land of Egypt, and it will turn into an inflammation breaking out with blisters on humanity and on beast in the whole land of Egypt."
The Egyptians had a belief that scattering ashes to the wind would protect them from disease (much like those in the children’s song “Ring around the Rosy”, which originated with the similar idea that ashes and the smell of a flower would war off the bad odors that caused the bubonic plague). Also compare Iyov 2:7-8. But again YHWH shows that their superstitions could not be trusted, by causing exactly the opposite effect. The Egyptians were very vain about the appearance of their bodies, and this plague again would bring their purposes to nought. YHWH is also fighting the elohim of a specific type of furnace—a smelting furnace, used to get impurities out of metals. The Egyptians were considered the fathers of alchemy. They figured out much about the true nature of metals, but also tried to turn them into more valuable ones. Each metal was correlated with a specific celestial body (gold represented the sun and silver the moon, etc.) Each metal was also linked to a specific god. Iron was more valuable than gold at this time, because chariots and swords were made from it; gold was too soft. Iron was called “Ba-inpet”—the metal of the heavens. It was related to Thoth, the god of wisdom and knowledge, and he was represented with a quill pen and papyrus, because the scientists were also the magicians so often being spoken of here. The Hebrew term for them stems from a root meaning “to engrave or write”.
10. So they took the ashes from the furnace, and took their stand before Pharaoh, and Moshe tossed it toward the sky, and it became an inflammation breaking out into blisters upon mankind and beast.
The result of this ash taken from a kiln was very much like the blisters that form after one is burned. The miracle was probably in the timing, coinciding with something else YHWH brought to cause this burning, rather than a direct result of one small container of ashes. This would also keep the people distracted from the Israelites who may have been continuing to move into Goshen.
11. And the magicians could not remain standing in the face of Moshe because of the inflammation, because the inflammation was on the magicians as well as on all the [other] Egyptians.
Remain standing: either the pain was too great, or they simply were too ashamed to show their face because they could no longer imitate Moshe. Their trade may have been the specific target of the plague of boils. If they were no longer able to shave themselves because of the boils, this would also put a stop to activity in the pagan temples. Rather than wiping out the Egyptians’ deities, YHWH was using them against the people who trusted in them. These scientists knew the mathematical formulas and could counterfeit up to a point, but this time they could not protect even themselves. In Hebrew, words are numbers, and YHWH spoke the right combination of numbers, for davar (speak), at root, means “to arrange”.
12. But YHWH made Pharaoh's heart rigid, so that he would not listen to them, just as YHWH had promised Moshe.
Up to this point, he had hardened his own heart. But after five plagues (one for each clenched finger) did not loosen his grip, YHWH started to use his own hand against him. Now that Pharaoh has given his own heart the authority twice in a row (8:32; 9:7) though there is no other evidence to strengthen his argument, but rather much evidence to the contrary, YHWH Himself starts to harden his heart. YHWH gave him reason to repent, and he did not, so now YHWH will not allow him to repent. His cup is full, and now he will have no power to make the right choices. The sobering truth is that repentance is not always available, if we hesitate. This might seem cruel, but it is only after much patience on His part--more than was deserved--and many, many warnings. (v. 30.) There is no record of this plague ever being cut short as some others had been. So the plagues may now be having a cumulative on Egypt.
13. Then YHWH told Moshe, "Get up early in the morning, take your stand before Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘Thus says YHWH, the Elohim of the Hebrews: Let My people go, so that they may serve Me,
14. "‘because this time I am directing all my crushing blows at your heart, and upon your servants, and your nation, so that you may know that there is none like Me in all the earth,
He has no equal whatsoever. The Egyptian magicians had already admitted this (8:18-19), but Pharaoh had not, and anyone who is still serving Pharaoh will feel the brunt. It was the Hebrew overseers (who had a compelling reason to see their brothers remain enslaved) who were beaten when the slaves did not make enough bricks. His heart still had not changed, for he still had a callous around it; he refused to let it soften. YHWH offers us open doors, but He is not responsible to do our part, which is to surrender and work with what He gives us.
15. "‘for now I have stretched out My hand to strike you and your people with pestilence, and you will be cut down from the earth.
16. "‘But in fact, it was for this very reason indeed that I set you in place: to demonstrate that you cannot resist Me, so My reputation can be recounted throughout the whole earth.
YHWH picked the most stubborn of rulers to show His power in even greater contrast. He is telling Pharaoh that He does not need Pharaoh; He has only kept him alive as an example to others of what not to do. He is really putting him in his place, eating away at his arrogance. His very existence is only for the sake of demonstrating YHWH’s superiority! YHWH created the wicked for the day of calamity (Prov. 16), like a playwright who needs "extra" actors to form a more exciting plot and a more formidable conflict to for the protagonist to surmount. The Pharaohs’ focus even in their tombs was on making their names known throughout the whole world. But now YHWH tells him this is being done so that HIS Name will be known! Pharaoh could respond by saying, “At least He has a purpose for me!” But instead he digs in his heels and kicks and screams the whole time, so he earns no merit through this whole experience. Moshe, on the other hand, was raised up for the same purpose—to set Israel free. He is glad to be useful and surrenders to what YHWH is doing. It may look horrible, but when he gets into the mud puddle, it turns out to be a healthful mineral bath! You cannot resist Me: Slavery as seen in Torah is meant to restore balance, benefitting both debtor (who doesn’t lose everything) and creditor (who gets a different kind of compensation for his loss), not just one side. But a whole nation enslaving another whole nation which owed it nothing? In fact, Egypt owed Israel much instead! YHWH does not tolerate this kind of imbalance forever; the universe itself seems to be coming back against it with a vengeance against the one trying to oppose all that is real and just.
17. "‘Are you still exalting yourself against My people, so as to not let them go?
18. "‘Watch! Tomorrow at about this time I am sending such a heavy ‘hail' as Egypt has never had the likes of ever since the day it was founded!
He now uses the psychological tactic of letting him know He is going to hurt him even more.
19. "‘So send and have your livestock and anything you have in the field brought to shelter, because the ‘hailstones' are sure to fall on and kill any, human or beast, that are found in the field and not brought indoors.'"
Your livestock: But weren’t they all dead? (v. 6) The Israelites who had some left may have sold them some again and thus acquired some of the gold needed for the Tabernacle. YHWH did not have to warn the Egyptians, but He had unimaginable mercy and told them that if they were wise, they could avoid even worse injury. (They were not His real target; Pharaoh was.)
20. Whoever had respect for YHWH’s word among the servants of Pharaoh hastily drove his servants and livestock indoors,
21. but whomever did not place [any value] on the word of YHWH left his servants and livestock out in the field.
Left: literally, abandoned. Pharaoh does not seem to have cared much for the lives of his servants. His own were turning against him (v. 11), but he knew he would be admitting that he believed in the word of lowly Moshe if he were to bring his servants in.
22. Then YHWH told Moshe, "Extend your hand toward the sky, so that there may be ‘hail' on the whole land of Egypt--upon human being and beast, and upon every green plant of the field throughout the whole land of Egypt."
23. So Moshe stretched forth his rod toward the sky, and YHWH delivered [loud] noises and ‘hail', and fire ran along the earth; thus YHWH dropped 'hail' on the land of Egypt.
Noises: or thunderings. Psalm 18 describes it as "coals of fire" falling from the heavens.
24. So there was ‘hail' and fire flashing amidst the very heavy 'hail' such as there had never been the likes of in the whole land of Egypt since it had become a nation.
This was clearly no ordinary "hail" as we know it. Josephus says it was not like the hail that falls in wintry climates. The Hebrew word is related to "ice", yet these were chunks big enough to kill anything they fell on. Verse 5 says YHWH had an appointed time, and Gen. 1:14 says the heavenly bodies were created for this very purpose (using the same term for “appointed times”). So this is something from beyond the clouds and terrestrial atmosphere. Velikovsky (Worlds in Collision) theorized that part of the earth passed through a comet's tail, which was described by the Latin poet Servius as being eerily red "with a fine dust of rusty pigment"--possibly what turned the water blood-red (leaving only groundwater unaffected, as above), and irritated the skin of men and animals (v. 8). It took place at the very moment Moshe obeyed YHWH's commands. (Josephus said that the pestilential creatures in 8:21 were such "as had never come into the sight of men before.") Velikokvsky said that in the comet's tail, there would be bacteria-like hydrocarbons of the same type as were found in 1996 in a fossilized state in a rock that originated on Mars. In other words, these creatures were never meant to have been on earth in the first place, but were brought here only in an act of judgment. The Babylonian Talmud says these stones were "hot" (Berakhot 54b). Meteorites crash with explosion-like noises, and the comet's gaseous tail would indeed include burning matter as gravelly ice came in contact with the earth's atmosphere like a million small meteors. The comet's head did not crash into the earth (though it was probably thrown into another orbit to become the planet Nogah (Venus), which was once described by the Chaldeans as being "bearded" like a comet), but exchanged repeated violent electrical discharges, which would look like colored serpents in the sky and are best described as "thunderbolts". An Aramaic targum described the fire as “leaping”. It appeared that there was a celestial battle going on between "gods". Velikovsky cites story after story from every part of the world of similar conditions at this very time, most notably native American legends in which the heavens came very close to the earth and repeated shouts of "Yahu!" were heard--this being the very pronunciation of the shortened version of "Yahweh" in Hebrew, which we know from names like "Netanyahu". The Chinese speak of a cataclysmic time in the "days of Yahou", as if YHWH was calling out His name lest Pharaoh miss the connection. The same type of “hail” fell during the battle of Y’hoshua 10 when the sun “stood still”, indicating the bypass of another heavenly body large enough to cause the earth to wobble on its axis through its strong gravitation. (Patten, Hatch, and Steinhauer say it was Mars when in a different orbit—possibly how that rock from Mars got to earth in the first place.) Rocks very different in character from anything naturally occurring in the area have been found in that valley. Since the ancient pagans worshipped the planets, YHWH was again having one of their own elohim attack them.
25. And throughout the whole land of Egypt, the ‘hail' destroyed everything that was out in the open, from man to beast, and the hail destroyed every green plant of the field, and splintered every tree on the land.
The Egyptian eyewitness Ipuwer concurs that even trees were destroyed, and all the vegetation that had been visible the day before was no longer there, as if it had been reaped overnight. We see the same thing taking place again in Rev. 8:7, since in our day people are again worshipping the "green earth" instead of the One who generously lets us benefit from it (v. 29). Every green plant: in the context of “Adam or beast” (v. 19), we see that YHWH is rescinding His creation as far as Egypt was concerned (as all three of these elements are parts of the creation account). And He was using Set, the god of thunder and storms in the desert, against them.
26. Only in the land of Goshen, which was where the sons of Israel [were], was there no ‘hail'.
The comet's tail could have cut a swath across the Nile Valley and the Delta without touching Goshen, which sits toward the northeast of Egypt, "out of the way". In a particularly large meteoritic blast, if it occurs while still in the air, the epicenter is hardly affected. The main point is that YHWH made this distinction between Israel and Egypt.
27. Then Pharaoh sent and summoned Moshe and Aharon, and told them, "This time I have committed an offense. YHWH is just; I and my people are the guilty ones.
As if this was the first time he had done anything wrong, he makes only an indirect confession that he had not honored his word, and even wants his people to share the blame with him, though many of them have already repented and even defected to Israel’s ranks.
28. “Plead with YHWH, because these noises and ‘hail' are seriously excessive! Then I will let you go, and you will not have to delay again."
He seemed to enjoy building up their hopes and then dashing them, making them wait yet again. He toyed with them, thinking them gullible enough to believe promises he had no intention of keeping. This cruelty may be why YHWH built up his hopes so high at the end and then dashed them in a way spectacular enough to be talked about 3,500 years later. But the Hebrew also allows it to be understood as “not have to stay any longer”, so he trapped himself with his own words, because he had just (maybe inadvertently) given them permission, as their authority, to stay gone longer than the three days they initially asked for, and even to not come back at all. (Compare 8:28.)
29. So Moshe told him, "As I leave the city, I will spread forth the palms of my hands to YHWH, and the noises will desist, and there will be no more ‘hail', so that you may know that the earth belongs to YHWH.
Earth: also worshipped by the "Egyptians" of today, who make it into the goddess "Gaia".
30. "But as for you and your servants, I can tell that you are not yet awed by the face of YHWH Elohim."
Moshe is beginning to learn to discern men’s hearts. YHWH Elohim: He corrects Pharaoh’s vagueness in verse 28. Proverbs 15 tells us that the fear of YHWH is the beginning of wisdom, and that one who does not heed reproof or instruction will not gain understanding. YHWH searches hearts (1 Chron. 28:9), and though Pharaoh appears to be remorseful (v. 27), he is not truly repentant, and now it is too late for him. Though given much time to repent (cf. Rev. 2:20), at some point YHWH tells the wicked to go on being wicked (Rev. 22:11), and gives them over to their own reprobate wishes (Romans 1:26). He chooses who will be a vessel fit for destruction (Rom. 9:22), but He can base His choice on each one's own pattern of choices, so it is not as if he was unfair. Now that YHWH has seen that nothing will truly change Pharaoh's heart, He will no longer be permitted to change his course; as Proverbs 16 tells us, a man may plan his ways, but YHWH will direct the actual outcomes. Pharaoh was no longer in control of the supernatural world as he once thought he was. He had taken every bit of slack YHWH would give him, so now it had to be a noose for him.
31. (Now the flax and barley had been destroyed, since the barley was [advanced to] the stage of forming green ears, and the flax had budded,
This stage of barley’s maturation is how the new moon of Aviv is identified, and Passover cannot come until this stage is reached. But in Egypt, the barley reaches this stage about a month before it does in Israel. So this may be anywhere from two to six weeks before the first Passover.
32. but the wheat and the rye were not destroyed, because they had not yet ripened.)
33. So Moshe left Pharaoh and went out of the city, and spread the palms of his hands toward YHWH, and the thundrous noises and ‘hail' ceased, and rain was not poured out on the earth.
34. Now when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the ‘hail' and the thunderings had ceased, he increased his sin and gave his heart weight, [both] he and his servants.
He knew he had been wrong (v. 27), but since there was still some semblance of hope left for Egypt (v. 32), they held out this hope rather than surrendering to YHWH.
35. Since Pharaoh's resolve was strengthened, he would not let the descendants of Israel go--just as YHWH had predicted.
Had predicted: all the way back at the burning bush. Pharaoh still thinks he is the one in control, but He is really held captive by his own heart, which YHWH knew about beforehand. If he had escorted them out of his land willingly, they might even have loved him. What are we holding onto? The answer will tell us what is really holding onto us, and the more we loosen our grip on it, the more we will be set free.
TORAH PORTION
VaEra
(Exodus 6:2-9:35)
This portion is about a colossal power struggle—or so it appears. A shepherd from the desert, whose command of two languages he had not used in many decades left much to be desired, was going head-to-head with the leader of the most advanced superpower in the world and essentially asking him to surrender most of his “human resources” for what looked like a pipe dream—until his world started crumbling in front of him. Everything the Egyptians thought they could count on—the river, crops, livestock—was now in question. Most of all, the gods they relied on were proving quite unreliable. The people actually get the point, but that stubborn leader will just not back down. He thinks he can still win this.
But a strange thing starts taking place: the “brakes” he thought he would be able to apply to his heart at the last moment are no longer responding! He is skidding headlong toward a cliff without guard rails. The decisions he had made earlier on to accelerate had started a momentum that he can no longer control! His heart has been hardened like dried concrete and he can no longer undo the process; it has become permanent, and even if he wanted to change, he no longer could. The verdict has been rendered and he is now a dead man walking.
But there is a power struggle in a different theatre as well—that of the people who were waiting to be freed from the burdens of that slavemaster. Though Moshe was hammering away at the rock of Pharaoh’s heart, to all appearances he was not making any headway. Would they trust YHWH’s promises to free them, or would they believe only what their eyes could see and their backs could feel? Which would be more real to them? Some chose to read the cues in the strange events that were occurring and risked the dash for Goshen while Pharaoh was distracted; others saw these cataclysmic tragedies as yet more inconveniences added to their already-dismal existence, and their philosophy that there is really no way out of the grind because nothing ever changes for the better sealed them in the category of “Pharaoh’s slaves”—a term that should no longer have applied to anyone once the lines were drawn and the door was opened to become a free nation. Any obligation to Pharaoh was in their own minds now, because his power was now only a name, a theory, an idea that did not even have a paper document, let alone any real muscle, to back it up anymore.
We, too, have a choice. Long ago, our release from the cruel taskmasters of self, the was accomplished. There still remains one who clings to power over all who, like Rip Van Winkel, are not aware that there has been a change in authority—or maybe they just don’t care. But that one’s authority has been revoked, superseded, overruled by one who, since an anniversary of Moshe’s deliverance, has stood ready to escort us back to where we belong. His clientele are known as the “called-out ones”and now they are being called to gather again to prepare for another appointment with YHWH in which the covenant renewal, ratified back then, will be fully implemented after another series of plagues loosens the grip of the old guard whose hand, like Pharaoh’s, had so stiffened into a clenched position that it takes a lot of pain to make it let go. Will we live according to that now—counting that the truer fact than the old patterns that still hold their whips over us, telling us to submit to them or be in danger of retribution. Will we be bound by the truth that gravity exists, or will we take up the law of aerodynamics and fly to freedom?
Goshen
“No Fair”?
When we read of YHWH saying things like “I will toughen Pharaoh's resolve” (Exodus 7:3), the question often comes up, “Was YHWH fair to ruin Pharaoh, if He was the one who made Pharaoh stubborn?”
Aside from the fact that Pharaoh had hardened his own heart initially (7:13, 23; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7) before YHWH ever started setting limits on his free will (9:12--though He had predicted He would have to do so), we have to look at his overall attitude prior to YHWH’s intervention as well. From the first mention of YHWH, Pharaoh was skeptical and insolent (Ex. 6:2), and had deliberately made life hard for YHWH ‘s people. (6:7-16) So the evidence says he was predisposed to “hardening of the heart” anyway.
How exactly can one be “fair” with someone like that? YHWH did bend over backwards, as the Israeli army does today, to ensure that there would not be unnecessary civilian casualties. He did give fair warning to take shelter when the plagues became potentially deadly. (9:19) Only those who chose to ignore the warnings were physically hurt. He even restored ecological balance by sending the frogs back into the river where they belonged. (8:11) He did not want to be any more destructive than was absolutely necessary.
The Egyptians, on the other hand, were bent on one-upmanship, preferring to ruin the little drinking water that was left just to prove that they, too, could turn it into blood (7:22) and plague the land with even more frogs (8:7), as if there were not enough pests already. They tried to do the same with the gnats (8:18), but this time YHWH put a stop to their foolishness, because He had mercy on any Egyptians who might accept it. After all, He “sends rain on both the just and unjust”. Still, they were unimpressed. (9:30), though YHWH left them one last ray of hope (9:32), hoping they might still repent. No one could accuse Him of not being reasonable; He went far beyond that.
But while there may indeed be two sides to every story, they do not always carry equal weight. What about those 600,000 Israelite slaves and their families? Anyone with the slightest compassion for those who are oppressed has to take sides at some point. Dare we say that absolute objectivity may be impossible, even for YHWH? The need to remedy clear injustice outweighs any obligation to give the offender a second, third, or tenth shot at doing better. There comes a point at which even YHWH had to stop waiting to see if they would change, and restore shalom to those who were more deserving of it.
So He began making distinctions between His people and the Egyptians. After all, He had only made very general promises to all nations (after Noakh left the ark), but He had made multiple, particular commitments to the descendants of Avraham, Yitzhaq, and Yaaqov. He identified His own name with them and called them “His people” in a special way.
So must we burden ourselves with trying to always maintain some elusive fairness, even when cruel men have already proven that their motives are wicked? Loyalty and faithfulness to those we know—who depend on us—are more important than some nebulous attempt to be fair to everyone.
Study questions:
1. Why does the enumeration of the tribal heads stop with the third son of Yaaqov? (6:14-27)
2. What do you think is meant by “made you an Elohim to Pharaoh” in 7:1?
3. Do you think the purpose of all the plagues and the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart as noted in 7:5 was a secondary purpose or YHWH’s primary one?
4. Why did the sign given in 4:3 change in 7:10? (See the Hebrew text or a literal translation.)
5. What should the event in 7:12 have reminded Pharaoh of? Why did he miss it?
6. What proved that the first plague was not just an optical illusion or an artificial chemical change that Moshe somehow slipped into the water? (7:19)
7. Why would the magicians want to compound the problem by making more of the same things that were already bothersome? (7:22; 8:7)
8. What convinced the magicians that this was real and serious? (8:18, 19)
9. What effect would meeting Pharaoh at the river early in the morning have on him? (8:20)
10. Why did YHWH give advance warnings when the plagues began to be really dangerous? (8:21; 9:19)
11. How did Pharaoh try to diminish the effect while still offering an appearance of compromise? (8:25) why was this inadequate?
12. What does YHWH do in 9:4 that is reminiscent of the creation account? What does this mean for Israel?
13. What do you think it means that YHWH was going to direct the plagues unto Pharaoh’s heart? (9:14)
14. What does 9:16 tell us about how we should view and respond to world politics and events?
15. What kept Pharaoh hoping that he could still get his way in the midst of all the destruction?
CHAZAQ!
(Keep Holding On)
We’re all familiar with how Pharaoh hardened his heart and over and over would not listen to YHWH’s orders, through Moshe, to let His people go. (Exodus chapters 5-10)
But this verse is often forgotten: “When Moshe spoke [YHWH’s words] to the descendants of Israel, they did not listen … due to the impatience of spirit and the cruel slave-labor.” (Exodus 6:9) This after their initial enthusiasm. (4:31) But they were not anticipating Pharaoh’s strategic pushback, though YHWH warned about it. (7:4) Things actually got worse when the solution began to be revealed. The pressure on them to perform without resources was immense. That “impatience of spirit” could also be read as “shortness of breath”. People panic when they cannot breathe, such as when drowning, and even resist the help that is being brought to them to the point that the rescuers are in danger of being taken down with them. That was certainly the case here, as Pharaoh even sent Moshe and Aharon back to the hard labor. (5:4)
But whatever reason–hardness of heart or impatience of spirit—the end result was the same: YHWH’s words were not heeded. And that is a problem.
Maybe this is why, though later He did make a distinction between His people and the Egyptians (8:22-23; 9:4, 26), the Israelites suffered along with the Egyptians during the first three plagues. While YHWH’s purpose in sending those plagues was to show Pharaoh that there was an Elohim in Israel whom he (and his gods) could not ultimately resist (9:16), it seems He was even more intent on showing His people who He was (6:6-7), and they had not yet become desperate enough to appreciate the magnitude of what He was doing and what it was really worth.
A light does not seem very valuable on a bright, sunlit day. But the darker the backdrop gets, the brighter the light looks in contrast. YHWH did not even make His presence known until the hardship had reached a certain level of outcry. (6:5) He knew just how far to let the suffering do its work before alleviating it and overcoming it once and for all.
Someone else who had to be taught a lesson through suffering (Acts 9:16) later said, “The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the magnificence that is to be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18) Like Pharaoh, haSatan will not easily give up ground he has held for a long, long time. When he knows that he has been backed into a corner, he thrashes out violently. (Revelation 12:12) But bear with YHWH as He tightens the screws on him. Don’t be discouraged by your initial setbacks, because this time the deliverance will be even greater and far more permanent. (Yirmeyahu/Jeremiah 23:7-8)
“Only a little while longer, and the wicked will be no more.” (Psalm 37:10) Only a little while longer and the “daughter of Babylon” will be cut off. (Yirm./Jer. 51:33) “Only a little while longer, and the One who is coming will arrive, and He will not delay.” (Hebrews 10:37) So don’t give up your confidence; a great reward awaits if you hold onto the hope that is not yet seen. (Heb. 10:35; Romans 8:24)
Precedents
We Can Count On—and Expectations We Can’t
Does history repeat itself? In the haftarah, YHWH promises that again He will act in a way that the Egyptians (with Pharaoh as figurehead crocodile, like in Ex. 7:9-12) will know He is YHWH (Ezk. 29:9; cf. Ex. 7:5) But the plagues of that time (29:8-12) sound much like a fall of Babylon which has not yet taken place (Isa. 21:9; Jer. 50-51; Rev. 14:8ff), and why not? They are the same power in different incarnations. It keeps trying to take over the world, based in different places, but with the same agenda. Here we see the baton handed off (or stolen) as Babylon conquers Egypt. (29:19) Its spirit transfers, remaining the quintessential counterfeit of the real coming kingdom. We still face its resistance and oppression as Moshe and Aharon did. But He keeps setting us free. (29:21; Jer. 50:8) That’s why history repeats!
This haftarah starts with YHWH saying, “When I gather the House of Israel from the peoples among whom they are dispersed, being treated as set apart by them in the eyes of the Gentiles” (who arrogate too much to themselves, Ezk. 28:1-17), “then they will settle [permanently] on their ground I have given to My servant Yaaqov.” (Ezk. 28:25)
That sounds a lot like the Exodus, except from multiple countries. But that phrase “treat Me as set apart” is exactly what YHWH told Moshe and Aharon they did NOT do when He told them to speak to the rock but they struck it instead. (Num. 20:12) What did it mean to not treat Him as set apart (holy, special, in a category of His own)? Along with that accusation, probably to explain it, YHWH said they did not believe Him. They fell back on the familiar, something they had already seen YHWH do successfully, rather than trusting Him to indeed do something they had never seen anyone—even Him—do before, and thus showing the people that He is indeed in a class of His own. The failure to do this cost them the privilege of entering the Promised Land with the rest of the nation.
So it appears from the haftarah’s close parallels that in the second and greater Exodus (see Jeremiah 16), we may be put to the same test before we are allowed to go back to our ancestral Land. Will we remember what Moshe and Aharon did not do, and make a tikkun (reparation) for their error this time around? Whatever the test, will we trust Him for a new miracle instead of falling back on the things we have seen done before?
If we do, we “will know that [He is] YHWH our Elohim.” (28:26) That is what He told us the first Exodus would achieve. (Ex. 6:7) If we want to see the same kind of deliverance from another impossible situation (Isa. 27:13), these are our orders.
And deliverance is a two-edged word: from the prophets, it appears that we will have a situation like King Hizqiyahu did: “The children have been brought to the birth, and there is no strength to deliver!” (Isa. 37:3) For Yeshua speaks of events in the last days as “the beginning of the birth pangs”. (Mat. 24:8) The whole creation groans in pain until this “child” is born and our redemption brings it all out from under its bondage to decay (Rom. 8:21-23), which is not normal, not having been so in the beginning. The events in the Exodus were birth pangs too: Israel was being brought out of another nation. This time, from many nations! (Jer. 16:15)
There may be cataclysmic events again, of the Velikovsky (Worlds in Collision) and Patten (Catastrophism and the Old Testament, etc.) variety. They say YHWH accomplished the various plagues and opening of the Red Sea itself (as well as Hizqiyahu’s own deliverance) by employing another planetary body--not scientifically impossible (for He does not normally break the laws He Himself has set up) but He used catalysts from His arsenal that we rarely see in operation, as “the stars in their courses fought” from the heavens against Sisera (Judges 5:20).
Maybe we will again be backed into such a corner that it appears even YHWH Himself cannot get us out of it. Will we believe Him anyway, before we can see a path forward yet, and set Him apart in the eyes of all nations? He may bring out one of these tools He has up His sleeve that we didn’t know about. What a privilege and joy if when He does deliver us, we’ve already laid everything on the line in confidence that He is indeed able, and remained loyal to Him, rather than trusting a power we can see but which ends up injuring those who rely on it. (Ezk. 29:6-7)
Or will we be like those who did not listen to YHWH’s promises “due to impatience of spirit and the cruel slave-labor”? (Ex. 6:9) If we are the ones delivering the message, are we willing to speak to the powers that restrain us, though even our own people did not believe us? (6:12) If we do, we will be given unimaginable authority even if we start out as “nobodies”. (6:30-7:4) Trust the One who can deliver it rather than flesh-based powers who can’t.
The Sidewalk
for Kids
When you are having a hard time, do you like to talk to someone about it?
Isn’t even better when you can talk to someone who can actually do something about it?
That’s how this Torah portion begins. YHWH hears Israel’s cry and responds. In Isaiah 65:24, YHWH goes even further. He says, “Before they call, I will answer, and while they are still speaking, I will be listening.” Yeshua said, “Your heavenly Father knows what you need even before you ask Him.” (Matithyahu 6:8) How does this make you feel?
Can you see some evidences in VaEra of His anticipating Israel’s need and setting things in motion to fix things for them even before they knew He was paying attention?
Can you think of a time in your life when you know YHWH answered your prayer? How did you feel about Him then?
Imagine you were running away from some bullies and you got your foot caught and couldn’t get loose. Then someone really big who you didn’t know caught up to you. Would you be afraid? But what if he didn’t beat you up, but instead helped you get your foot free, and then he even went and chased away all the bullies? Would you be afraid of him? How would you feel about him?
Think of someone who has given you a big gift. How did you feel about that person? Did you want to thank him or her? Did you feel like you would be willing to do a big favor for them in return—like you would do anything in the world for them? That is what was going on here. YHWH didn’t give Israel rules to obey until after He had done something big to help them, but because He showed them that He really loved them, they said, “We’ll do anything He wants” even before they heard what it was, because they knew He was not mean like Pharaoh, the “bully” who had enslaved them.
But what if later you had to confront a bully who had stolen something from you? You might be scared to go see him, right? But what if the big boy who chased away the bullies said he would come along with you? Would you feel more confident about going to talk to him? What if he also gave you a big stick to carry with you?
That’s what YHWH did for Moshe when He gave him the job of telling Pharaoh to let His people go free. He said, “I will be there with you.” And He gave him tools to show Pharaoh that He meant business. So Moshe went, even though he was afraid that the king might kill him and his brother.
Of course the king didn’t want to do what Moshe said, and he lied over and over to get Moshe to leave. “Yes, I’ll do it,” he kept saying, but he never did. He didn’t think Moshe—or the YHWH he talked about—was anyone important enough to listen to. So YHWH turned up the heat. He showed him the kinds of things He could do—take away the water Pharaoh and his people needed to drink, make bugs eat their crops and bother them, take away their crops and their animals—but He didn’t let these things destroy what the Israelites owned, so He could prove that these were not just accidents, but that He could control what took place and decide whom it would affect and whom it wouldn’t.
As this chapter of the story ends, the king still thinks he can get by and not have to do what he doesn’t want to do. But we’ll see how that ends… Stay tuned!
The Renewal of VA-ERA
“I appeared unto Avraham, unto Yitz’haq, and unto Yaaqov…and… established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Kanaan, the land of their sojournings… I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered My covenant.” (Exodus 6:3-5)
1,500 years later, after no prophets had given any new information for 400 years, there was a priest with a wife named Elisheva—the same as the first priest Aharon’s wife, whose name appears only in this week’s Torah portion. (6:23) A messenger from YHWH broke the silence and told this priest that his wife—though past child-bearing age like Sarah—was going to have a son whose name was to be Yochanan--“YHWH has shown favor”. Because he was at first hesitant to believe this news—as Sarah herself had been—he was chastised by being unable to speak until that child was born and this heaven-given name confirmed.
It was promised that this child, amazingly, would be filled with YHWH’s Spirit even before he was born and that he would fulfill the last prophecy Mal’akhi had given: the return of the spirit that empowered Eliyahu the prophet. (Luke 1:13-17) But the purpose for this special filling was so he could prepare the way and plow up the soil for an even greater fulfillment of some promises of YHWH about a redemption even more complete than what He brought to His people in Moshe’s day. (Luke 1:68-79) With only two or three tribes left in the promised Land and enemies bearing down on their freedoms again, they needed special reassurance that He was keeping His people in mind.
Right in the middle of this priest’s prophecy about what this child would become, he said YHWH’s bringing these events about would show that He remembered His covenant, “the oath that He swore to our ancestor Avraham” to grant deliverance from our enemies so we could serve Him without fear.
Why was this especially significant? Because Elisheva means “My Elohim has sworn an oath”. But the clincher is the name of the priest himself—Z’kharyah, which means “YHWH has remembered”! Put the two together, and the offspring who reminds us of His favor also tells us that “YHWH has remembered His oath”—the very same thing He told Moshe at another time when enemies were becoming oppressive.
How exuberant this must have made everyone who heard it feel! Of course, they still had to wait until this boy and the one he would introduce grew up. And as with Moshe, the way the promise was brought about was not how the hearers had imagined it, but it took care of deeper issues than just the presenting problems. He brought us out from not only our immediate burdens (Ex. 6:6), but also the lifelong oppression of the sin that had weighed on us from within, ever since Adam, and kept us in bondage through fear of the death that was its inevitable result. (Hebrews 2:15)
In Moshe’s case, not only did He want to let us know who He is (6:7); He also wanted the Egyptians to know that there is none like Him anywhere on earth. (9:14) And through what He did to Pharaoh, He said, He would even make His name known throughout the whole earth. (9:16) So He did more than just help His people escape; He did things the Egyptians had never seen before and would never forget.
Yeshua also wanted “the world to know” that he loved and obeyed the Father (Yochanan 14:31). How would they know? By the fruitfulness of those he redeemed. (15:1-8) He wanted the world to know that the Father had sent him and loved his followers too. (Yochanan 17:23) How would it know? By their unity. (17:20-22) Not as dramatic as the mighty works He did in Egypt, but in the long run, far more important and having much longer-range effects. Remember how quickly the Egyptians went back to trying to get their way rather than standing in awe of YHWH’s works? Remember how soon our ancestors went back to their stiff-necked and complaining ways after seeing His one-of-a-kind deliverances? So after that YHWH put less emphasis on miracles (Mat. 12:39)—doing them only when really needed—and more emphasis on “fruit that will remain”. (Yochanan 15:16)
But there’s another side of mankind’s timeless tendencies that comes out vividly in this story: “Elohim said…‘ I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel… I am YHWH. I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage, and I will redeem you…’” But the next part is just plain scary: “And Moses told this to the children of Israel, but they did not listen to Moshe, due to the impatience of spirit (shortness of breath) and the cruel slave-labor.” (Ex. 6:2-9)
Sometimes we miss the awesome things that are going on around us because we are just thinking of our immediate pain or focusing on the heavy load we are bearing day after day. Yeshua told us to be careful because the worries of this life—the things that we don’t even like, but which constantly demand our attention—can very easily keep us preoccupied so that the bigger thing YHWH is doing in the world goes almost unnoticed and prevents us from putting our whole hearts into the steps He is taking today to bring the Kingdom that is breaking into our ordinary history. (Matithyahu 13:18-23) The Shabbat is looming just ahead, yet it is easy to keep to keep going about business as usual, oblivious to what time it already is and the preparations that need to be made before it’s too late. May YHWH grant us the ability to see the big picture and not just what is right in front of our noses.
Chapter 7 starts with a strange statement from YHWH to Moshe: “I will make you elohim to Pharaoh, and your brother Aharon will be your prophet.” But this actually helps clear up some misunderstandings of the Renewed Covenant, where some people read some things there and draw the conclusion that Yeshua is YHWH because on a few occasions he is referred to as Elohim. This passage about Moshe is a great example of how the word “elohim” is used in a wide range of ways. Moshe was not YHWH just because he was called Elohim in this situation—especially since it says YHWH put him in that position. He was the one who was given authority even over a king, so that made him, for that moment, greater than the man in the highest position in the most powerful empire on earth at that time.
It is the same with Yeshua. YHWH has given him “a name that is above every other name” (Philippians 2:9)—but the man who made that statement about him was also careful to say, “with the exception, of course, of the One who gave him that position!” (1 Cor. 15:27) It would seem obvious, but thankfully, Paul could foresee that people would take his words too far (see 1 Peter 3:16), so he brought clarification ahead of time—yet they still misread him! Such is humanity. But we no longer have the luxury of making mistakes when better understanding is now available. The time of restoration of all things is upon us, and accuracy is crucial so that full rectification can be brought in all the earth.
Nor may we err in the other direction, of downplaying YHWH’s most important instrument of all time. Moshe tried to get out of his job, and later many people tried to “impeach” him, but YHWH would not budge in either case; He has the right man for each job. Moshe was it for this redemption; Yeshua was indispensable for the fuller redemption we spoke of above. Only at one point—when the pressure that would have been impossible for any lesser man was finally upon him—but still he did not argue with the One who would not let him get out of it either, because in both cases, too much was at stake.
What part are you to play in the redemption of Israel—and ultimately the world—this time? YHWH gives us the tools for what He calls us to do. (Ex. 7:9, etc.) Make no mistake; there will be opposition, sometimes in the extreme, as with Pharaoh and his sorcerers. (7:11) But what became of those imitation serpents the magicians made? (7:12) As the Renewed Covenant asks, “If YHWH is for us, who can stand against us?” (Romans 8:31)
But it did not get done right away; the opposition kept coming back and growing stronger. That is where endurance comes in and why there can be rewards, even though everything we are, and even our faith, is not from ourselves, but a gift from YHWH (Eph. 2:8-10)—because many or most give up too soon. What if Moshe had quit after Pharaoh hardened his heart three times? Some would have taken that as enough evidence that this just wasn’t working and it wasn’t worth the effort. But he “endured as one who was seeing the invisible” (Hebrews 11:27), because the victory really is there for those who go the whole distance. His purpose, like Moshe’s, was to “bring many sons to a higher condition”. How did YHWH achieve that? “By making the one who took the lead in their deliverance fully-equipped through undergoing suffering.” (Heb. 2:10) Because of that, we can “run with endurance…, looking to Yeshua, who is both our forerunner and the one who brings our confidence fully to its goal, who for the joy set before him endured” (Heb. 12:2) something far more difficult than we will ever face--and got the job done.
A Fuller Demonstration of What He'd Promised
This Torah portion starts out with YHWH telling Moshe, “I appeared to Avraham, Yitzhaq, and Yaaqov as El Shaddai, but I did not make Myself known to them by My Name YHWH. I also established My covenant with them, to give them the Land…” (Exodus 6:3- 4)
Many have noticed the seeming contradiction: He did in fact say to Avraham (Gen. 15:7) and to Yaaqov (Gen. 28:13), “I am YHWH…” Yitzhaq, too, knew Him by that Name. (Gen. 26:22; 27:7, 27) So He emphatically DID make Himself known to them by that Name. When He did, He made the very promise of the Land referred to here: “Tell… Israel, ‘I am YHWH…I will bring you into the Land…and give it to you …” (Ex. 6:6-8) Is it meant to be a question (“…didn’t I make Myself known…?”), instead of a statement? It is not phrased in the usual Hebrew question format (starting with “Ha-lo…” instead of just “Lo…”). But how else can it align with the facts?
D. Charles Pyle confirms that this syntax is indeed used elsewhere (such as in Jonah 4:11) as a question, and if it was meant to be understood as it is usually translated (as seen above), it would have a different word order. But, he adds, not until this time did we see the fulfillment of His promises to the Patriarchs, which had not been brought into the realm of experience within their own lifetimes. He now “made Himself known” more fully.
In Hebrew, His “Name” also means His reputation. Not until He demonstrated what He had claimed could His Name could be spoken of with the confidence of a promise already kept—not until He “sacrificed Egypt as your ransom” (Isaiah 43:3). The same phrase, “I am YHWH”, appears in that verse too, and there He also introduces another title in relation to Israel: “your Savior/Deliverer” (which appears again in Isa. 49:26 and 60:16), and He makes the title exclusive in Isa. 43:11 and Hoshea 13:4—“Besides Me there is no Savior”.
Not as many have noticed this seeming contradiction: How can we then call Yeshua our savior? In the same way that Nehemiah 9:27 and Ovadyah 21 use the term (there as plural). There are multiple saviors—but the key is in the first of these verses: “According to Your manifold mercies You [YHWH] gave them saviors…”—that is, manifestations of His own salvation, not independent of Him, just as Moshe also delivered Israel, but only by His power. YHWH delivered—by Moshe’s hand. He was the instrument. Moshe’s rod is also called YHWH’s. (4:17, 20) David’s throne is also YHWH’s. (1 Chron. 29:23) This way, we can see the invisible YHWH at work.
If it is not to honor YHWH (Philippians 2:11) that we bow the knee to Yeshua (i.e., in homage to the king YHWH has appointed), then it becomes idolatry to do so. He is not a Savior separate from YHWH, Who says “I have set My king on My holy hill”. (Psalm 2:1-2) We must not oppose the one He chose. Doing so got Moshe’s own sister in big trouble. (Num. 12:8) How dare she speak against His servant? Even when King Sha'ul was not fulfilling his calling, David would not dare to oppose YHWH’s anointed, to the point of risking his life. (1 Samuel 24:6, 10; 26:9-23; 2 Sam. 1:14) Moshe himself would later say YHWH would call to account any who would not listen to the prophet like himself that YHWH would send. (Deut. 18:18-19)
“YHWH and His anointed” must be taken together. (Psalm 2:1) That sword cuts both ways, addressing both those who would reject His anointed yet claim to worship Him, and those who would put Yeshua on YHWH’s level as if he could act independently of His support and endorsement. (Ultimately that led to Marcion’s idea that Yeshua even supplanted YHWH as deity!) If in some sense Yeshua is an elohim (as Yochanan 1:1 and 20:28 say—but with the firm parameters set by their contexts, Yochanan 1:18 and 20:21), it is because YHWH set him over us, just as He here established Moshe “as an elohim” over Pharaoh. (Exodus 7:1) But we don’t worship that kind of elohim (a term also used in Hebrew as “judge”) any more than Pharaoh worshipped Moshe!
Not until He gave up Egypt--that greatest specimen of human attainment in its day—for Israel’s sake could we see just how much He loved us (Isa. 43:1-11); not until He demonstrated what He claimed—until He “gave Yeshua as our ransom” (that only specimen of true humanity ever seen since Adam, and thus the greatest sacrifice He could ever make)--when “while we were still sinners”, He “spared not His own son…for us”, was “His love toward us” (Rom. 5:8; 8:32) proven vividly enough to finally let His reputation get all the way through our thick skulls, so we will keep trusting Him even when circumstances appear to contradict the fact of His love.
The Cure for
Hardening of the Heart
This is an epic story of YHWH’s marvelous deeds, but what is most important about it is the comfort we receive from knowing He heard our groaning and remembered His promises to us. (Ex.6:5) He noticed our need and had compassion on us.
But sometimes we let our difficulties and the exasperation they bring come between us and accepting the deliverance YHWH intends to give us. (6:9) We may think we don’t deserve it or have time or strength to make the effort. But this can discourage and demoralize His messengers (6:12) when they most need affirmation, because the opposition is motivated to fight them.
YHWH never denies that practitioners of “secret arts” (and even false prophets) can do paranormal acts. (7:11; cf. Deut. 13:1-2) But He supersedes them with His own (7:12), for He invented the secrets that they have only discovered.
But why did they only imitate His plagues and aggravate the catastrophes (7:22; 8:3)? Wouldn’t it have been more helpful from their perspective to reverse the transformation of the Nile into blood and make it water again, or remove the frogs instead of adding more? But such is the mindset of those who only want to compete for power and are not actually concerned about helping anyone. To their credit, the magicians had more sense than Pharaoh and did recognize when they were at their limit, acknowledging YHWH’s superiority. (8:15) Pharaoh wanted to think he could still beat Him.
Moshe was authorized to command Pharaoh as if he were an elohim (7:1), so when he ordered Pharaoh to stop going back on his promises (8:25) yet he disobeyed (8:28), the hardening of his heart became a direct affront. The word translated “hardened” here in 8:28 (kaved) means “made heavy”. He treated himself as more important than YHWH, making himself out to be weightier than the facts warranted.
When the translators said “YHWH hardened Pharaoh’s heart” (4:21; 7:13; 9:12; 10:27; 11:10; 14:4, 8), they failed to distinguish between two different Hebrew words—kaved (made weighty) and khazeq, which means “strengthened” or “made his grip firmer”. The two are not the same thing, so they should not be conflated, as Rabbi David Fohrman and the sage Sforno pointed out.
Most often YHWH actually strengthened Pharaoh’s heart, giving him room to keep exercising his free will. Only once did He make Pharaoh’s heart kaved (10:1), possibly in his own eyes, and that was only after Pharaoh had already done this to himself numerous times. So we should not imagine YHWH gave him no room to choose rightly before He started using Pharaoh’s preexisting stubbornness to His advantage. YHWH at that point was “turning him over” to his own wishes (as Paul, in Romans 1:28, describes people who already preferred to reject or ignore YHWH); there are innate consequences to this that YHWH no longer did anything to mitigate, since he’d “made his own bed”. He is not to be blamed for the bad choices Pharaoh made in his own pride. But at the same time, “the king’s heart is in YHWH’s hand…and He turns it whichever way He pleases.” (Proverbs 21:1)
Only once a third term is used—again translated the same way (“hardened”), but this time with better reason. YHWH said He would qashah Pharaoh’s heart (7:3), which can mean “to harden or make fierce, cruel, or difficult” (like the work the Hebrews were subjected to in 6:9); it’s the same word used of Israel’s “stiff” necks on many occasions. This would only make the contest even more challenging and make it more significant when YHWH still defeated him.
The lesson is obvious: surrender to YHWH early on, before He “gives in” and gives you what you ask for stubbornly, which is never to your advantage in the end. Stop hardening your own heart, and He won’t even nudge you in that direction. Better yet, if you cooperate, He can soften a hard heart (Ezek. 11:19; 36:26), so we too can notice others’ needs and have compassion on them.
Less dramatic, maybe, but a well-functioning heart usually is, for the fruit of righteousness and wisdom are “peaceable”, not chaotic. (Heb. 12:11; Yaaqov/James 3:17)
The choice is yours—for now, but you don’t know for how long.
