Unleavened

      The title of this Sabbath's reading portion is Bo, meaning "Enter." The title comes from Ex. 10:1-2: "Now the LORD said to Moses, 'Go in (bo - enter, come in, come or bring to pass, bring in, bring near, to enter as a bride into the house of a husband, attack an enemy, bring against, enter into judgment, bring before a tribunal) to Pharaoh; for I have hardened (kabad - to be heavy, be grievous, be hard, be insensible, be dull, make unresponsive, make oneself dense)  (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) his heart and the hearts of his servants, that I may show these signs of Mine before him, and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and your son's son the mighty things I have done in Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them, that you may know that I am the LORD."

     As we can see from the meaning of bo, above, there is a double understanding within the Hebrew word. We can come into or enter the presence of the LORD like a bride entering into her husband's house, or to enter into the judgment of, or the attack against an enemy.

     We can also see that while Pharaoh had had an *aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega heart, he had deliberately turned his back on that purpose and consequently the LORD made it impossible for Pharaoh to enter into the knowledge of the LORD again. Judgment therefore had come to Pharaoh and his house. Proverbs tells us that the heart of the king is in the hands of the LORD, and He turns it whichever way He wills, and the LORD weighs the hearts. (Prov. 21:1-3). Beware kings and rulers on the earth. Don't resist the leading of the LORD.

     We also see that the purpose of this powerful dealing with Pharaoh and Egypt was to be an account to be passed down the generations of the Hebrews as an everlasting ordinance. There was something vitally important in this encounter never to be forgotten.

     Within this Bo Sabbath reading portion is the account of the night of the Passover of the LORD, when the Hebrews were told to enter into their homes, the doors, the doorposts and lintels of which had been covered by the blood of the sacrificed Passover lamb, were shut, while the death of all of the first born of Egypt swept across that land, and anguished cries sounded outside the closed doors of the Hebrews. From the beginning, the LORD had told Moses that Pharaoh would harden his heart against the command of the LORD to let His people go out of the slavery of Egypt. In the verses above, the LORD reveals that it is He who hardened Pharaoh's heart.

     The death of all of the first born of Egypt was the tenth plague brought against the Egyptians and their gods (Ex. 12:12), and the most severe. However, as for the Hebrews: "Now the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) blood (on the doorposts and lintels) shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt." (v. 13). Even Pharaoh's own first-born son died that night (Ex. 12:29). As a result of this plague of death: "...Pharaoh rose in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead. Then he (Pharaoh) called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, 'Rise, go out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel. And go, serve the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) LORD as you have said. Also take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone; and bless me also." (Ex. 12:30-32).

     A very strange thing was noted as the Israelites quickly left their slavery and Egypt behind: "So the people took (nasa - lift up, bear continuously, carry, forgive, support, sustain, accept, exalt, pardon, spare, desire, hold up, raise up, bring forth)  (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) their dough (baseq - unleavened dough, dough before rising) before it was leavened (hames - leavened, be sour, grieved, cruel, be imbittered, oppress, be ruthless, harsh, blood-stained, scarlet mantle of a ruler, to act violently, unjust, to injure, to be afflicted with pain), having their kneading bowls (root word sa'ar - remnant, left over, remain, left alive, survive, the rest) bound up (sarar - be in straits, adversary, bound up, tied up, cause distress, make narrow, shut up, birth pangs, to persecute [see 1 Sam. 25:29]) in their clothes (simla/semel - apparel, a covering assuming the shape of the object beneath, a covering in sleep/image, figure, likeness, resemblance) on their shoulders (shekem/shawkam - shoulder, back, portion, place of burdens/to rise or start early, rise up early). Now the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, and they had asked from the Egyptians articles/jewels (keli/kala - vessel, arms, weapons, jewel, armor, ornaments/fulfill, accomplish, finish, end, done) of silver, articles (see keli/kala above) of gold, and clothing. And the LORD had given the people (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Thus they spoiled/plundered (nasal - deliver, recover, escape, rescue, take out, snatch away, draw out, preserve, deliver from sin and guilt, to deliver from death or enemies) the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) Egyptians." (Ex. 12:34-36).

     According to the Hebrew meanings of the words used in the above verses, there is a wealth of information connected to the Israelites exit out of Egypt on the night of Passover. The LORD commanded that immediately following Passover, there would be a seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread. Along with Egyptian gold, silver, and raiment, the Israelites carried out on their shoulders dough bowls filled with the unleavened bread dough that did not have time to rise because of their hasty exit from Egypt. As we see above, leavened bread is associated with suffering, oppression, injustice, bitterness, blood-stained, violence, injuries, affliction and pain. We also see a picture of the evil of leavened bread in the suffering of Christ in these terrible afflictions as He was "raised up" on the cross. The unleavened bread celebrates the absence of or deliverance from these terrible things which the Israelites had suffered during bondage in Egypt. It also represents our spiritual liberty found in the sacrifice of the Messiah/Christ. 

     As we incorporate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, including the Hebrew meanings of the verse above from Ex. 12 in our lives as believers, the apostle Paul wrote this to the church: "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness (pikria/pikros/pegnymi - bitter gall [see Mt. 27:33-34], bitter hatred, poison, extreme wickedness/bitter, harsh, virulent, to pierce, to cut/to fasten by peg [see also Col. 2:13-14]), wrath (thymos/thyo - passion, fierceness, indignation, wrath, inflaming wine that kills or drives drinkers mad/slaying or sacrifice of the paschal [Passover] lamb), anger (orge/orego - violent passion or emotion, agitation of the soul, angry infliction of punishment/to stretch one's self out, covetous love of money), clamor (kraugo/krazo - cry, crying in tumult or grief/cry out for vengeance, shriek, scream), and evil speaking (blasphemia - slander, detraction, abusive injurious speech to another's good name, impious speech injurious to divine majesty) be put away from you with all malice (kakia - maliciousness, ill will, desire to injure, wickedness, depravity, without shame, evil, harm, worthless). And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you." (Eph. 4:30-32).

     Jesus told His listeners to beware the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees (Mt. 16:6), which He described as hypocrisy (Lk. 12:1). This must have shocked His listeners, because these two groups were viewed and feared as being the most "religious". While being confident in and prideful of their own self-righteousness and expert adherence to scripture, the Pharisees and Sadducees did so through a spirit of meanness, mercilessness and accusation, which blinded them to their own Savior and Redeemer, Jesus, whom they accused most viciously and rejected.

     From another reading portion of this "enter" Sabbath from Ezra 6, the Feast of Unleavened Bread was observed with joy: "And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy; for the LORD made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel." (Ezra 6:22). In fact, the house of the LORD was finished in Jerusalem as a result of the commands of three foreign kings: Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia. (Ezra 6:14-15).

     It is also interesting to see that according to the Hebrew meaning of "spoil or plunder" of the wealth of the Egyptians, it had more of a meaning of a redemption price for the Egyptians, a pardoning of sin and guilt, a deliverance from death for the injustices they had heaped upon the Israelites. The wealth of the Egyptians, in part, came from the free labor and broken backs of their slaves. This restitution paid carries the meaning of being pardoned for that injustice. The lives of the Egyptians were spared from death as a result as found in the meaning of nasal (see above) in Hebrew. This redemption price also would build the tabernacle or house of God in the wilderness. We can say that the house or temple of God is built from the redemption price paid. In fact, after paying this redemption price, which is the rescue or deliverance from deserved death, the Egyptians are then noted as being the *aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega Egyptians, the title associated with the Lord/Messiah/Christ Jesus, the Redeemer.

     Scripture says that our lives were also bought with a price paid by our Redeemer with His blood: "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's...You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men." (1 Cor. 6:19-20, 7:23). We are living temples also built by the redemption price paid by Christ for us. Peter also wrote: "...knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot [see the Passover lamb of Ex. 12:5]." (1 Pet. 1:18-19). Our redemption price was the blood of Jesus, the unblemished Passover Lamb of God.

     Again, the LORD commanded that this remembrance of Passover was to be passed to all future generations: "So this day shall be to you a memorial (zikaron/zakar - memorial, remembrance, records, reminder, a memorable thing/mention, recorder, bring to remembrance, call to mind, think on); and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance." (Ex. 12:14).

     There are many important accounts in scripture of the miraculous deliverance of the LORD when His people were under the oppression of their enemies.  However, this particular event, the Passover, is of such significance that the LORD commanded that it always be remembered and observed as a memorial.

     Not only was Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread to be kept forever through all generations, but the Israelites were commanded to wear the Feast of Unleavened Bread as a sign: "Unleavened Bread shall be eaten seven days. And no leavened bread shall be seen among you in all your quarters. And you shall tell your son in that day, saying, 'This is done because of what the LORD did for me when I came up from Egypt.' It shall be as a sign (ot - sign, signal, distinguishing mark, banner, remembrance, miraculous sign, warning, miracle, proof, evidence, mark, monument, flag, beacon, a prophetic portent, a sign of a future fulfilment, to consent, to agree) to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the LORD's law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt. You shall therefore keep this (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) ordinance in its season from year to year." (Ex. 13:7-10).

     The Israelites were to wear the Feast of Unleavened Bread as a sign. The Hebrew definition of "sign" also includes "beacon". The definition of beacon is "a light/fire set up in a high or prominent position as a warning, signal, or celebration". While the Church of believers as a whole does not observe either Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread or any of the other Feasts of the LORD, Jesus told us to be "beacons", with our lights set in a high place on a lampstand for all to see. (Mt. 5:14-16). We need to understand the importance of wearing and being the mark or sign of salvation life.

     The Feast of Unleavened Bread was to last seven days: "Seven (seba/saba - seven, seven-fold/swear, oath, charge solemnly, adjure, curse, "seven" oneself) days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread ...that person shall be cut off (karat - cut off, cut down, destroy, to permit to perish, to covenant to perish) from Israel." (Ex. 12:15). The seven days represent an oath. It is either an oath to be partakers of the unleavened bread, or it is a covenant made to perish by the curse that accompanies what is represented in leavened bread. 

     The Passover Lamb has redeemed and delivered us from slavery and death. It is a very serious thing to follow that sacrifice by turning back to the bitterness of leavened bread

     After the Israelites left Egypt, they took the unleavened dough they had carried on their shoulders and baked it: "And they baked (apa - to bake, to be complete or whole) unleavened (massa - without leaven, sweet, not soured by yeast) cakes of the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) dough which they had brought out of Egypt; for it was not leavened (hames, as above - cruel, grieved, sour, embittered, ruthless, oppress, harsh), because they were driven out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared provisions (food, meat) for themselves." (Ex. 12:39). 

     Not only was it important to eat the unleavened bread after they had dwelt in Egypt, but it was also important to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread when they would eventually dwell in the Promised Land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites and the Jebusites dwelt (Ex. 13:5-7). These tribes of the land would be dispossessed as their wickedness became full. As the people of God eat the unleavened bread, it sets a difference between them and those who are "leavened".

     It is the completed work of God in us through Jesus Messiah/Christ as He removes us from Egypt, the house of bondage (Ex. 13:3) and commands us to eat the unleavened bread of, and following, Passover.

     If you would like to know more about living as unleavened bread, you can pray with me: "Heavenly Father, You brought me out of the house of bondage to sin through Your Son, Jesus, and brought me into Your house of Redemption. By the power and truth of Your Word and Holy Spirit, teach me how to walk as unleavened bread, to be a sign or beacon for others to see. Remove from me all leaven and hypocrisy, and cause me to be covered with the resemblance and image of Jesus Messiah/Christ. Help me to show others the sweetness of Your living Bread that came down from heaven. I ask this in the name of Jesus, AMEN."

     *NOTE: aleph-tav written in Hebrew as אֶת, are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The meaning of the two pictographic Hebrew letters can also be interpreted "Adonai (Lord) of the Cross/Covenant". In the New Testament, these letters are translated as Alpha and Omega written as ΑΩ , the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. These letters are those by which Jesus Christ identifies Himself in the Book of Revelation: see Rev. 1:8, Rev. 21:6, Rev. 22:13.

MonsterSlayer

      This week's Sabbath reading portion is titled Va-eira, meaning "and I appeared," and begins in Ex. 6. Our title comes from v. 2-3: "And God spoke to Moses and said to him: 'I am the LORD (YHWH). I appeared (ra'a - see, look, behold, appear, consider, perceive, foresee, seer, have vision, discern, be visible, experience) to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty (El Shaddai), but by My name LORD I was not known to them." This name, LORD, is a new revelation to the people of God. It is revealed at a time when the LORD will perform mighty miraculous acts to free His people from bondage and oppression.

     The LORD first revealed His name to Moses in Ch. 3:14-15, when Moses asked His name to tell to the Israelites: "And God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM (written in Hebrew as YHWH or יְהֹוָה ).'...Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you...This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations." Not only is this name, LORD, an eternal name, but it is the name that is to be made known to every generation. Every generation must have this knowledge for the reason that will be revealed below.

     In both places where this name is mentioned, there is also the promise to deliver the Israelites out of the land of Egypt and to bring them into the land promised by covenant in Canaan. This name, LORD, means "the existing One," and it is this name by which God delivers His people using whatever means necessary. Each Hebrew letter in the name LORD, yod-hey-vaw-hey, carries a separate meaning that when combined can be translated "Behold, the hand, behold the nail." We can see the identity of Jesus in this named. This is also a name that defeats monsters as we will see.

     In another reading portion from this Va-eira, "and I appeared" Sabbath, the LORD says to His prophet, Ezekiel: "Speak and say, 'Thus says the LORD GOD: Behold, I am against you O Pharaoh king of Egypt, of great monster (tannin - dragon, great serpent, sea or river monster, venomous, devourer) who lies in the midst of his rivers, who has said, 'My River (referring to the Nile River) is my own; I have made it for myself.'...I have given you as food to the beasts of the field and to the birds of the heavens. Then all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the LORD, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel. When...you broke and tore all their shoulders; When...you broke and made all their backs quiver." (Ezek. 29:3, 5-7).

     Several of the gods, or ruling spiritual powers, of Egypt were associated with the Nile River, the most important river to the ancient Egyptians in their religion by which they used occultic practices in order to claim to have control over death and resurrection. There are organizations today that still rely upon these occultic beliefs and practices in order to accomplish eternal life. The ancient Egyptians also relied upon the Nile's flooding seasons for their agricultural production. The Nile River became the center of creation, fertility, the underworld, including death and resurrection as mentioned, and to the LORD, it also was the source of oppression of God's covenant people as He told Ezekiel, above. The LORD told Moses that He would judge the gods of Egypt, "I will execute judgment: I am the LORD." ( Ex. 12:12). Again the LORD attaches His name to this judgment that would bring deliverance to His people.

     In another reading portion from this Sabbath, the psalmist wrote of the judgment of the LORD against Pharaoh, Egypt and its gods: "He cast on them the fierceness of His anger, wrath, indignation, and trouble, by sending angels of destruction among them." (Ps. 78:49).

     The first plague sent by the LORD against Egypt and its gods in order to force Pharaoh to release the Hebrew slaves was the plague against the Nile and all of the waters of Egypt. The LORD instructed Moses to meet Pharaoh as he went to the River and say to him: "The LORD God of the Hebrews has sent me to you, saying, 'Let (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness'; but indeed, until now you would not hear! Thus says the LORD: 'By this you shall know that I am the LORD. Behold, I will strike (naka - smite, slay, kill, beat, slaughter, punish, conquer, ravage, captured, wounded, stricken, stripes, smitten, scourge) the waters which are in the river (ye'or - of Egyptian origin, specifically the Nile and its collateral trenches) with the rod that is in my hand, and they shall be turned to blood (dam/damam - blood, bloodthirsty, blood guiltiness, blood shed that causes death/silence, cut off, cut down, cease, be astonished or stupefied, perish). And the fish that are in the river shall die, the river shall stink (ba'as - stink, abhor, abomination, loathsome, be offensive), and the Egyptians will loathe (la'a - be weary of, to exhaust oneself, to labor, be offended, make disgusted, faint, loathe) to drink the water of the river." (Ex. 7:16-18, see also Ps. 78:43-44).

     Not only did the Nile turn to blood, but every source of water in Egypt turned to blood, including any water that was in a container or cup! (v. v. 19). The plague lasted seven days. (v. 25). The magicians of Egypt were able to copy this plague, which hardened Pharaoh's heart against the power of the LORD, but the magicians were not able to alleviate the plague of God, neither were the Egyptian gods of the River able to reverse the plague evidently, because the plague continued for its appointed timespan.

     The purpose of this and the other plagues against Egypt were not only for the purpose of forcing Pharaoh to let God's people go, but it was also to be a testament to the LORD's people of His power and willingness to deliver His people out of their severe bondage. Psalm 78 mourns the fact that God's people failed to remember all that He did in order to deliver them and make them a nation (Ps. 78:52-55). Even after all that the LORD had accomplished on their behalf, His people tested and provoked (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega-Elohim) God, turned back and acted unfaithfully, did not keep His testimonies, and moved Him to jealousy with their idols (v. 56-58).

     The question is: Do we remember all that the LORD has done for us through mighty wonders and works? Or have we forgotten His absolute power and might? Have we hardened our hearts against the ways of God as Israel once did, as Psalm 78 laments?

     Some may not believe that there are monsters. Some may have forgotten how the LORD defeated monsters on behalf of His people. Some may have forgotten that we, the Church of believers in Christ, are called to be monster slayers ourselves.

     The apostle Paul wrote this to the Church: "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the LORD and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness or this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." (Eph. 6:1-013).

     Paul is talking about monsters here - spiritual serpents and dragons -venomous and merciless devourers of human beings and whole nations (see above Hebrew meaning of "monster").

     Paul also wrote further: "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. Do you look at things according to the outward appearance?..." (2 Cor. 10:3-7a).

     As we war against the flesh of others (although we do not spend much time or effort warring against our own flesh), and as we war against what outward appearances seem to tell us, we become totally ineffectual as monster slayers. The warfare against monsters begins in our own minds and in our own obedience to the Lord and to His Word and Spirit.

    In another place, Paul wrote that the Church of believers is to make known the mystery that has been revealed to it: "...and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confidence through faith in Him." (Eph. 3:9-12). There is a mystery, now revealed to the church to be made known to the monsters mentioned in the above verse from Ephesians, and to all men, "...which is "Christ in you (meaning the believer), the hope of glory." (see Col. 1:26-27).  Jesus revealed the same mystery when He said, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." (Jn. 3:16-27). There is escape from condemnation and death, there is everlasting life, there is salvation for all who will believe in the Son, Jesus, who accomplished this earth-shaking work in the will and in the name of His Father.

     Here is another monster slayer: "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." (Gal. 2:20). This overcomes the biggest monster of all - Satan himself: "...for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb (meaning Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God) and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death." (Rev. 12:10-11).

     Calling all monster slayers - Fall in and take up your weapons of warfare: the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God (Eph. 6:14-18). 

     The connection between the name LORD and Jesus is discussed above. LORD is the name by which God will judge the gods or monsters of Egypt and deliver His people. Scripture also relates how the name of Jesus has authority over all created beings, including monsters: "And being found in appearance as a man, He (Jesus) humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Phil. 2:8-11).

     All knees must bow at this name, Jesus/Yeshua (meaning "the LORD is salvation"), and at the title of "Lord", including the knees of monsters. Keeping this in mind, the greatest monster slayer and ruler of all time and before time, is coming, the returning Messiah/Christ, Jesus as "KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS." (Rev. 19:15-16). At that time, "...the lawless one... the son of perdition (hell)...will be revealed, whom the Lord (Jesus) will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved." (2 Thess. 2:3, 8-10).

     The Book of Revelation gives us a detailed description when the coming of the Lord shall destroy Mystery Babylon the Great (Rev. 17:3-6, 18:4-8), overcome the nations, the beast (meaning the lawless one as described above, also known as the antichrist), and the false prophet who served the beast. Also His angel: "laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old (see the Hebrew meaning for "monster" above), who is the Devil and Satan and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him..." (Rev. 19:11-21, and 20:1-3).

     In this age when spiritual monsters have used their wicked power to attempt to destroy all that is life, we, the believers in Christ, should begin to understand what it means to be a monster slayer.

     If you would like to know more about the LORD and His determination to judge the spiritual monsters that seek to destroy His people, you can pray with me: "LORD God, Creator of all, LORD of all, Your Son, who came in Your name, appeared to us in the flesh and died and rose again so that we might have life and that more abundantly. Your promise Lord Jesus is to dwell in me as I dwell in You, to cleanse me of all unrighteousness, to remove all power of sin and death over my life, that I may stand before monsters in the evil day with my life hidden in You, and Your Word and Your faith in my mouth. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit and with Your Word so that my obedience will be fulfilled as a witness against the spiritual monsters of wickedness who seek to destroy life. I ask this in the name of Jesus, AMEN."

      *NOTE: aleph-tav written in Hebrew as אֶת, are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The meaning of the two pictographic Hebrew letters can also be interpreted "Adonai (Lord) of the Cross/Covenant". In the New Testament, these letters are translated as Alpha and Omega written as ΑΩ , the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. These letters are those by which Jesus Christ identifies Himself in the Book of Revelation: see Rev. 1:8, Rev. 21:6, Rev. 22:13. 

     

Midwives

      This week's Sabbath reading portion is titled Sh'mot, which means "Names." The title, Sh'mot, is also the Hebrew name for the Book of Exodus. The title comes from Exodus 1:1: "Now these are the names (sem [shem]- name, memorial, monument, conspicuous position, a mark of individuality, by implication honor, authority, character; to mark with a sign, to designate) of the children of Israel who came to Egypt; each man and his household came with Jacob:" 

     Some who will be named in this reading portion are Moses, who was named by Pharaoh's daughter (Ex. 2:10), the Hebrew midwives, who intervened to spare the lives of Hebrew male babies (Ex. 1:15-20), and the LORD Himself, who revealed His name to Moses as I AM WHO I AM (Ex. 3:13-15), written in Hebrew as YHWH (each Hebrew letter may be interpreted as "Behold the hand, behold the nail").

     The two Hebrew midwives named in Exodus chapter 1 are Shiphrah (sipra/sapar - fair, brightness, beauty, most splendid, related to God's Spirit/pleasing, beautiful, bright, glistening, shine, brilliancy of sound as with a sopar/shofar trumpet) and Puah (splendid, to glitter, brilliancy, mouth). They had been brought before Pharaoh and directly commanded by him that when the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) Hebrew women came to them to give birth, the midwives were to kill the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) male Hebrew babies as they were born, but to spare the female babies. How unusual it was for the Pharaoh himself, the most powerful ruler in the world at the time, to have Hebrew midwives come into his royal presence and issue to them his direct command. The two Hebrew midwives ignored Pharaoh's command: "But the midwives (yalad - beget, born, bring forth, midwife, delivered, act as a midwife, help to bring forth, declare one's birth) feared (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) God, and did not do as the king had commanded them, but saved the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) male children (yeled/yalad - child, son, young man/beget, born, bring forth, midwife, delivered, act as a midwife, help to bring forth, declare one's birth) alive (haya, haya - live, alive, save, quicken, revive, life, live forever, restored to life, preserve alive, keep alive)." (v. 17). The Hebrew word for "alive" includes the idea of restored to life and eternal life. As we can see from the Hebrew for "male child", the root word is the word for "midwife". The two are directly connected. There is no live delivery/deliverance without the midwife.

     Because of their actions: "...God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and grew very mighty. And so it was, because the midwives feared (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) God, that he provided households (bayit/bana - house, dwelling habitation, family, descendants as an organized body, temple, door/obtain children, build up, establish, made permanent, cause to continue) for them." (v. 20-21). 

     The Jewish Talmud (Sotah 11b), or Rabbinical Judaism, states that Shiphrah and Puah were close ancestors of Moses. It is a fact that directly after the account of the midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, in Exodus 1, comes the account of Moses' birth in Exodus 2. From the midwives who delivered children alive, God would bring forth the Deliverer of Israel, Moses.

     One of the interesting thoughts that I came across regarding this Sabbath reading portion and the Book of Exodus in general was that the LORD was birthing something. Because part of the meaning of "Egypt" in Hebrew is "double straits: narrow passage of water, narrow passageway, affording little space, confined in area, shut in, cramped, enclose, shut up, compress, limit, hemming in, fenced," the multiplying of the family of Jacob into the nation of Israel, coming forth from Egypt, is likened to being birthed through a narrow, confined birth passage.  The LORD told Moses regarding His people: "I have come down to deliver (nasal - draw out, pull out) them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land..." (Ex. 3:8).

     We see a similarity as Jesus teaches about the narrowness of the new birth into the kingdom of God and His righteousness: "Enter by the narrow/strait gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow/strait is the gate and difficult/narrow (thlibo - compressed, strait, contracted, narrow, to press hard upon) is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." (Mt. 7:13-14).

      In this understanding, Moses, the Deliverer, leading the Israelites out of Egypt, can be perceived in the role of a spiritual midwife. Later, as the Israelites constantly complained and cried to Moses with their dissatisfaction and distress, Moses would cry out to God saying: "Why have you afflicted your servant? And why have I not found favor in your sight, that You have laid (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) the burden of all these people on me? Did I conceive (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) all these people? Did I beget them, that You should say to me, 'Carry them in your bosom, as a guardian carries a (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) nursing child', to the land which You swore to their fathers?...For they weep all over me...the burden is too heavy for me." (Num. 11:10-14). Moses was not always happy being a spiritual midwife to the birthing process of a nation.

     In Judaism, God is credited with having the heart and purpose of a midwife, as they cite Psalm 22: "But You are He who took Me (Messiah/Christ) out of the womb; You made Me trust while on My mother's breasts. I was cast upon You from birth. From My mother's womb You have been My God." (v. 9-10).

     In speaking about Jerusalem, the LORD speaks of finding Jerusalem as a cast off birth and who had not been tended by a midwife: "...your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed in water to cleanse you; you were not rubbed with salt nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. No eye pitied you to do any of these things for you...but you were thrown out into an open field...loathed on the day you were born." (Ezek. 16:4-5). The LORD then said, "And when I passed by you and saw you struggling in your own blood, I said to you in your blood, 'Live!'. Yes, I said to you in your blood, 'Live!" (v. 6). The LORD midwifed the newborn Jerusalem, having pity on her. The spirit of the world on the other hand, like Pharaoh, will not assist in spiritual birth but will cast it off as unwanted.

     In Judaism the midwife is called meyalledet, or one who causes or helps with birth.  A Jewish midwife during a birth might traditionally recite prayers known as Tkhines which focus on asking God for a safe and easy delivery, for the well-being of both mother and child, and often include pleas for the baby to be born whole and healthy, with blessings for a good life; key themes of prayer also include invoking the compassion of God, referencing the stories of the midwives Shiphrah and Puah from the Exodus, as we read above, and expressing gratitude for the miracle of new life.           

     What does this have to do with us?

      The entrance into the Kingdom of God requires a new birth: "Jesus answered and said to him (Nicodemus, a rabbi), 'Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again (anothen - from above, from the beginning, anew), he cannot see the kingdom of God...unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." (Jn. 3:3, 5).

     Peter refers to believers as those who have been "begotten again" by God, and "having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God..." (1 Pet. 1:3, 23), and writes about us being "newborn babes" (1 Pet. 2:2).

     As we look at the Hebrew word and meaning for midwife again: yalad - "beget, born, bring forth, midwife, delivered, act as a midwife, help to bring forth, declare one's birth", we can see the importance that the role of the spiritual midwife, both male and female, plays in the kingdom of God. Whether we are able to directly aid in the spiritual rebirth of someone, or whether we serve as spiritual midwives through prayer, the godly and faithful midwife is honored and valued by the Lord, as He honored Shiphrah and Puah in Exodus.

     In these times before the return of Jesus, spiritual midwives, whether male or female, play a special and beautiful role according to the prophet Daniel. Let's remind ourselves of the meaning of the names of the midwives in Exodus, Shiphrah and Puah: "fair, brightness, beauty, most splendid, related to God's Spirit, pleasing, beautiful, bright, glistening, shine, brilliancy of sound as with a sopar (shofar) trumpet, splendid, to glitter, brilliancy, mouth."

     Daniel describes special people of God, particularly associated with the latter days, in the following manner: "Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever." (Dan. 12:3). There is a special brightness that accompanies those who lead others into the (narrow) way of righteousness. The way is made narrow by the fact that there is only one name under heaven by which we may be saved - Jesus. (Acts 4:10-12).

     Jesus said that He is the light of the world and called us to be the light of the world also, telling us to "let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." (see Mt. 5:14-16). Part of being a shining light is to understand what it means to be a spiritual midwife. In Genesis, a picture is given of a seemingly reborn earth. Before this rebirth of earth, God called forth light. The Holy Spirit lovingly and tenderly moved over the dark and void earth to be in the position to usher the earth and all that would inhabit it into that glorious light. (Gen. 1:1-5). As it was for the rebirth of the earth, it is the same for the rebirth of each soul that comes to the Kingdom of God. There is a guided movement or transition from darkness into light: "...you are...His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called (kaleo - utter in a loud voice, invite, call by name, to bear a name or title, to proclaim 'today') you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy." (1 Peter 2:9-10, excerpt).

     To learn more about being a spiritual midwife in the Kingdom of God, you can join me in my prayer: "Father in heaven, You called me to be reborn in Your Son, Jesus, and I ask that I may also pray, teach, and lead others into this spiritual rebirth by Your Holy Spirit. Let me serve as a godly midwife, cleansing, applying salt, and wrapping in the white linen of Your righteousness those who are being reborn into Your Kingdom of light and life. As a shofar trumpet, let me sound or proclaim the day of rebirth in each new spiritual life, and let me speak and pray the blessing of God to keep and nurture that new life. I bless and glorify Your name for the mercy You showed to me and countless others in calling us to Yourself through Your Son, Jesus. AMEN."

     *NOTE: aleph-tav written in Hebrew as אֶת, are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The meaning of the two pictographic Hebrew letters can also be interpreted "Adonai (Lord) of the Cross/Covenant". In the New Testament, these letters are translated as Alpha and Omega written as ΑΩ , the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. These letters are those by which Jesus Christ identifies Himself in the Book of Revelation: see Rev. 1:8, Rev. 21:6, Rev. 22:13. 

     

Fathers

      This week's Sabbath portion is titled Va-y'chi, meaning, "and he lived." The reading portion begins in Gen. 47 and continues through the beginning of chapter 50. The title comes from Gen. 47:28: "Jacob lived (haya - live, alive, save, revive, life, recover, be quickened, restored to life, keep alive, remain alive, revive from death, breathing) in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the length of Jacob's life was one hundred and forty-seven years." As we look at the full meaning of the Hebrew word used here for "lived", we can see that scripture is talking about much more than the natural days of a lifespan here on earth. Built into the meaning of the word is the promise of life from the dead, resurrection life, everlasting life. Jesus defined this truth when He said to Martha, the sister of Lazarus who had died: "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this? She said to Him, 'Yes, Lord, I believe You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world." (Jn. 11:25-27). Jesus then called her brother, Lazarus, to come out of his grave, and he came out, and he haya lived.

     What we will see in this week's Sabbath reading portion is the impact of a father's faith and words on his child and on future generations. We have lost this understanding in our modern times. A child is blessed if he or she has a father who understands the importance of imparting eternal knowledge to them. Perhaps this is why the presence of fathers in their children's lives has come under so much spiritual attack.

     Jacob, nearing his time of death, understood the promise of eternal life given to his grandfather, Abraham, when he made Joseph swear solemnly that Joseph would take Jacob's body out of Egypt and back to the specific place in Cannan near Mamre of Abraham's and Isaac's burial. Jacob said to his son, Joseph: "Now if I have found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me. Please do not bury me in Egypt, but let me lie with my fathers; you shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place. And he (Joesph) said, 'I will do as you have said.' The he said, 'Swear to me.' And he swore to him. So Israel (Jacob) bowed himself on the head of the bed." (Gen. 47:29-31).

     It was vitally important to Jacob to be buried with Abraham and Isaac. Abraham had received the prophetic knowledge and rejoiced in the promise of Messiah/Christ, which included the promise of resurrection life (see Jn. 8:56-58). Why would we think that the LORD would hide this knowledge from His friend Abraham (Gen. 18:17-19), who later made very special burial provisions for his wife, Sarah, when she died, for himself and for his descendants. Scripture tells us that Abraham even knew about the eternal city of New Jerusalem (Heb. 11:8-10), which would descend from heaven (Rev. 21:1-3). This knowledge was handed down from father to son, and Jacob would have been well aware of it.

     The knowledge of resurrection in the form of a Person was not only delivered to Abraham, but is found in what is called the oldest book of the Bible, the Book of Job. Job declared his resurrection knowledge: "For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God." (Job 19:25-27). Job even associated persecution with this knowledge contained within him (see v. 28) as Jesus also taught (see Mt. 5:11, 24:9). Resurrection from the dead was ancient prophetic knowledge passed from father to son, and fulfilled not by false religious rituals, as the Egyptians practiced, but by the Person of the Son of God, Jesus, the prophesied Messiah/Christ, who received His knowledge and authority to give life from His Father in heaven. (See Jn. 5:19-21). This also is the knowledge that today's fathers must pass to their sons and daughters and therefore throughout generations to come.

     Joseph kept his solemn oath to his father Jacob. When Jacob died, a period of mourning was observed in Egypt, and then Pharaoh granted Joseph's request to return to Canaan in order to bury his (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) father. All of Pharaoh's court and his chariots accompanied Joseph on this journey and openly wept with (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) mourning (ebel - mourning as for an only son) for Jacob as they came to the border of the Promised Land at the threshing floor of Atad (meaning thorns, to pierce, thorn tree with firmness of roots). Then Joseph and his brothers returned to Egypt. (Gen. 50:6-14).

     Before Jacob died, he also prophesied over his sons. These prophetic words were not for Jacob's sons' present generation, but for thousands of years into the future, even for our time: "And Jacob called (qara - call by name, cry out with a loud voice, summon, proclaim, called out, chosen) his sons and said, 'Gather together (asap - gather in, receive, assemble together, to collect) that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last ('aharit/ahar - end, latter, posterity, after part, latter or future time, the very last/afterwards [of time], delay, tarry, bring late, remain behind) days..." (Gen. 49:1). Jacob prophesied to each son, each to become a tribe of many thousands and settling in the Promised Land. To his son Judah, "a lion's whelp", Jacob prophesied the Messiah/Christ: "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh (silo - safety, rest, prosperity, tranquility, an epithet of the Messiah/Christ to be born from the tribe of Judah) comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people...He washed His garments in wine, and His clothes in the blood of grapes..." (Gen. 49:10-11).

     What and how do fathers speak to their sons and daughters? A father's words do not only speak to their immediate children, but to all of the children and children's children and continuing generations contained within the son and daughter. It is a father's calling to speak eternal truths that implant the knowledge of eternal promises into their children. Fathers, what are you speaking? A father's words have prophetic impact.

     In another reading portion from this Va-y'chi, "and he lived" Sabbath, King David, when he grew old, imparted words and instructions to his son and successor, Solomon: "Now the days of David drew near that he should die, and he charged (sava - command, give orders, appoint, commission, ordain) (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) Solomon his son, saying: 'I go the way of all the earth; be strong, therefore, and prove yourself a man. And keep (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) charge (mismeret - watch, safeguard, preserving, custody, observance) of the LORD your God: to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn; that the LORD may fulfill His word which He spoke concerning me, saying, 'If your sons take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul,' He said, 'you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel." (1 Kings 2:1-2).

     Solomon was appointed above by his father to keep charge of, to safeguard, to preserve "the LORD your God." David said this is done by observing and doing the Word of God in all of its purposes. As King Solomon, known as one of the wisest kings in the world, would later write the knowledge, wisdom, understanding and prudence of the LORD God in the Book of Proverbs, he would address the writing to his own son: "My son, hear the instruction (musar - instruction, correction, chasten, doctrine, discipline, restraint, check, correction of children by their parents, admonition) of your father, and do not forsake the law of your mother." (Prov. 1:8). Throughout Proverbs, Solomon addresses his words to "my son." Solomon also wrote that he received his instruction from his father, David: "When I was my father's son, tender and the only one in the sight of my mother, he also taught me, and said to me: 'Let your heart retain my words; keep my commandments and live. Get wisdom! Get understanding! Do not turn away from the words of my mouth." (Prov. 4:3-5). The words Solomon received from his father would preserve him, keep him, and bring him honor. (v. 6-9). While Solomon would become careless in his walk with the LORD, he later returned to God, perhaps because of the eternal words his father, David, imparted into his life. As Solomon himself would write in the Book of Proverbs: "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." (Prov. 22:6). 

     This week's Sabbath reading portion also tells us that not only did David charge his son to keep the ways of the LORD, he also gave his son the greatest vision and purpose from the LORD to be achieved during Solomon's reign. The LORD said to David: "It is your son Solomon who shall build My house and My courts; for I have chosen him to be My son, and I will be his Father." (1 Chron. 28:6). Solomon did build the house of the LORD, as his father had charged him to do - a magnificent temple in Jerusalem.

     The way of passing musar instruction (see above) from father to son as David and Solomon practiced, came directly from the ancient pattern established by God for the musar instruction of His sons and daughters. This week's Sabbath reading brings us again to the Book of Job: "Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects; therefore do not despise the chastening (musar - see above) of the Almighty...He shall deliver you in six troubles, yes, in seven no evil shall touch you. In famine He shall redeem (pada - ransom, rescue, deliver, redeem, to sever, release, preserve, to loose, set free) you from death (mavet - death, dying, realm of the dead, place of death), and in war from the power of the sword...You shall laugh at destruction and famine, and you shall not be afraid of the beasts of the earth....You shall know that your tent is in peace; you shall visit your dwelling and find nothing amiss...You shall come to the grave at a full age, as a sheaf of grain ripens in its season. Behold, this we have searched out; it is true. Hear it, and know for yourself." (Job 5:17-27, excerpt). 

     In the Father - son/child instruction from God, our lives are preserved. In the same pattern of earthly father - son/child instruction, if we will follow it, lives are also preserved even to the redeeming or setting free from death. In these dangerous days, there is nothing more important for our children than the role and instruction of a godly father.

     If you would like to learn more about the importance of a father's role in imparting eternal things to his son/child, you can pray with me: "Heavenly Father of all, You have shown us by example the way to pass on eternal knowledge of the things of God to our children in order to preserve their lives. Teach me Your Word and fill me with Your Holy Spirit of wisdom, knowledge, understanding and prudence so that I am able to equip my children and my children's children with the way of life, including eternal life in Jesus Messiah/Christ. I pray for the fathers. I pray for those fathers who need to receive the heart of God towards their children, and I pray for those fathers who desire and sacrifice to give their children the very best in life. Bless the fathers and guide them, Lord. I ask this in the name of Jesus. AMEN."

     *NOTE: aleph-tav written in Hebrew as אֶת, are the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The meaning of the two pictographic Hebrew letters can also be interpreted "Adonai (Lord) of the Cross/Covenant". In the New Testament, these letters are translated as Alpha and Omega written as ΑΩ , the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. These letters are those by which Jesus Christ identifies Himself in the Book of Revelation: see Rev. 1:8, Rev. 21:6, Rev. 22:13. 

Unexpected

      This week's Sabbath reading portion is titled Va-yiggash, which means "and he drew near." The reading portion begins in Genesis 45. In this portion, there are unexpected "twists" in the story of Jacob/Israel and his sons. Sometimes we think that we have God all figured out, as well as the path and purpose for our life in Him. When the unexpected turn comes up, we might view it as something other than the will of God. Perhaps we have a difficult time fitting the unexpected into our set view of God.  However, while our viewpoint tends to be fixed in the present, God's viewpoint looks to the everlasting, because He is the everlasting. He has already declared the end from the beginning, and He has assured us that His thoughts are not our thoughts: "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,' says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." (Isa. 55:8-9). These two verses happen to follow verses in which the LORD tells "everyone who thirsts" to seek Him, to call upon Him, to return to the LORD and forsake their evil thoughts and ways. The LORD promises to have mercy on them, because He will abundantly pardon (see v. 6-7). 

     Paul also repeated scripture as he wrote: "But as it is written: 'Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit..." (1 Cor. 2:9-10). Are we viewing God's ways through the flesh rather than the Spirit? In any case, it may be wise to expect the unexpected when considering the LORD's plans and viewpoint.

     One unexpected event that happens in this portion is the fact that Joseph's brothers, who sold him into slavery, found out that Joseph was now ruling in Egypt, second only to Pharaoh (Gen. 45:3-8). Another unexpected event is that Jacob was told that Joseph, the son he thought dead and had mourned for many years, was alive and well in Egypt (v. 25-28). Another unexpected event: Joseph tells his brothers to hurry and to go get their and his father Jacob, pack up all that they have, leave the land of their covenant inheritance from God through Abraham and Isaac, and come and live in Egypt with him. He told them, "Draw near to me." (Gen. 45:4). In Egypt, as they are near to him, Joseph will provide for them in the middle of the seven-year famine. (v. 9-13). After Jacob hears his sons' amazing report that Joseph is alive, he immediately agrees to go and see Joseph in Egypt. At this point, scripture reports the actions, not of Jacob, but of Israel, the name that Jacob was given by God: "So Israel took his journey (nasa - break camp, pull up tent pegs) with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. Then God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, 'Jacob, Jacob!' And he said, 'Here I am.' So He said, 'I am God, the God of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there. I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will put his hand on your eyes." (Gen. 46:1-4). Jacob arose (qum - stood, arise, raise up, to be raised up, to persevere, to be confirmed, to cause to come forth) and his sons brought all of the children/grandchildren, and all of their possessions, and relocated to Egypt (v. 5-7).

     It was only after Israel/Jacob began his unexpected journey and drew near to God with sacrifices that the LORD spoke to him and assured him of His will. Would we be as quick to make this sudden and unexpected total change in our lives, especially if we knew that we were currently dwelling in the covenant land that God had promised us?

     As another portion from this Sabbath's reading says: "Israel also came into Egypt, and Jacob dwelt in the land of Ham (ham/hamam - hot, name for Egypt, descendants of Noah's son, Ham, occupying southern regions/enflame self, burning). He (the LORD) increased (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) His people greatly, and made them stronger than their enemies." (Ps. 105:23-24). It was in Egypt that the Israelites would greatly multiply as God built them into a nation right in the house of their enemy (sar/sarar - adversary, trouble, distress, foe, oppressor, tight place, anguish, tribulation/enemy, bind up, afflict, besiege, press hard upon, be narrow).

     After Joseph's lifetime and under a different Pharaoh who had not known Joseph, Jacob's descendants would be placed into hard bondage in Egypt. Had Jacob been wrong to leave the land of promise to go to Egypt? No. There in Egypt a small handful of Israelites grew into over a million. Some say the number was over two million. It was in Egypt that the twelve tribes of Israel would be completed as their number would also include the descendants of the two (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) sons of Joseph, Manasseh ("causing to forget" [the suffering of Joseph's slavery and imprisonment]) and Ephraim ("doubly fruitful"). (see Gen. 48:1). Not only this, but God through Jacob's residence in Egypt also introduced to the world God's concept of spiritual adoption through His salvation, which we will see. Regarding the two sons of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, Jacob said to Joseph: "And now your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine. Your offspring whom you beget after them shall be yours; they will be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance." (Gen. 48:5-6). Jacob also spoke this blessing over the two half-Egyptian sons of (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) Joseph, whom he fathered with his wife, the Egyptian (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) daughter of the Priest of On (Heliopolis): "God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has fed me all my life long to this day, the Angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) the lads;  Let my name be named upon them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth." (v. 15-16). Although they were Jacob's grandsons, they would now be his sons, equal in his eyes to the other sons that he had. This is how the two grandsons became part of the tribes of Israel in the Promised Land.

     In this same manner, the apostle Paul wrote to the Jewish and Gentile believers in Rome about our spiritual adoption by the Father through His Son, Jesus Messiah/Christ: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs - heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together." (Rom. 8:14-17). This principle is necessary for our understanding of the deep work of salvation in us that we have obtained through Messiah/Christ. We, who were not a people of God, became not only His people, but His sons, joint heirs with Jesus in His inheritance from the Father, God.

     We also know that the enslaved Israelites would be delivered centuries later from their slavery through Moses, as the LORD worked terrifying plagues and wonders before that Pharaoh to cause him to let God's people leave Egypt. One of those signs and wonders would be the prophetic covering of the blood of the lamb, or Passover, as God protected His people from the plague of death. It would be revealed centuries later that Jesus is that Passover Lamb of God, sacrificed on Passover to deliver us from death. (see Jn. 1:29-35).

     These unexpected but powerful precedents and foundational truths came to us out of Joseph's and his family's long sojourn in Egypt.

     However, there would be an even more powerful prophecy affecting the kingdoms of the earth and eternity to come out of the time that the Israelites spent in Egypt as we will see. Who could have foreseen all that God would accomplish by sending Jacob and all of his household into Egypt?

      In another reading portion from this Va-yiggash, "and he drew near" Sabbath, Joseph and his son, Ephraim's descendants will play a role in a powerful end time prophecy given by the LORD to His prophet, Ezekiel. Before the Babylonian exile, the nation of Israel had been divided into two separate kingdoms, the northern kingdom was called "Israel", and the southern kingdom was called "Judah". The tribe of Ephraim was located in the northern kingdom. During the exile, Ezekiel prophesied that the land would no longer be divided into separate peoples and separate kingdoms. Ezekiel was instructed by the LORD to take two sticks. On one stick, the prophet was to write, "For Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions." On the other stick, the prophet was to write: "For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel, his companions." (Ezek. 37:15-16). 

     The LORD told Ezekiel to take the two separate sticks and join them together into one stick in his hand (v. 17). The following is the unexpected prophetic work that God would accomplish by this action of the prophet (see v. 21-28):

• The children of Israel would be brought back to their own land from the nations to which they had been disbursed. They will dwell in the land that God gave them forever.
• They would no longer be divided into two kingdoms, but the LORD would make them one nation, with one king, never to be divided again.
• They would be delivered of their idols and transgressions and cleansed by the LORD. They will be His people, and He will be their God (repeated twice).
• The King who will rule over them will be "David My servant" (meaning the Messiah/Christ, a descendant of David). He will be their Prince forever.
• They will walk in, observe, and do the judgments and statutes of God.
• The LORD will make a covenant of peace with them that will be an everlasting covenant.
• The LORD will set His sanctuary in their midst forever. His tabernacle shall also be in their midst.
• The nations (goy/geva/gev/ga'a - heathen, people, foreign nations and therefore Gentiles/the back, behind the body/the back as beaten or lashed, casting sins behind His back/to rise up, gloriously, be exalted in triumph, lifted up, raised up, to rise, to increase) will know that the LORD has sanctified (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) Israel, because of the presence of His sanctuary in their midst forever.

     Those represented prophetically above by Joseph and his son, Ephraim, as well as the people of Judah, will play miraculous roles in the restoration, unification and sanctification work of God, the establishing of the reign of the Prince forever (Messiah/Christ), and the everlasting covenant. All nations will take note of this miraculous work that the LORD does in and through Israel.

     Who would have expected this from the long-ago journey of a family of shepherds into Egypt? Expect the unexpected.

     If you would like to learn more about the unlimited work of God, you can join me in my prayer: "LORD of all, I am amazed at Your workings and Your eternal vision and plans. I want to be open to Your voice and direction in my life. Nothing is impossible with You. By Your Holy Spirit and Your living Word, keep me from limiting You. Your Word says that all things work together for good for those who love You and are called by You for Your purpose. (Rom. 8:28). By Your Son Jesus, and by a work of Your Spirit, You not only saved me but adopted me as Your son/child and made me Your heir. Reveal to me by Your Spirit what it means to be Your heir and joint-heir with Christ. Teach me to understand how to live and walk according to this truth. I ask this in the name of Jesus. AMEN."