MyHand

      The title of this week's Sabbath reading portion is Va-eira, meaning "and I appeared." This title comes from Ex. 6:2-3: "And God spoke to Moses and said to him, 'I am the LORD.  And I appeared (ra'a - look, behold, appear, seer, perceive, regard, inspect, have vision, discern, foresee, to be visible, to look at each other) to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name LORD (yehova/haya - Jehovah, יְהֹוָה: yad-hey-vaw-hey, 'the existing One', self-existent or eternal/was, has been, is now, to become, arise, appear, to abide-remain-continue, to be finished) I was not known (yada - know, knowledge, understand, perceive, find out and discern, recognize-admit-acknowledge-confess, to be made known or revealed) to them."

     The invisible God was made ra'a visible or seeable to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This alone is a huge revelation brought to mankind. However, there was more to be revealed.

     As the LORD is revealing this identity of "LORD" to Moses, He is indicating that the name "LORD" brings a new but absolutely necessary level of understanding to His identity than had previously been revealed. As we see above, the name LORD is spelled with the Hebrew letters yad-hey-vaw-hey, and, as has been mentioned before, the individual meanings of each of these Hebrew letters, when combined together, can mean "the hand BEHOLD, the nail BEHOLD." I chose to show the word "BEHOLD" in all upper-case letters because the Hebrew letter, hey, and its meaning is repeated twice in the phrase, emphasizing it. (note: It is also true that the idea of "hand" in Hebrew also includes the wrist, through which, the Shroud of Turin indicates, Jesus was nailed between the ulna and radius bones. This also makes anatomical sense as well.)  We are to LOOK AT and PERCEIVE that hand and nail, understanding its meaning in the naming of Himself to mankind as LORD. Millions in the world have recognized the Person of Jesus in the understanding of this name. After His death on the cross, Jesus appeared before His disciple Thomas, and told Thomas, who had not believed the report of Jesus' resurrection, to see and touch the holes in His hands and His side to assure himself of Jesus' identity. When Thomas saw them, he said, "My Lord and My God!" (Jn. 20:24-29). Jesus told Thomas, "...blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."  There are millions upon millions since who have only perceived "the hand and the nail" by their hearts, as Jesus said, while never having seen them with their physical eyes. "The hand BEHOLD, the nail BEHOLD."

     How could the name, "LORD", incorporate an identity of pierced hands before Jesus was physically born? New Testament scripture tells us that Jesus was the Lamb sacrificed before the foundation of the world. (1 Pet. 1:18-20). Jesus, whose name in both Greek and Hebrew means "salvation", was pierced and crucified in eternity before the world existed, and the promise of His overcoming salvation work was given as early as the Book of Genesis, to the serpent, Satan, (see Gen. 3:14-15), as well as throughout the Tanakh, the Old Testament (see various, including Ps. 22 and Isa. 53). In fact, the identity of this pierced LORD is hidden even earlier in Genesis in the Hebrew language used.

     Why was it important to know God's name as LORD, and to understand the meaning that is encompassed by that name? The miraculous deliverance of God's people from harsh slavery in Egypt, and the fulfilment of the covenant promise made to the forefathers to bring their descendants to a land promised by God, would be accomplished by the Person who is the LORD: "...say to the children of Israel: 'I am the LORD; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know (yada - see above) that I am the LORD your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am the LORD." (Ex. 6:6-8). Moses brought this message to the children of Israel; "but they did not heed Moses, because of anguish (qoser/qasar - shortness, impatience, anguish/impatience, grief, to cut down, to reap) of spirit and cruel (qase/qasa - stiff-necked, hard, cruel, grievous, churlish, hardhearted, heavy/harden, hard, to make stubborn, dense) bondage." (v. 9). From the language used here, the Israelites, because of the harshness of their lives in slavery, were not interested in promises, and had no faith in them. They had become stiff-necked, stubborn and impatient with the God of their fathers. However, like a field that requires time to ripen before harvesting, God affects His plan at the perfect time, when conditions have ripened, and not before or after.

     The New Testament also warns believers in Christ not, through deceitfulness of sin, to harden their hearts against faith in Jesus as the rebellious Israelites did in the wilderness. It prevents us from entering into the spiritual place of rest, or Sabbath, with God: "For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end." (Heb. 3:7-14).

     As Moses did miraculous signs that affected the land of Egypt, Pharaoh's heart was hardened against the command of the LORD delivered through Moses to let God's people go. However, in a mysterious work, the LORD said that He would harden Pharaoh's heart to accomplish His purpose: "So the LORD said to Moses: 'See, I have made you as a God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet. You shall speak (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-all-that I command you...to send (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-the-children-of-Israel out of his land. And I will harden Pharaoh's (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-heart, and multiply (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-My-signs-and-My-wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh will not heed you, so that I may lay (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-My-hand on Egypt and bring (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-My-armies and (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-My-people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-My-hand on Egypt and bring out (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-the-children-of-Israel from among them...and Pharaoh's heart grew hard, and he did not heed them (the signs that Moses and Aaron did), as the LORD had said." (Ex. 7:1-5, 13).

     According to the presence of all of the written, but untranslated, *aleph-tav's above, we can see that the hand of the LORD that would accomplish this mighty deliverance is associated with the Messiah/Christ, as well as the name LORD (see above) and would therefore have had a nail wound in it. Even before Jesus appeared physically on the earth, He appeared spiritually in the circumstances of both Moses and the children of Israel. Isaiah would later ask the question regarding the Messiah/Christ: "Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm (zeroa - the stretched-out arm, forearm, "the strength of His hands", strength, might, power) of the LORD been revealed?" (Isa. 53:1)

     Do we understand the power in the nail-scarred hand of the LORD? Every mark that the haters of God inflicted upon the body of Jesus Christ was turned into our forgiveness, healing and liberation. It is the scarred hand of "the LORD" (see meaning above) that would bring the most powerful nation on earth at that time, Egypt, down, and, by great judgments, He would bring His people out of their bondage and into the covenant place that the LORD had prepared for them. (see above and also Jn. 14:1-6).

     In the praise/prayer of the King of Judah, Jehoshaphat, standing before the house of the LORD, he said: "O LORD, God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven, and do you not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that no one is able to withstand you?" (2 Chron. 20:5-6). From this same hand of the LORD also comes creation (Isa. 48:12-13, Isa. 41:20, Isa. 66:1-2, Ps. 119:73), Deliverance (Deut. 7:8), favor and provision (Ezra 7:6), the rule over nations (Isa. 14:26-27), judgment (Isa. 9:12-13), mercy (Isa. 65:2), and resurrection (Mark 5:35-42).

     This nail-scarred hand of the LORD is endued with all power. We see above, however, that the enslaved Israelites did not believe the promises made to them by Moses and given by the LORD.

      Another reading portion from this Va-eira, "and He appeared" Sabbath tells us that even after He delivered the Israelites out of Egypt and showed them great miracles in the wilderness: "Yes, again and again they tempted God, and limited (tava - to pain, wound, cause pain, to grieve, to mark, to imprint) the Holy One of Israel. They did not remember (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega)-His-hand/power (yad, see mention above): the day when He redeemed them from the enemy." (Ps. 78:41-42). Considering the Hebrew meaning of "limited" written above in regard to the LORD's *aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega hand, we can see that the word for "limited" does not have the same meaning as it does in English. Instead, we can see the connection to the nail holes, the wounds, the marks, the imprints, in Messiah/Christ's hands as representing the sin, the unbelief in, or failure to remember the LORD's great power. The New Testament uses this understanding of the Hebrew meaning of "limited" above in Heb. 6:4-6 where it is written that when those who had the full understanding of "the heavenly gift", and have come to be "partakers of the Holy Spirit", yet fall away from that understanding and faith, it becomes impossible to renew them "since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame." Christ is wounded again because of our unbelief. Paul also warned us: "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? - unless indeed you are disqualified." (2 Cor. 13:5). Most of us would feel confident that we are indeed "in the faith" and would not spend much time examining that or "testing" it. However, the prophet also wrote: "And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.” (Zech. 13:6 KJV).

     There were those in scripture who felt confident in their faith, their gifts, their positions and standing but then found out to their horror that Jesus "never knew" them because they failed to do the will of His Father in heaven. (see Mt. 7:19-23). Humility. servanthood and an obedient heart, the evidence or fruits of Messiah/Christ in us, are needed to do the will of the Father. Better to examine and test ourselves now than to find it out later.

     We can ra'a see the appearance of the nail wounds in Messiah/Christ's hands and feet and the spear wound in His side. We can believe and remember the mighty power in the touch of those (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) hands of the LORD. 

     If you would like to understand more about the hands of the LORD, you can join with me in prayer: "Heavenly Father, You revealed the knowledge of Your *aleph-ta/Alpha and Omega hands to Moses, and You have revealed them to us in the hands of Your Son and our Lord, Jesus. Lord, help my faith, so that I can please You. Help my memory so that I never forget the power of Your hands. Forgive me and help me to never "limit" the Holy One of Israel with whom nothing is impossible. Let me look upon and reach out for the nail-scarred hands of Your wonderful Son, Jesus. These are the hands that save me, redeem me, heal me, deliver me, provide for me, and resurrect me. These are the hands that fight and overcome the enemy of my soul and life. These are the hands that hold kings' hearts and rule nations. I bless You, Lord, and praise Your love for me that caused You to receive the wounds on my behalf. I pray 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. 

     

Covenant

      This week's Sabbath reading portion is titled Va-yeira, which means "And He appeared", found in the beginning of Gen. 18: "Then the LORD appeared (ra'a - behold, to appear, present oneself, to be seen, look at, perceive, consider, have vision, look intently at, to cause to see, to cause to gaze at, look at each other, to face) to him (Abraham) by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day." (v. 1). In the Hebrew meaning of ra'a "appeared", not only does the LORD appear in order to be seen, but He causes Abraham to be able to see Him and perceive Him. We contrast this with the appearance of the angels of the LORD in Sodom. The corrupt, debauched and abusive men of Sodom could not perceive the men who appeared in their city as angels (Gen. 19:4-5), while Lot, Abraham's nephew perceived immediately that these men were different as soon as he saw them, and he sought to protect them. Lot greeted the men/angels in the same manner as Abraham had greeted them earlier (Gen. 18:2-8). Lot, as Abraham did, also rose to his feet from sitting in the gate of the city to go meet them. He bowed to the ground before them, and offered them the items needed to wash their feet (Gen. 19:1-2). Lot also made them a feast as Abraham did (Gen. 19:3). Abraham was willing to sacrifice his child, his son, whom the LORD gave back to him (Gen. 22:2-14), and Lot was willing to sacrifice his daughters (Gen. 19:8), whom the angels spared in the escape from Sodom before its destruction (Gen. 19:12-13). The population of Sodom, with the exception of Lot were spiritually blinded and could not ra'a see and perceive, so the angels also physically blinded them to prevent them from carrying out their evil ideas (Gen. 19:9-11). It is also interesting that Lot's sons-in-law could not ra'a see and perceive the warning that they were given: "So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, 'Get up, get out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city!' But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking." (Gen. 19:14). 

     Paul wrote of the kind of ra'a vision we must have: "...while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Cor. 4:18). How and what are we "seeing"? What are we looking at as being so important to us? It could make the difference between our deliverance and destruction. Sometimes it seems that much of our lives is focused on the things that are passing away rather than the things that endure forever. The very substance of our faith is not in things seen but in things yet to be seen. (Heb. 11:1).

     One reading portion from this Sabbath warned God's people about putting their confidence in the things that can be seen with natural vision rather than seeing with ra'a vision the eternal things of God. The prophet Jeremiah received the (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) word of the LORD and, standing in the gate of the LORD's house, warned all who went in and out of that gate that they were facing destruction. God's people had placed their confidence, not in a repentant and restored relationship with God, but in a building - the temple of God in Jerusalem. Jeremiah must be wrong, they said. Surely God would not allow an enemy to enter Jerusalem, the place of the House where He has put His name! Jeremiah told them: "Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. Do not trust in these lying words, saying, 'The temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD are these." (Jer. 7:1-4). God's people did not obey the voice of God and were committing spiritual abominations and injustices and then saying that the temple of the LORD delivered them to do these things. (v. 8-10, 23-24, 30). God's people found out through great difficulty that Jeremiah's warning had been the true Word of the LORD, and the LORD was willing to allow Jerusalem and His temple to be overrun by a conquering enemy in order to deal with the evil hearts and minds of His own people, called by His name. Do we also define our covenant with God by, and put our confidence in, temporary things which can be destroyed in a moment?

     How we "see" also affects our covenant with God, or lack of one, as we will read.

     The LORD made a covenant with Abraham that would change history and create a new people belonging to Him. The LORD said to Abram/Abraham: "And I will establish (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God." (Gen. 17:7-8). The Hebrew word for "covenant" is berit/bara/bara, meaning "covenant, alliance [of friendship, of marriage], pledge, agreement, a compact in the sense of cutting/cause to eat, to select/create, form, shape out, choose, create new conditions and circumstances, create transformation, create birth, create something new, create miracles." Look at the amazing things included in the meaning of "covenant"! A new creation is formed that did not exist before the covenant. Paul wrote of this new creation found in our covenant with God in Christ: "Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh...Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." (2 Cor. 5:16-17). The Book of Revelation says: "Then He (Jesus) who sat on the throne said, 'Behold (idou/eido - see/to see, to perceive, to understand, to notice, to discern, to discover, to turn eyes, mind, or attention to anything, to examine, to experience any state or condition), I make all things new.' And He said to me, 'Write, for these words are true and faithful. And He said to me, 'It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts." (Rev. 21:5-6). Do we truly ra'a see and perceive this or do we look upon things after the flesh or natural appearances? Are we continuing to be part of the old and perishing, or the new and eternal creation in Christ?

     Covenant, as we see above, includes the creation of miracles and births as part of its meaning in Hebrew. The LORD wanted Abraham to believe in something not yet visible and totally impossible by the natural appearances. He wanted Abraham to believe God for a son, although Abraham was very old, and his wife was barren (Gen. 18:10-14). However, God created a miracle, a birth as promised, and Isaac was born to Abraham and Sarah (Gen. 21:1-3).

     In another reading portion from this "And He appeared" Sabbath is from 1 Samuel 1. Hannah (hanna/hanan/hana in Hebrew), whose name means "grace, favored, mercy, entreaty, prayer/gracious, supplication, besought, to seek favor, implore favor/encamp, rest in tent/tabernacle, abide in tents/tabernacles) was childless because "the LORD had closed her womb." (1 Sam. 1:6-7). Year by year, (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) Hannah went up to the house of the LORD in Shiloh with her husband and his second wife to make offerings. Eli the priest was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of the tabernacle of the LORD and saw Hannah praying. She was so involved in her supplication to the LORD for a son that Eli feared that she was drunk (v. 12-14). Hannah answered that she was not drunk "but have poured out my (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) soul before the LORD." (v. 15). Eli answered Hannah saying: "Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) petition which you have asked of Him." (v. 17). Hannah's face was no longer sad after hearing this. The LORD later remembered (zakar - remember, the origin is the idea of piercing, penetrating, infixing) (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) Hannah and: "So it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son, and called his (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) name Samuel, saying, 'Because I have asked for him from the LORD." (v. 19-20). Samuel became prophet and judge of Israel and would anoint David to become king after Saul. This began the royal line of the Messiah/Christ Jesus. A new circumstance, the royal title of the Messiah/Christ, was created with the birth of this miracle child.

The creative miracles can also be found in a covenant relationship with a servant of God. In another reading portion from this Sabbath, the prophet Elisha manifested the creative miracles of a covenant relationship with those connected to him. These miracles included the multiplication of costly oil for a widow of one of the sons of the prophets, and her sons, who were in deep debt. As we also saw above, there is mention of a door or doorway. Elisha told the poor widow: “And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it (the continual flow of oil) into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones. So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it (the oil) out…” (2 Kings 4:1-5). The oil continued to flow until all the containers were full.

To me, the various mentions of doors, doorways and gates above represent the anointing and presence of Christ, who said, “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture (nome - pasturage, fodder, food, feeding, the needful supplies for the true life, growth, increase).” (Jn. 10:9), as well as a spiritual opening between heaven and earth for us to enter. (see Rev. 4:1-2). Other creative miracles found in this chapter occurring from out of a covenant relationship with Elisha, the prophet of God include a miracle birth, and the miraculous transformation of the dead returned to life. When Elisha went into the chamber with the dead child, he "shut the door behind the two of them." The child became alive and was returned to his mother. (2 Kings 4:32-37).

From our Sabbath reading portion also comes an interesting covenant formed between a king and the servant of God, Abraham. Part of God's expressed covenant with Abram/Abraham included the promise "I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you..." (Gen. 12:3). So a fruit of this covenant is that its blessings can be received by those who bless Abraham. In this Sabbath portion, Abraham had two recorded encounters with Abimelech (meaning "My father is king/great king/king of kings"), King of Gerar ("a lodging place", the place of the kings of the Philistines, from the root word garar meaning to drag away roughly). Gerar was in south-central Canaan. From their first encounter in Gen. 20, we find out that Abimelech is a king who hears from God (in a dream) and obeys His voice. In order to correct an inadvertent wrong that he had done to God and Abraham by taking (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) Sarah into his household, the king tells Abraham to dwell wherever he wishes in the land ruled by Abimelech, King of the Philistines. The king also gives Abraham a thousand pieces of silver, and also sheep, oxen and servants in order to do justice. Abraham prayed to the LORD for Abimelech and his household, and God healed that household so that all in it were able to bear children. The LORD had made the whole household barren because of the inadvertent wrong or sin done by the king. (Gen. 20). Again, we see miracle births related to covenant between Abraham and God.

     Later, in another encounter with King Abimelech of the Philistines and the commander of his army named Pichol ("strong"/mouth, command, to shatter everything into pieces and to scatter into corners or blow away), Abimelech said to Abraham: "God is with you in all that you do. Now therefore, swear (saba- swear, adjure, take an oath, seven oneself by repeating an oath seven times) to me by God that you will not deal falsely with me, with my offspring (nin/nun - offspring, son, progeny/perpetual increase) or with my posterity (neked - posterity, progeny, race, kindred, tribe); but that according to the kindness that I have done you, you will do to me and to the land in which you have dwelt. And Abraham said, 'I will swear." (Gen. 21:22-24). Then Abraham rebuked (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) Abimelech because servants of the king had seized (gazal - tear away, carry off, plunder, take away by force, rob, to flay, strip off skin from the flesh, wounded) water from a well that was dug by Abraham. Abimelech told Abraham that he had not been aware that such a thing had happened. Abraham then took sheep and oxen, setting aside seven ewe (female) lambs, and made a covenant between himself and King Abimelech. Those seven ewe lambs, Abraham explained, were to be a witness that it was Abraham that had dug the well, and he called the place Beersheba because of the seven-fold oath that the two had made. Abraham then planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called on the name of the Everlasting God. Abraham remained in the land of the Philistines many days after that. (Gen. 21:25-34).

     What does this encounter mean and why does it matter? The Philistines would have a history of trying to take the covenant inheritance of the Israelites. They even, at one point, grabbed the ark of the covenant in battle! What is that inheritance? The inheritance is not just the natural land, but salvation. Abimelech first took (*aleph-tav/Alpha and Omega) Sarah, who had given birth to the son of promise, Isaac. Then Abimelech's servants, without his knowledge, violently seized a well of Abraham's. These wells dug by Abraham represented not just natural water, but also because of God's covenant with Abraham, the wells of the living water of salvation (see Isa. 12:2-3, Rev. 21:6). The line of Messiah/Christ would be established from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and not from any other root. Salvation cannot be taken by force. This new creation, new birth, came out of the covenant (see meaning above) relationship between God and Abraham, and later, between God and David, and then between God, Jesus and us as believers. However, look at what Abimelech did - he placed the well-being of his offspring and posterity into the safekeeping of Abraham, a man who was already very old. Abraham made a sworn oath and then a blood covenant with Abimelech, witnessed by seven ewe lambs. To me, these little ewe-lambs represent the future believers in Christ, the fruit of salvation, and the Holy Spirit within those believers (for detail see Rev. 1:4-5, 11-12, 16, 20). Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree, which not only represents a single tree, but a grove of trees, or multiplication. When I read in Revelation that the heirs of salvation have come out of every nation (race), kindred, tribe and tongue (Rev. 5:9, 7:9-10), I cannot help but think of Abimelech's posterity (see above meaning) being included in that description. The Philistines' origin has recently been traced by DNA analysis of graves from 1200 B.C. to Crete and the northern and western nations surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. They are part of the group called "the Gentiles". It was the timing of God that salvation must first come to Israel and the Jewish people, and then to the Gentiles (see Rom. 1:16-17). Jesus confirmed this as a Canaanite (Gentile) woman sought Him out for a miracle. He reminded her that He was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, but then she did get her miracle because of her faith (see Mt. 15:21-18). Perhaps these Philistine Gentiles tried to take or seize this covenant promise prematurely and incorrectly, out of the ordained spiritual timing and order of God. However, Abraham's sworn oath and blood covenant made with King Abimelech of the Philistines will stand forever and produce a grove of trees bearing much fruit. It is also a reminder to the people of faith, both Jewish and Gentile, that the wells of salvation were dug, guarded and repaired for all of us by Abraham and his descendants.

     If you would like to learn more about the everlasting nature of covenant, you can join me in my prayer: "Heavenly Father of covenant and everlasting promises, Your promises live forever. By Your covenant, You create new things, new conditions and circumstances, transformation from one thing to another, births and miracles. The greatest covenant of all is the covenant that You created through the body and blood of Your Son, Jesus, our salvation. Your covenant does not pass away but is remembered and fulfilled throughout all time. You established a world-changing covenant with Your servant and friend, Abraham. Nothing is impossible with You, LORD, and You are still bringing souls into Your covenant of salvation. You have preserved the wells of salvation for them. You have no partiality but have established Your eternal kingdom from every nation, kindred, tribe and tongue that includes all who will accept the gracious provision of salvation. For Your faithfulness, I praise Your holy name, and the name of the Son, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. 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 Α Ω , 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.

LORD

      This week's Sabbath reading portion is titled Va-eira, which means "and I appeared".  To set the stage, we find Moses in a tight spot. Moses and Aaron had gone into Pharaoh and demanded that he let God's people, who had been enslaved in Egypt, go to offer sacrifices to God. This is what the LORD had appointed Moses to do, and had equipped Moses and Arron, his brother, with signs to convince both the Israelites and Pharaoh, king of Egypt, that this command came from God (Ex. 5:1). This request made Pharaoh very angry, saying to Moses: "Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, nor will I let Israel go." (Ex. 5:2). Pharaoh then added even more harsh conditions to the Israelites' slave labor as a result of his anger. The officers or leaders of the suffering Israelites even blamed Moses and Aaron for adding to the sorrows of the children of Israel (Ex. 5:19-21). As we end chapter 5, we read: "So Moses returned to the LORD and said, 'LORD, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all." (v. 22-23). Yes, Moses indicts the LORD of indifference and incompetence, Who had inexplicably and ineptly interfered in a bad situation and made it worse, and had dragged Moses into the mess too! I know these words seem awful, but this is the sound of the unbelief of God's people in His ears. 

     We may all face moments when we too are struggling with unbelief. On this subject, the Gospels give us a precious moment when a desperate father has come to Jesus for a miracle on behalf of his son: "Then one of the crowd answered and said, 'Teacher, I have brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down...So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.' Then He (Jesus) answered him and said, 'O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you...Bring him to Me." (Mk. 9:17-19). The son had another attack right there in front of Jesus, and the father said, "...if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us." (v. 20-22). "Jesus said to him, 'If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.' Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, 'Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!' (v. 23-24). The father went from calling Jesus "teacher/Rabbi" to calling Him "Lord". The father was struggling with unbelief, but asked Jesus to help his unbelief, being desperate for his son's welfare. Jesus commanded the deaf and dumb spirit to come out of the son and to never come back. The son then appeared dead, and the crowd said that he was dead. "But Jesus took (krateo - to have power, strength, to be chief, master of, rule, hold fast and not let go) him by the hand (cheir - incl. symbol of God's might, activity, power: in upholding and preserving, in creating, in determining and controlling the destinies of men) and lifted (egeiro - raise up, cause to rise, arouse from the sleep of death, recall the dead to life) him up, and he arose (anistemi - raise up, to cause to rise up, to raise up from the dead, cause to appear)." (25-27). If we can admit our unbelief, and ask for help with unbelief, the LORD will help us.

     The LORD's response to Moses after his angry accusations is found in Ex. 6, part of our Sabbath reading for this week: "Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. For with a strong (hazak - strong, firm, mighty, impudent, stiff-hearted, hardened, obstinate, urgent, severe, grievous, rigid) hand he will let them go, and with a strong hand he will drive them out (garas - thrust out or away, drive away, cast out, expatriate, expel, divorce) of his land." (Ex. 6:1). The LORD explained to Moses that it is by a detail that Moses had overlooked, the revelation of His name, The LORD, that He will do this seemingly impossible thing: "And God spoke to Moses and said to him, 'I am the LORD (Yehova/haya/hava - "the existing One", self-existent or eternal/to be, become, exist, remain, continue, beacon/shall be, to breathe, blow, air, breeze). I appeared (ra'a - look, show, behold, seer, perceive, consider, foresee, have vision, discern, be visible) to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty (El-Saday), but by My name (sem - name, renown, famous, report, glory, monument, character, authority) 'LORD' I was not known to them. I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, in which they were strangers. And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant." (Ex. 6:2-5). God's name "The LORD" was a new revelation in the knowledge of His people.

     Then the LORD revealed to Moses the significance of the revelation of His name "the LORD", of which there were seven specific characteristics mentioned, that would deal with the terrible plight of His people in Egypt: "Therefore say to the children of Israel: I am the LORD; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm (nata - stretch out or forth, spread out, extended, to be stretched out, coming down, to spread itself, to elongate itself) and with great judgments. I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the LORD your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am the LORD." (v. 6-8).

     When we picture the "outstretched arm" of the LORD described above, and its meaning in Hebrew, it is easy to picture the outstretched arms of Jesus on the cross. The name "LORD" is spelled with the Hebrew letters yod, hey, vaw, hey, (יְהֹוָה), whose individual meanings in the pictographic letters of Hebrew mean: "Behold the hand, behold the nail". In another reading portion from this Sabbath in Isa. 42, the prophet wrote the Word of the LORD: "I am the LORD, that is My name;" (v. 8). In this portion from Isaiah, God is describing His Servant, His Elect One, which, from the details in the Chapter, is referring to the Messiah/Christ (see v. 1-4, 6-7, 16, 22). Many of the characteristics of the Messiah/Christ written here fall right into the character contained in the name of LORD.

     Continuing in our Exodus Sabbath reading portion, the LORD begins sending plagues against Egypt through Moses and Aaron in order to bring Pharaoh's capitulation, but not before Moses again struggles with unbelief: "And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the children of Israel go out of his land.' And Moses spoke before the LORD, saying, 'The children of Israel have not heeded me. How then shall Pharaoh heed me, for I am of uncircumcised lips?" (Ex. 6:10-12, 28-30). We also see that time and again, Pharaoh, once relieved of a plague, went back on his promise and refused to allow the Israelites to leave (see Ex. Ch. 7, 8 and 9). We shake our heads at the stubbornness and unbelief of Pharaoh, whom the LORD referred to as having a hardened heart (Ex. 7:13-1, 4) especially after Pharaoh had seen all of the signs and wonders of the LORD in both the sending of the plagues, and the relieving of the plagues through Moses. Yet the people of the LORD God exhibited the same hardness of heart and unbelief towards Him in another Sabbath reading portion from this week.

     Psalm 78 reviews God's miraculous, merciful, and faithful history with His people: "That they may set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments...Marvelous things He did in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt...He made His own people go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. And He led them on safely, so that they did not fear."

     This Psalm also recorded God's people's continuous struggle with unbelief: "A stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not set its heart aright, and whose spirit was not faithful to God...And forgot His works and His wonders that He had shown them...They sinned even more against God...Yes, they spoke against God...Because they did not believe in God, and did not trust in His salvation ....they still sinned, and did not believe in His wondrous works...they flattered Him with their mouth, and they lied to Him with their tongue; but their heart was not steadfast with Him, nor were they faithful in His covenant...again and again they tempted God, and limited (tava - to pain, wound, trouble, cause pain, grieve, afflict, to make or set a mark, to scrape to pieces) the Holy One of Israel." Their unbelief "limited" God. However, the word used here for "limit" means more than we assume. There is physical pain inflicted on God even to scrape marks into Him. The letters of the Hebrew word used here, tava, are tav-vaw-hey. The pictographic meaning of these Hebrew letters is: "Behold the nail and the cross". In addition to this profound meaning of the word tava, which is mis-translated as "limited", above, the psalmist gives us a reference to the Messiah as he pointed out that the LORD "awoke as from sleep" to beat back His enemies, chose the tribe of Judah, chose David His servant to shepherd Jacob His people, and Israel His inheritance: "So he shepherded/fed (ra'a - shepherd, companion, ruler, teacher, companion, pasture) them according to the integrity (tom/tamam - completeness, fulness, innocence, perfection, uprightness/to be finished, perfect, clean, to be completed, to be at an end, to be completely crossed over, to make whole, to destroy uncleanness) of his heart, and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands." (v. 65-72). David did rule Israel, but the innocence, perfection, completeness and finished work spoken of in the Hebrew also brings to mind Jesus, the Good Shepherd, the Son of David from the tribe of Judah, the Messiah/Christ.

     The LORD bore the pain, wounds, affliction and marks of our unbelief. We read in the New Testament a scripture from the Old Testament (Ps. 95:7-11): "Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion...where your fathers tested Me, tried Me...so I swore in My wrath, they shall not enter My rest." Then the writer of Hebrews concluded: "Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called "Today", lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end..." (Heb. 3:7-14).

     If you would like to learn more about the LORD, and the importance of belief, you can pray with me: Dearest LORD, by Your Spirit, help me to understand the meaning and power of Your name, "LORD". In that name is power, deliverance and inheritance. I thank You for identity of Christ in Your name, and what that means in my life. Forgive me, LORD, when I walk in unbelief, and I ask You, Lord Jesus, to "help my unbelief", and make my belief and faith as the Son of God's. Let my heart be completed and perfected by the "integrity" found in Your heart. I ask these things in the name of Jesus. AMEN."

LORD

This week's sabbath reading is titled Va-eira, meaning "and He appeared". Please bear with me, and I think that we will see that the readings for this week are very important, and reveal the power of the Name of the LORD behind the exodus, meaning "the way or the road out of". In this case, that exodus will involve the miraculous deliverance of the Israelites from their hard bondage in Egypt, which was under the rulership of the most powerful king on earth at the time, Pharaoh. To me, the truth revealed here, however, applies as a precedent to all bondages and deliverances by God. In last week's readings, God told Moses His Name, which Moses was to tell to the Israelites. That name was "I AM THAT I AM", or, as written in Hebrew, yod, hey, vaw, hey- YHWH using English equivalents. Each of these Hebrew letters have an individual pictographic meaning, and in this case, the four letters mean "Behold the hand, behold the nail". This name is pronounced as Yahway or JEHOVAH, and in English is translated in our Bibles as "LORD". This week's readings will begin with a greater revealing of that Name: "Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. For with a strong (hazak - strong, impudent, stiff hearted, hard, obstinate) hand he will let them (the Israelites) go, and with a strong (hazak again) hand he will drive them out of his land'. And the LORD spoke to Moses and said to him: 'I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty (El Shaddai/saday), but by My name LORD I was not known (yada - known, revealed, understood, declared, taught, experienced, confessed) to them...And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. Therefore say to the children of Israel: 'I am the LORD; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you as My people, and I will be Your God. Then you shall know that I am the LORD your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am the LORD." (Ex. 6:1-8). As we can see, it was very important for Moses and the Israelites to understand the new revelation of this Name, "LORD". The "strong hand" of obstinance of Pharaoh will be made to serve the power of "the hand, the nail" of the LORD. The Name LORD would not only become "the way or road out of" (exodus) Egypt, but also the way or road to the LORD as their God and as His people, and the way or road into the land of inheritance promised by covenant to the forefathers of the Israelites. There is something important to note about the use of the word "swore" in the above verses. In the Hebrew writing, the phrase that is translated into the English word "swore" is: "a lifted up (nasa - lift up, raise up, endure, forgive, pardon, suffer to, swear) aleph-tav hand". Aleph-tav refers to the first and the last Hebrew letters of their alphabet, and by these same two letters, Jesus identified Himself in Revelation, translated from the Greek language, as "Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last". Here, the LORD swore by His "lifted up aleph-tav hand". The LORD had also said to Pharaoh regarding the Israelites, "Let My (aleph-tav) son go...My son, My firstborn" (Ex. 4:23). We can also note that the "groaning" referred to above that the LORD heard from among His people, had moved Him to answer because it caused Him to remember His covenant with the fathers (Ex. 6:5, see also Ex. 2:24). The "groaning" as written was aleph-tav groaning , and the "covenant" as written in the Hebrew of the Torah was an aleph-tav covenant. Since the aleph-tav is physically connected to the words, could the LORD have been hearing the groaning of His prophesied, but yet-unborn Son, the Messiah, from within the Israelites? I know this is very detailed, but the aleph-tav is present in the written Hebrew, and it was specifically mentioned four times by Jesus as His identity (Rev. 1:8, 1:11, 21:6, 22:13). It must be something important for us to know, and it is a rich treasure waiting for our consideration. Imagine then how this is an example of the power of the groaning of intercession of the Son (and of the Holy Spirit: Rom. 8:26) before the Father (see Rom. 8:33-38), and what this means to our lives as, in His priestly intercession, Jesus the Son, is able to save us to the uttermost (see Heb. 7:24-27)! We saw above that this newly revealed Name, LORD, is composed of the Hebrew letters yod, hey, vaw, hey that identify the Messiah, Jesus Christ, whose hand was nailed to the cross, and in another portion from this week's sabbath reading, this connection of identity appears again as the LORD told His prophet: "Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him (see Lk. 3:21-22); He will bring forth judgment to the Gentiles (goyim - nations, heathen, Gentiles, people)...I, the LORD, have called You in righteousness...I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house. I am the LORD, that is My name...Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them...I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, and not forsake them." (Isa. 42:1-9, 16). To me, the verses above from Isaiah, as well as the earlier verses, directly connect the identity of the Messiah that we know, Jesus, to this revealed Name of God: the LORD. Jesus also confirmed this as He told us: "I have come in My Father's name...For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me." (Jn. 5:36-37, 43, 46). So we are seeing more in this week's sabbath readings about the importance that the Name of God, LORD (YHWH), and what it has to do with the exodus, "the way or road out of" slavery for His people. Let's look at some more clues to the principle of exodus. Pharaoh, like all mighty kings, believed that the reason he was born, and his purpose in life, was to rule. However, this was not his only purpose to God as we read in another part of this sabbath's reading. The LORD said to Pharaoh: "...for at this time, I will send all My plagues to your very heart...that you may know that there is none like Me in all the earth. Now if I had stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, then you would have been cut off from the earth. But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth." (Ex. 9:14-16). Pharaoh, and all of his people, could have been dealt with very quickly by death, but the LORD raised Pharaoh up for a different reason - so that he and God's people, and the whole world, would know that the LORD caused the release of the Israelites by forcing this stubborn, powerful king to bend his will to God's will. In fact, Pharaoh is just a small cog in a very large wheel, as we will see. The LORD was really dealing with evil spiritual powers, or monsters, that rule over geographical areas. We can see this very thing regarding Egypt in another portion from this week's sabbath reading in which the LORD pronounces His judgments to His prophet: "Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt and prophesy against him and all of Egypt...'Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster (gadol/tannin/tan - great, mighty/dragon, serpent, land, sea or river monster/monster as supernaturally formed) who lies in the midst of his rivers, who has said, 'My River (referring to the Nile) is my own; I have made it for myself.' But I will put hooks in your jaws...I will bring you up out of the midst of your rivers...I will leave you in the wilderness...Then all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the LORD...therefore I am against you and your rivers..." (Ezek. 29:2-6, 10). We learned last week that the Nile River played a large role in the ancient pagan religion of Egypt. Here in these verses, the LORD identified and prophetically judged the supernatural monster that inhabited that river, and all of the rivers that were in Egypt. He judged it as "the LORD", or YHWH (see also Ezek 28:22). Again, we see that the LORD didn't wish to destroy Egypt or its people, but to reduce its power and influence so that His people, Israel, would not keep turning to Egypt, to their harm, for help, instead of turning to the LORD (Ezek. 29:6-7, 12-16). Going to Egypt for help was not "the way or road out of", or (exodus), from trouble for God's people, yet His people preferred Egypt. Even after they were miraculously released from their slavery by the plagues that God had poured out upon Egypt, God's people wanted to return to Egypt several times! (see Ex. 16:2-3, Num. 11:4-5, Num. 14:3-4). There is only One who makes the way out, and that is the LORD, YHWH. He is the Waymaker (Isa. 43:16-19). These evil spiritual kingdoms and monsters that inhabit geographical locations over nations are defeated, judged, and will have their sentences executed upon them. We shouldn't look to the monsters for help - they have no desire to help God's people, but to destroy them. We saw earlier in Isaiah that it is the LORD who was sending His righteous Servant to bring judgment, saying of His Servant: "...He will bring forth judgment (mispat/sapat - judgment, ordinance, lawful, order, sentence of judgment/judge, condemn, defend, avenge, deliver) for truth. He will not fail nor be discouraged (rasas - crushed, grievously oppressed, broken in pieces, treated violently), till He has established judgment in the earth; and the coastlands shall wait for His law." (Isa. 42:3-4). This righteous Servant connected with justice, judgment, and truth, and identified directly with the LORD in these verses from Isaiah, is revealed to us in scripture to be Jesus, as He said: "For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son....Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life." (Jn. 5:22-24). Judgment has been given by the LORD into the hands of His Son, and an exodus has been created from death into life. Moses is the revered and honored deliverer of God's people in the account of the Exodus known world-wide, as he should be, but it is the name of the undefeatable LORD, YHWH, Who has sworn, and still swears, by His lifted up aleph-tav hand to appear and deliver His people. It is the name "LORD" that, as He told Pharaoh, would be declared in all the earth. If you would like to learn more about our awesome Deliverer and the Way of our exodus, you can join me in my prayer: "LORD of all, You have sent Your Son, Your Firstborn, Jesus, in Your own Name, to make the way for us. You have given Him all authority to judge, and those who believe in You by the Words of Your Son, have been passed from death to life. You have sworn by Your lifted up (aleph-tav) hand to bring Israel, and all others who believe in You through Your Son, into the inheritance You have promised, including the resurrection and eternal life of salvation. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit so that we can grow in the knowledge of the power, majesty and exodus found in Your Name, LORD. I ask and receive this with thanks in Jesus' Name. AMEN."