Exodus

The sabbath reading for this week begins the Book of Exodus for us. We have finished the Book of Genesis, which is B'reshiet in Hebrew, and "The Beginning" in English, and we discovered several important "beginnings" in it. The word Exodus traces its roots back to Greek and Latin, and means "the road or way out of". As we go through the readings in this second book of the Torah, we will be looking for how the LORD is revealing to us "the road or way out of". This sabbath reading is titled Sh'mot, or "names", and is what the Jewish people call this second Book of the Bible in Hebrew. This week's reading is from Exodus Chapters 1-4, as well as portions from the prophets. As the Book of Exodus opens, the Hebrew people's presence in Egypt had numbered under one hundred, including Jacob/Israel, his sons, and their children. "But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty (like a firebrand that stirs the burning coals to increase a fire); and the land was filled with them." (Ex. 1:7). The new king, or Pharaoh, and his court were "in dread" of the children of Israel, even after imposing hard bondage and bitterness upon them to try and stop their increasing numbers, which did not succeed (v. 8-14). The king feared that if an enemy tried to come against Egypt, the Hebrews would join with the enemy from their location inside Egypt. Pharaoh, the most powerful king on earth at this time, feared man, and the plans of men, and especially feared these foreigners who had never done Egypt harm, but good. Then Pharaoh had another idea since the hard labor imposed upon the Israelites had not reduced their numbers as hoped. He brought the Hebrew midwives before him and commanded them to kill all the male children that were born in their service to the Hebrew women (v. 15). In the Hebrew writing, the boy children of these verses is related to an untranslated "aleph-tav", or "Alpha and Omega" in the Greek, the name of Christ, the Messiah, in Rev. 1:8, 11, 21:6, and 22:13. The Lord had/has placed His Messianic name upon these children of Israel. This is another key to exodus, "the way or rod out of": "...for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:11-12). It is no coincidence that we now see a determined effort to kill children in our era as well. "But the midwives (yalad - beget, born, delivered, to cause or help to bring forth, declare pedigrees, to be created, to declare one's self to be born/pedigree) feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive...Therefore God dealt well with the midwives (that He provided households for them, or gave them families), and the people multiplied and grew very mighty..." (v. 17-21, excerpt). Pharaoh feared what man might do, but these women, who had been called into the presence of the most powerful king in the world, and had been given a direct command from him, feared God rather than man. The names of the midwives were Shiph'rah (supra/sipra/sapar - fair, brightness, beauty, adorn, most splendid, like the heavens that are made to be brightness by the Spirit of God, cleanness, to glisten) and Pu'ah (pua - splendid, to glitter, brilliancy). The names of the midwives are associated with the beauty, brightness and brilliance of the heavens as made by the Spirit of God (see Dan. 12:3). There is an interesting reference in Job: "By His Spirit He adorned the heavens; His hand pierced the fleeing serpent." (Job 26:13). The meanings of the names of these midwives are very significant, and have particularly special meaning to believers in Christ. Back to our story in Exodus: Pharaoh, not being satisfied with the non-efforts of the midwives on his behalf "...commanded all his people, saying, 'Every son who is born (yillod/yalad-see above) you shall cast into the river (ye'or - almost exclusively used to mean The Nile River in Egypt), and every daughter you shall save alive." (v. 22). The Nile River, referred to only as the River in the Old Testament, is the longest river in the world at over 4,000 miles long. It also played a major role in the ancient Egyptian pagan religion. It was considered to be the river way to be taken from life to death and to the afterlife beyond. God has a different and true "way out of", however. The Nile was also called "the Father of Life" and the "Mother of all men" by the Egyptians. The ancient Egyptian "Book of the Dead" was used to supposedly guide a soul through death. This is not the exodus or "way or road out of" bondage and death provided by our God, however. Our LORD God is the author of The Book of Life, or Sefer HaChaim, for He is the God of the living, and not the dead (Rev. 3:5, 20:12, Phil. 4:3, Lk. 20:37-38). Our God IS life, and He is living (Deut. 5:26) according to His Name, as we will read later. It is His desire to show us exodus- the true way out of bondage and death, and into life in Him. Roads not only lead out of somewhere, but into somewhere as well. The LORD would later prophesy against the nation of Egypt using their all-important river, the Nile (see Isa. 19:3, 5-15). It is amazing to know that the same river that Pharaoh meant for mass genocide, became, instead, the source from which a "deliverer" of God's people would be drawn, Moses. So far we have learned that "the way or road out of" (exodus) slavery in Egypt begins with the fear of the LORD, rather than the plans of men, even the most powerful of men, even of Godly men (see also Job 40:6-14). In order to save her son, when the mother of baby Moses could no longer hide him, she placed him in an ark of bullrushes sealed with asphalt and pitch and laid the child in the reeds of the Nile River (Ex. 2:1-3). Eventually, the ark was seen in the reeds by the Pharaoh's daughter, who had gone to the river to bathe. When she opened the ark, the baby cried, and she had compassion upon him, and claimed him as her own, and raised him: "So she called his name Moses (mose/masa - draw, to pull out, to save, to preserve) saying, 'Because I drew him out of the water'." (v. 10). Because of Pharaoh's daughter, we can also say that Moses was pulled out of death and into life. This is also a prophetic picture of what God would do for the Israelites, and what He still does for us. It is interesting to learn more about Pharaoh's daughter at this point. Although she is unnamed in this section of Exodus, the historian Josephus recorded that her Egyptian name was Thermouthis, meaning "first mother". She would probably have been named after the half-snake, half-woman goddess, Isis-Thermouthis. The Hebrews credit her with inadvertently being responsible for the redemption of Israel because she saved the baby Moses from the river. She was embraced and "adopted" by the Hebrews and given a new name, Bithia or Bityah, which means "daughter of God (YAH)". She is recorded again as Bithiah, the daughter of Pharaoh, in 1 Chron. 4:17-18, listed as part of the tribe of Judah. Outside of scripture, rabbis in the Midrash include Bithia, the daughter of Pharaoh, in the list of special converts to faith in God who entered Paradise while still alive. Along "the way or road out of", as we saw with the Hebrew midwives who shine like the heavens, God places those who divinely facilitate the way out for others by their obedience to Him. This is the meaning at the root of "Zion" (siyun - waymark, sign, monument, signpost, conspicuous guiding pillar), to be a waymarker or guiding pillar along the route of exodus, and to the City of David. This also should ring awareness "bells" for those who follow Christ. As a man, Moses was forced out of Egypt by death-threats from Pharoah, because Moses had delivered a Hebrew out of the hands of an Egyptian oppressor. While Moses was in exile, he met a man named Jethro, or Reu'el ("friend of God", pasture, shepherd, friend, brother, companion, special friend of God), a priest of the Midians, after having delivered Jethro's seven daughters out of the hands of abusive shepherds (Ex. 2:15-19). Moses was content to dwell with Jethro, and married one of Jethro's daughters, Zipporah (v. 20-21). While Moses was tending to Jethro's (aleph-tav) flocks, he led the (aleph-tav) flocks to the back of the desert, to Mount Horeb, the mountain of God (Ex. 3:1). Again, a name will have special meaning regarding exodus, "the way or road out of". Jethro (yeter/yatar) means "a cord, rope, string, remnant, other part, reserved, preserved, save over, preserve alive, excellence". As we saw previously, Reu'el/Jethro is a special friend or companion of God according to his name. We know that Abraham previously had this same kind of relationship with God (2 Chron. 20:7, Isa. 41:8, James 2:23). There is another group in scripture who were/are called the friends of the Lord. These are the followers of Jesus: "You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you." (Jn. 15:14-15, see also Gen. 18:17-19). Moses took the (aleph-tav) flocks of Jethro to the backside of the desert. "Backside" is the word ahar, meaning "afterwards, besides, following after, defer, delay". The believers in Christ came after the Israelites in natural time, but Paul taught us that we were foreknown by God and completed (Rom. 8:28-30). As it is written in scripture about David and the prophet Jeremiah, God knows us before we are physically formed and born (Ps. 139:15-16, Jer. 1:5). It is amazing to know this about our "beginnings". We are here now, but we were also there, in spirit, then! Let's finish our story of Moses for this week. Moses took the (aleph-tav) flock of Jethro to Mt. Horeb (a lower summit of Mt. Sinai, meaning desolate, destroyed, destroyer, decayed, slay, smite down, kill). According to the meaning of the word, this place is associated with death, destruction, decay, and hopeless desolation. However, it is about to become a place of a miraculous sign of deliverance and life, and where God will reveal His saving name: "And the Angel of the LORD appeared to (Moses) in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So (Moses) looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed." (Ex. 3:2). When Moses turned to see this great sight, the LORD called to him, "Moses, Moses!" The LORD said: "I am the God of your father - the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look upon God (v. 4-6). God said that He had seen the oppression of His people in Egypt, and heard their cries because of their taskmasters (nagas - oppressor, ruler, king, tyrant, exert pressure, harass, driver, tyrannize). The flames and fire that appeared from the middle of the bush were likened in Hebrew to the gleam on the tip of a spear, or a sharply polished blade of a sword. The Hebrew also includes the idea of the fiery wrath of God in this burning flame. This burning was a sign of war from God against the oppressive tyranny over His people. The bush that appeared to be burning was sene in Hebrew - a thorn bush. For Abraham in Genesis, the thorn bush held a ram for sacrifice. Here in Exodus, regarding the oppression of His people, the thorn bush contained the fire of the wrath and sword of God (see also Isa. 27:1). Then God said to Moses: "I have come down (yarad - descended, sink down, to be prostrated, brought down) to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey..." (v. 7-8, see also Eph. 4:8-10)). Not only would the exodus way bring God's people out of Egypt, but it would also bring His people into a good and large land flowing with milk and honey. The fire that burned (ba'ar) was kindled by the "dull-hearted, stupid, brutish, and barbarous", according to the Hebrew meaning of the word. At this time, Moses was commanded by God to return to Egypt to confront Pharaoh, and bring about the delivery of God's people, with the help of, and by the judgments of God. Moses was very reluctant, but God said to him: "I will certainly be with you..". (Ex. 3:12). A sign to Moses that God would do this was the promise from God that after the people have been brought out of Egypt, they will serve God on the very mountain where Moses was now standing, Horeb/Sinai. The message Moses was to give to Pharaoh from God was: "...'Thus says the LORD: Israel is My son, My firstborn...Let My son go..." (Ex. 4:22-23). Moses asked what God's name was in order to tell the Israelites if they asked. "And God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM' (haya/hava - was, has been, become, to be, exist, abide, continue, to be finished/to be, to breathe, breath). And God said, 'Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, I AM has sent (salah - let loose, send, stretch out, shoot forth, be impelled) me to you.' Moreover God said to Moses, 'Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: 'The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.' (Ex. 3:13-15). That name of God given here is written with the four Hebrew letters Yod, Hey, Vaw, Hey. These individual pictographic letters carry the meaning, "Behold the hand, Behold the nail". This is the name of the Deliverer of Israel Who "comes down". There is only one exodus, and one Name, that is the "way or road out of' bondage to spiritual tyrants, rulers and death. Jesus said: "I AM the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (Jn. 14:6). It is also written: "Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is His own flesh..." (Heb. 10:19-20). The exodus is not by the power of an earthly ruler, nor by the power of any man, nor pagan religion, but by the Way that the LORD has made for us. As we continue our sabbath readings in the Book of Exodus, we will see more of that Way out of death, and into life. If you would like to know more and walk in the Way of exodus, you can pray with me: "Heavenly Father, and Great I AM, You have provided Your people with a Way out of bondage and death, and into Your promise of life. I can see the identity of Your Son throughout the Way, and I want to remain faithful to follow and remain on this road that You have made for me through the body of Your Son, Your firstborn Son. You are our Deliverer Who sees our bondage, and hears our cries, and comes down. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit so I can learn more about the Way that You have made for me. I ask this in Jesus' name. AMEN."

Deceptions

There are deceptions prophesied in scripture for the latter days that will lead many into destruction. The deceptions are so convincing that even the elect (those chosen to obtain salvation) will be vulnerable to them (Mk. 13:22). I think one of those deceptions that we are seeing today is the dismissal of sin. Many in the world have believed the deception that sin is an outmoded religious concept, perhaps meant in its time to keep man from certain undesirable behaviors for fear of hell. In error it is believed that we no longer need the concept of sin, being ruled instead by secular laws decided by society regarding right and wrong, even though secular law can never nullify the holy and perfect Law of God (Rom. 7:12). Even many believers and churches have adopted this same secular viewpoint, and are reluctant to teach the destructive power of sin. However, this is a deadly deception.
Sin is not just the wrong that we do against the law of God, but it is also a spiritual power, as we will see. Sin has the power to enslave a human being. Jesus said:
"Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin."   Jn. 8:34
The apostle Paul also speaks of the power of sin to enslave:
"...our old man was crucified with Him (Jesus), that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin...to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey...whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness...But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered."   Rom. 6:6, 16-17
Peter wrote that those who yield themselves to sin and promise others that there is liberty in practicing what God has declared to be sin, have themselves become slaves to corruption (2 Pet. 2:15-19).
As we also read above, sin is the power that kills:
"...the end of those things is death...For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."   Rom. 6:21, 23
"The sting of death is sin..."  1 Cor. 15:56
Not only does sin have the power to kill, but it has the power to keep the body in the grave, and the soul in hell (1 Cor. 15:55). When God was warning Cain about the power of sin, He said this:
"If you do well (be glad, joyful, pleasing, to make a thing good, right, or beautiful), will you not be accepted (exaltation in rank or character, dignity, loftiness, raising up, lifting up)? And if you do not do well, sin lies (lurks) at the door ("pethakh" meaning gate, opening, grave). And its desire (craving, longing, stretching out after, devour like a beast, overflow like water) is for you, but you should rule over it."    Gen. 4:7
As we can see above, the door that sin lurks beside is not the Hebrew word "daleth", but "pethakh" which can mean the opening of a grave. Sin's craving, desire and longing is to pull us into an open grave, and keep us there. The bad news is that we have all sinned (Rom. 3:23, 1 Jn. 1:10). The good news is that Christ came for the purpose of overcoming death, hell and the grave by paying the penalty for sin in our place. He fought its power and broke its enslaving hold. He died and rose again to make all alive (1 Cor. 15:22). The offering of His body in replacement for ours was done once, for all (Heb. 10:10).
The world may embrace the deception that the power of sin is not real, falsely thinking that they are achieving liberty from unreasonable constraints. However, when the believer who has accepted Christ's atoning and redeeming sacrifice runs after that same deception, or is consenting to it, something awful occurs in the spiritual realm:
"For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away (to deviate from the right path, to error; root meaning-to descend from a higher place to a lower, to be removed from power by death, to lose authority, to no longer have force, to fall from a state of uprightness), to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame."   Heb. 6:4-6
"For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins...of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?"
                                                                                              Heb. 10:26-29 (excerpt)
What a terrible thing to do to ourselves, but even more so to Christ! If we, the believers in Christ, deny the reality of sin, or its spiritual power to kill and enslave forever, then we are also denying the power and necessity of the atonement and resurrection of Christ. We are therefore denying the very foundation of our salvation and faith. None of us wants to do such a thing. However, this deception is sent from hell in order to convince man that sin is no longer relevant, in order to keep man from seeking the remedy of Christ, and to keep him enslaved and bound in death.
We can see that the end time deception disregarding the truth and power of sin is a far more dangerous thing than it would appear on the surface. In order to fully participate in the victory which Christ has achieved for us all, we need to understand the reality of the evil power which He overcame. Delusions and deceptions will come as prophesied, but we are here to stand as witnesses to the truth of what Jesus has done for all: the liberty from enslavement and death that He has accomplished on our behalf:
"And you He made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience...but God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ...raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus..."   Eph. 2:1-6 (excerpt)
"...Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."   Rev. 1:5-6

Our Father is exposing the destructive deceptions.

Special thanks to my pastors who faithfully teach the truth of the Word, on this subject and all others, without compromise.