Shemot/Exodus 1:1-6:1 So what’s in a name?
Maybe far more than we ever thought or imagined!
The apostle Paul stated in Act 4:12 “And there is no deliverance in anyone else, for there is no other Name under the heaven given among men by which we need to be saved.”
Yahshua speaking to his Father in Yochanan/Joh 17:6 “I have revealed Your Name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world. They were Yours, and You gave them to Me, and they have guarded Your Word (Torah).
Without getting into the controversy over which Name is the correct Name or how to pronounce the Name, let us consider the impact of calling His Name and being called by our name.
Yeshayahu/Isa 43:1 But now, thus said יהוה, your Creator, O Ya’aqoḇ, and He who formed you, O Yisra’ĕl, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name, you are Mine.
It appears that we will all be given new names one day.
Rev 2:17 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes I shall give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I shall give him a white stone, and on the stone a renewed Name written which no one knows except him who receives it.” ’
Rev 3:12 “He who overcomes, I shall make him a supporting post in the Dwelling Place of My Elohim, and he shall by no means go out. And I shall write on him the Name of My Elohim and the name of the city of My Elohim, the renewed Yerushalayim, which comes down out of the heaven from My Elohim, and My renewed Name.
Even Yahshua has a new name.
Rev 19:12 And His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns, having a Name that had been written, which no one had perceived except Himself1 – Footnote: 1See 2:17.
Rev 19:13 and having been dressed in a robe(tallit) dipped in blood – and His Name is called: The Word of יהוה.
In spite of all the rhetoric around this issue of the Name there remains an uncertainty and “hiddenness” (see Ber/Gen 3:15). In the meantime we must trust the Father to help us understanding this important issue of names – Shemot the title of this parashah is where we will also be introduced once again to the name of our Creator and Heavenly Father. We must accept that we only know in part, because we only really know Him in part.
1Co 13:12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know, as I also have been known.
Wikipedia gives some additional insight into this subject:
“The Book of Jubilees 30:20-22 speaks of two heavenly tablets or books: a Book of Life for the righteous, and a Book of Death for those that walk in the paths of impurity and are written down on the heavenly tablets as adversaries (of YHVH). Also, according to ib. xxxvi. 10, one who contrives evil against his neighbor will be blotted out of the Book of Remembrance of men, and will not be written in the Book of Life, but in the Book of Perdition. In Dan. vii. 10 and Enoch xlvii. 3 "the Ancient of days" is described as seated upon His throne of glory with "the Book" or "the Books of Life" ("of the Living") opened before Him. So are, according to Enoch civ. 1, the righteous "written before the esteem of the Great One," and, according to Enoch cviii. 3, the transgressors "blotted out of the Book of Life and out of the books of the holy ones." To this Book of Life reference is made also in Hermas (Vision i. 3; Mandate viii.; Similitude ii.); in Rev. iii. 5, xiii. 8, xvii. 8, xx. 12-15, where "two Books" are spoken of as being "opened before the throne, the Book of Life, and the Book of Death, in which latter the unrighteous are recorded together with their evil deeds, in order to be cast into the lake of fire." It is the Book of Life in which the apostles' names are "written in heaven" (Luke x. 20), or "the fellow-workers" of Paul (Phil. iv. 3), and "the assembly of the first-born" (Heb. xii. 23; compare I Clem. xlv.). To these Books of Records allusion is made also in Enoch lxxxi. 4, lxxxix. 61-77, xc. 17-20, xcviii. 76, civ. 7; Apoc. Baruch, xxiv. 1; Ascensio Isa. ix. 20.”Blessing for the Torah:
Baruch atah YHVH, Eloheynu, Melech ha-O’lam, asher bachar banu m’kol ha-amim,
v’natan lanu eht Torah-to. Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn ha-Torah. Ameyn.”
(Blessed are you, YHVH, our Elohim , King of the Universe,
(Blessed are you, YHVH, our Elohim , King of the Universe,
you have selected us from among all the peoples, and have given us your Torah.
Blessed are you, YHVH, giver of the Torah. Ameyn.)
Number 13.
The 13th letter of the Aleph-bet is the letter 'mem'. The symbol for mem is water. The earth was covered in water during Noach's time because the earth had become corrupt. This speaks of life in the midst of rebellion and falling away. Perhaps the most astonishing revelation about the number 13, is the fact that the gematria of almost every one of the names for hasatan (satan) are divisible by 13. The word 'dragon' is mentioned 13 times in the book of Hitgalut. There are 13 famines mentioned in scripture. Leaven occurs 13 times in the Apostolic scriptures. One of the titles of the Mashiach tachat (antichrist) is the adversary. In the last days, most of the nations or gentiles will be as lawless as the adversary. The gematria of adversary and nation (goy) are both 13
In Pirkei Avot 5:13, we read that thirteen is the age that young men become a 'bar mitzvot' or 'son of the commandments'. As a young man enters into his teenage years, it is this particular time that was chosen to place him under the authority of the commandments. Could it be that this is the beginning of a young man's rebellious years?
The very first occurrence of this number cannot be written off as coincidence.
Beresheet/Genesis 14:4
"Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the THIRTEENTH year they rebelled."
"Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the THIRTEENTH year they rebelled."
Torah Readings:
- 1:1-17
- 1:18 – 2:10
- 2:11-25
- 3:1-17
- 3:18 – 4:17
- 4:18-31
- 5:1-21
- Maftir: 5:22 – 6:1
Haftarah: Yeshayahu/Isaiah 27:6 – 28:13; 29:13; 29:22-23 (Ashkenazi tradition);
Yirmeyahu/Jeremiah 1:1 – 2:3 (Sefardi tradition)
Aliyah Rishon 1:1-17
Exo 1:1 And these are the names of the children of Yisra’ĕl who came to Mitsrayim with Ya’aqoḇ, each one with his household:
Exo 1:2 Re’uḇĕn, Shimʽon, Lĕwi, and Yehuḏah;
Exo 1:3 Yissasḵar, Zeḇulun, and Binyamin;
Exo 1:4 Dan and Naphtali, Gaḏ and Ashĕr.
Exo 1:5 And all those who were descendants of Ya’aqoḇ were seventy beings, as Yosĕph was already in Mitsrayim.
Whenever the Father wants to deliver His people from bondage and establish His Kingdom and Rule on earth He seems to use a set pattern. He calls and prepares a leader or visionary; this leader lays down his life for this cause and for the people YHVH calls him to bring deliverance to.
The pattern is always the same; first 12 leaders then 70 messengers.
In the opening verses of this parashah we see this pattern established: First the fathers/leaders of the 12 tribes and then those with them which bring the total amount to seventy messengers or witnesses.
We see this pattern repeated with Moshe. He chose 12 leaders from the 12 tribes and then those with them totalling 70 men.
Num 11:16 Then יהוה said to Mosheh, “Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Yisra’ĕl, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them. And bring them to the Tent of Meeting, and let them stand there with you.
We see the same pattern with Yahshua. He chose 12 disciples and then those with them totalling 70.
Luk 10:1 And after this the Master appointed seventy others, and sent them two by two ahead of Him into every city and place where He Himself was about to go.
Luk 10:2 Then He said to them, “The harvest indeed is great, but the workers are few, therefore pray the Master of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.
It might shock some of us to know that Yahshua initially came only for the lost sheep of the house of Yisrael.
Mat 15:24 And He answering, said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Yisra’ĕl.”
We see a two- fold gathering in of the harvest: First the choosing of the twelve from the lost sons of Yisrael and the choosing of the seventy for the gathering in of the nations.
The following quote was authored by Billy Graham in the year 1965. Turns out it was a prophetic word that has come to pass in our time.“Multitudes of Christians within the church are moving toward the point where they may reject the institution that we call the church. They are beginning to turn to more simplified forms of worship. They are hungry for a personal and vital experience with Jesus Christ. They want a heartwarming personal faith. Unless the church quickly recovers its authoritative Biblical message, we may witness the spectacle of millions of Christians going outside the institutional church to find spiritual food.”
Quoted in “World Aflame,” pp. 79-80.
Here is another priceless quote by Graham:
“I think one of the first things I would do would be to get a small group of eight or ten or twelve men around me that would meet a few hours a week and pay the price. It would cost them something in time and effort. I would share with them everything I have, over a period of years. Then I would actually have twelve ministers among the laymen who in turn could take eight or ten or twelve more and teach them. I know one or two churches that are doing that, and it is revolutionizing the church. Christ, I think, set the pattern. He spent most of his time with twelve men. He didn’t spend it with a great crowd. In fact, every time he had a great crowd it seems to me that there weren’t too many results. The great results, it seems to me, came in his personal interview and in the time he spent with the twelve.”
Quoted in “Billy Graham Speaks: The Evangelical World Prospect,” Christianity Today, vol.3, no.1, p.5, Oct.13, 1958.
Billy Graham’s 93rd birthday was celebrated in TBN this past week.
I believe his life and ministry have an important message for us in this week’s parashah.
Billy Graham in some aspects can be compared to Moshe who brought a message of deliverance from “Egypt” to those still “trapped” in “Egypt.”
This week’s parashah marks the beginning of the birth of a nation through suffering and redemption. An intrinsic part of this story, is the life of Moshe Rabbeinu. However, a careful look at Moshe's chronology reveals something very strange. The Torah tell us that Moshe is born in Mitsrayim/Egypt and is raised in the house of pharaoh. The pattern keeps on repeating itself.
Exo 1:6 And Yosĕph died, and all his brothers, and all that generation.
“Was not Yosef among the youngest of his brothers? Yet he was the first of them to die.”
Exo 1:7 And the children of Yisra’ĕl bore fruit and increased very much, multiplied and became very strong, and the land was filled with them.
Exo 1:8 Then a new sovereign arose over Mitsrayim, who did not know Yosĕph,
Exo 1:9 and he said to his people, “See, the people of the children of Yisra’ĕl are more and stronger than we,
Exo 1:10 come, let us act wisely towards them, lest they increase, and it shall be when fighting befalls us, that they shall join our enemies and fight against us, and shall go up out of the land.”
Exo 1:11 So they set slave-masters over them to afflict them with their burdens, and they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Ra’amses.
Exo 1:12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they increased and grew, and they were in dread of the children of Yisra’ĕl.
Exo 1:13 And the Mitsrites made the children of Yisra’ĕl serve with harshness,
Exo 1:14 and they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, and in brick, and in all kinds of work in the field, all their work which they made them do was with harshness.
Exo 1:15 Then the sovereign of Mitsrayim spoke to the Heḇrew midwives, of whom the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Pu’ah,
Exo 1:16 and he said, “When you deliver the Heḇrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death, but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.”
Exo 1:17 But the midwives feared Elohim, and did not do as the sovereign of Mitsrayim commanded them, and kept the male children alive.
Once again we see a pattern of despair and bondage comes over YHVH’s people when the true leaders and shepherds are no longer present to carry on with their mission. We see this with Yakov and his sons, Moshe and his leaders and also Yahshua and his disciples. We see the same pattern repeat itself today. The spirit of Pharoah lives on to make certain that the seed of these kinds of future leaders does not survive.
Aliyah Sheni 1:18 – 2:10
The religious system of manmade religion will still try and stamp out any kind of spiritual life that clashes or exposes them for who and what they truly are. If the “slaves” cannot build bricks and promote the vision of the “ministry” they are as good as dead.
Even our best years as Christians seemed like years of slavery making “bricks” to build an Egyptian Babylonian empire. Churchmen are obsessed with building buildings, instead of teaching Torah and YHVH’s master building plan. The pattern has always been the same. It is discipleship and not mass evangelism.
Exo 1:18 So the sovereign of Mitsrayim called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and kept the male children alive?”
Exo 1:19 And the midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Heḇrew women are not like the Mitsrite women. For they are lively and give birth before the midwives come to them.”
Exo 1:20 So Elohim was good to the midwives, and the people increased and became very numerous.
Exo 1:21 And it came to be, because the midwives feared Elohim, that He provided households for them.
Exo 1:22 And Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “Throw every son who is born into the river, and keep alive every daughter.”
Exo 2:1 And a man of the house of Lĕwi went and married a daughter of Lĕwi.
Exo 2:2 And the woman conceived and bore a son. And she saw that he was a lovely child, and she hid him three months.
Exo 2:3 And when she could hide him no longer, she took an ark of wicker for him, and coated it with tar and pitch, and put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the edge of the river.
Exo 2:4 And his sister stood at a distance, to know what would be done to him.
Exo 2:5 And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river, and her young women were walking by the river-side. And when she saw the ark among the reeds, she sent her female servant to get it,
wept. So she had compassion on him, and said, “This is one of the children of the Heḇrews.”
Exo 2:7 And his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Heḇrew women to nurse
the child for you?”
the child for you?”
Exo 2:8 And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” And the
girl went and called the child’s mother.
girl went and called the child’s mother.
Exo 2:9 And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, then I shall pay your wages.”
So the woman took the child and nursed him.
So the woman took the child and nursed him.
Exo 2:10 And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Mosheh, saying, “Because I have drawn him out of the water.”
The name of the daughter that protects the life of Moshe is “Miryam” - the same name of the woman who brought forth the Messiah. Miryam means bitterness, because the life of a “deliverer” is bitter, it carries with it a great deal of pain and sorrow.
“From here you can infer how great the reward of those who perform acts of kindness. For although Moses had many names, the name by which he is known throughout the Torah is the one which Batyah, the daughter of Pharaoh, called him, and even YHVH called him by no other name.” (Midrash Rabbah)