Blessing
for the Torah Reading:
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,
you have selected us from among all the peoples,
and have given us your Torah.
Blessed are you, YHVH, giver of the Torah. Ameyn.)
Perhaps the greatest challenges we will face on our
journey back to the Promised Land will not come from outside enemies but from
within our own ranks, our friends, our families and even from ourselves.
Mat 10:34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace
on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword,1 Footnote: 1In
Lk. 12:51 the word “division” is used, while “sword” has the same meaning here.
Mat 10:35 for I have come to bring division, a man
against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law
against her mother-in-law –
Mat 10:36 and a man’s enemies are those of his own
household.1 Footnote: 1Lk. 12:53, Mic. 7:6.
Mat 10:37 “He who loves father or mother more than Me
is not worthy of Me, and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not
worthy of Me.1 Footnote: 1See 19:29, Lk. 14:26.
Mat 10:38 “And he who does not take up his stake and
follow after Me is not worthy of Me.
Mat 10:39 “He who has found his life shall lose it, and
he that has lost his life for My sake shall find it.
Act 14:22 ….. through many pressures we have to enter
the reign of Elohim.
This Torah portion gives some very important instruction regarding our
journey as pilgrims in this life. Shemot 15:25 tells us that at the bitter
waters of testing YHVH issues a very important command:
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שָׁם שָׂם לוֹ חֹק וּמִשְׁפָּט, וְשָׁם נִסָּהוּ.
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There He made a law and a right-ruling for them, and
there He tried them.
Exo 15:26 And He
said, “If you diligently obey (if listening you will listen – if you are really
hearing you will hear..) the voice of יהוה your Elohim
and do what is right in His eyes, and shall listen to His commands and shall
guard all His laws, I shall bring on you none of the diseases I brought on the
Mitsrites, for I am יהוה who heals
you.”
In the midst of trails and testing YHVH gives us His law
(‘chok’ in Hebrew ie something which is not always easy to understand but we
obey it anyway) and a right ruling(mishpat) and He says that if we are truly listening we will hear and obey
the voice of YHVH –even in the midst of trails. We will then do what is right
in His eyes and we will obey His commandments and guard ALL His chukim. Then
YHVH will not put on us the diseases of Mitzrayim and He will heal us.
A quote from a Rabbi Eliyahu Hoffmann:
“The mitzvos of the Torah are often divided into two main categories; chukim and mishpatim. Mishpatim are those mitzvos which appeal to our sense of logic and morality: Don't kill; don't steal; honour your father and mother. Chukim are mitzvos that have no direct connection with human character and morality - they are simply laws which G-d commands us to obey. Examples of chukim are: Laws of kashrus (kosher foods); tzitzis (fringes); tefilin.
Parah Adumah (Red Heifer) is the ultimate chok (singular of chukim). Its laws defy all logic. The ashes of the Parah Adumah are used to purify one who has become tamei (ritually impure), yet a person who is not ritually impure who comes in contact with its ashes is rendered impure! Honouring one's father and mother is a mishpat: They gave you life, sustained and raised you, so you must honour them.
Yet the lines of division between chukim and mishpatim are not always so clear.
Psa 119:54 Your Precepts(chukim) have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.
A quote from another rabbi states:
“Eidus commandments are those that would not be understood prior to God’s commanding them, such as the laws related to Passover, but that once commanded, can be easily understood as serving to establish God’s presence in this world in a meaningful and understandable fashion. Chukim are those commandments which make no sense. They seem arbitrary and random, like the laws relating to the red heifer or shatnes.
And so in the midst of testing we are instructed to do things which seem the opposite of what we want to do – like throwing a tree into bitter waters – which itself was most probably bitter.
Our Torah portion begins:
Exo 15:19 For the horses of Pharaoh went with his
chariots and his horsemen into the sea, and יהוה brought back
the waters of the sea upon them. And the children of Yisra’ĕl went on dry
ground in the midst of the sea.
Exo 15:20 And
Miryam the prophetess, the sister of Aharon, took the timbrel in her hand. And
all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.
Exo 15:21 And
Miryam answered them, “Sing to יהוה, for He is
highly exalted! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!”
Exo 15:22 And
Mosheh brought Yisra’ĕl from the Sea of Reeds, and they went out into the
Wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no
water.
The first time a “prophetess” is mentioned in scripture.
Also the first time creative dancing is mentioned in scripture. Sadly like
Korach her cousin she later rises up in rebellion against Moshe rabbeinu.
There are many interesting parallels between Miryam the
mother of Yahshua and Miryam the sister of Moshe.
Once again sadly history shows us how these woman are
venerated and even worshipped.
It is fanciful to credit Miryam, Moshe’ sister with
providing water in the wilderness. Some sages go as far as to say that it was
Moshe who provided manna and Miryam who provided water in the wilderness.
The truth is YHVH provided both manna and water in the
wilderness.
Shaul gives us some valuable insight regarding the issue
of woman in authority.
1Ti 2:12 But I do not permit a woman to teach(make
disciples) or to have authority (Greek to usurp man’s authority) over a man,
rather, to be in silence. (‘Rather quietness’ in Greek does not mean muzzled it
but it means a woman must not stir up strife)
1Ti 2:13 Because Aḏam
was formed first, then Ḥawwah.
1Ti 2:14 And
Aḏam was not deceived,
but the woman, having been deceived, fell into transgression.
1Ti 2:15 But
she shall be saved in childbearing if they continue in belief, and love, and
set-apartness, with sensibleness.
There is a great deal of opposition to this scripture.
Shaul may not have been addressing a cultural issue but a truth issue.
See Role Of Women In Scripture - Ellen Kavanaugh
http://www.lightofmashiach.org/women/roleofwomen.html
Exo 15:23 And they
came to Marah, and they were unable to drink the waters of Marah, for they were
bitter. So the name of it was called Marah.
Marah or bitter is possibly one of the origins of the
name of Miryam.
Exo 15:24 And the
people grumbled against Mosheh, saying, “What are we to drink?”
Exo 15:25 Then he
cried out to יהוה, and יהוה showed him a tree. And when he threw it
into the waters, the waters were made sweet.
There He made a law and a right-ruling for them, and there He tried them.
Exo 15:26 And He said,
“If you diligently obey the voice of יהוה your Elohim
and do what is right in His eyes, and shall listen to His commands and shall
guard all His laws, I shall bring on you none of the diseases I brought on the
Mitsrites, for I am יהוה who heals
you.”
Exo 15:27 And they
came to Ělim, where there were twelve fountains of water and seventy palm
trees. And they camped there by the waters.
Elim can mean strength – we believe that the 12 tribes of
Yisrael and the seventy elders of the Sanhedrin will provide guidance and bring
strength and refreshing to the nations. (70)
Exo 16:1 And they set out from Ělim, and all the
congregation of the children of Yisra’ĕl came to the Wilderness of Sin, which
is between Ělim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their
going out of the land of Mitsrayim.
Exo 16:2 And all the congregation of the children of
Yisra’ĕl grumbled against Mosheh and Aharon in the wilderness.
Exo 16:3 And the children of Yisra’ĕl said to them,
“If only we had died by the hand of יהוה in the land of
Mitsrayim, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to
satisfaction! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to put all this
assembly to death with hunger.”
Exo 16:4 And יהוה said to Mosheh, “See, I am raining bread
from the heavens for you. And the people shall go out and gather a day’s
portion every day, in order to try them, whether they walk in My Torah or not.
Exo 16:5 “And it
shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it
shall be twice as much as they gather daily.”
Exo 16:6 And
Mosheh and Aharon said to all the children of Yisra’ĕl, “At evening you shall
know that יהוה has brought
you out of the land of Mitsrayim.
Exo 16:7 “And in
the morning you shall see the esteem of יהוה, for He hears
your grumblings against יהוה. And what are
we, that you grumble against us?”
Exo 16:8 And
Mosheh said, “In that יהוה gives you meat
to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to satisfaction, for יהוה hears your grumblings which you make
against Him. And what are we? Your
grumblings are not against us but against יהוה.”
Exo 16:9 And
Mosheh said to Aharon, “Say to all the congregation of the children of
Yisra’ĕl, ‘Come near before יהוה, for He has
heard your grumblings.’ ”
Exo 16:10 And it
came to be, as Aharon spoke to all the congregation of the children of
Yisra’ĕl, that they looked toward the wilderness and see, the esteem of יהוה appeared in the cloud.
Exo 16:11 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying,
Exo 16:12 “I have
heard the grumblings of the children of Yisra’ĕl. Speak to them, saying,
‘Between the evenings you are to eat meat, and in the morning you are to be
satisfied with bread. And you shall know that I am יהוה your Elohim.’ ”
Exo 16:13 And it
came to be that quails came up at evening and covered the camp, and in the morning
the dew lay all around the camp.
Exo 16:14 And the
layer of dew went up, and see, on the surface of the wilderness, was a small
round substance, as fine as frost on the ground.
Exo 16:15 And the
children of Yisra’ĕl saw, and they said to each other, “What is it?” For they
did not know what it was. And Mosheh said to them, “It is the bread which יהוה has given you to eat.
Exo 16:16 “This is
the word which יהוה has commanded:
‘Let every man gather it according to each one’s need, an omer for each being,
according to the number of beings. Let every man take for those who are in his
tent.’ ”
Exo 16:17 And the
children of Yisra’ĕl did so and gathered, some more, some less.
Exo 16:18 And they
measured it by omers, and he who gathered much did not have too much, and he
who gathered little did not have too little. Each one gathered according to his
need.
Exo 16:19 And
Mosheh said, “Let no one leave any of it until morning.”
Exo 16:20 And they
did not listen to Mosheh, so some of them left part of it until morning, and it
bred worms and stank. And Mosheh was wroth with them.
Exo 16:21 And they
gathered it every morning, each one according to his need. And when the sun
became hot, it melted.
Exo 16:22 And it
came to be, on the sixth day, that they gathered twice as much bread, two omers
for each one. And all the rulers of the congregation came and told Mosheh.
Exo 16:23 And he
said to them, “This is what יהוה has said,
‘Tomorrow is a rest, a Sabbath set-apart to יהוה. That which
you bake, bake; and that which you cook, cook. And lay up for yourselves all
that is left over, to keep it until morning.’ ”
Exo 16:24 And they
laid it up till morning, as Mosheh commanded. And it did not stink, and no worm
was in it.
A remnant in the last days will be tested and tested and
tested until they truly hear the voice of YHVH and do what is right in His
Eyes. We will listen to His commands and shall guard all His laws. We shall be
healed of all the diseases He put on the Mitsrites.
This could be the restoration of all things before
Messiah returns.
Baruch atah YHVH, Eloheynu,
Melech ha-‘Olam, asher natan lanu Toraht-emet, v’chay-yeh o’lam nata-b’tochenu.
Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn ha-Torah. Ameyn.”
(Blessed are you Yahweh, our Elohim, King of the
Universe, you have given us your Torah of truth, and have planted everlasting
life within our midst. Blessed are you, YHVH giver of the Torah – Ameyn
Please
note these notes are under construction and are subject to correction and are
in no way a final authority on any subject.