“What is the significance of the number ten in the Exodus tradition? Why
ten plagues? The number of plagues in
Exodus was meant to correspond to the ten
divine utterances by which the world was created and ordered
(Beresheet/Genesis 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26, 28, 29). The destruction of
Egypt was part of the redemption of Israel, so the Exodus narrator tied his
story of redemption to the story of creation through subtle echoes and word
plays.”
We also see that the entire Torah summed up in
the 10 sayings or “aseret divrot” also referred to as the 10 Commandments.
Summary of end time judgment from Book of Revelation:
• First seal (vv. 1-2) – false peace and security
• Second seal (vv. 3-4) – wars begin and peace is lost
• Third seal (vv. 5-6) – famine breaks out
• Fourth seal (vv. 7-8) – the ultimate result of war and famine, which is death
• Fifth seal (vv. 9-11) – persecution of YHVH's people.
• Sixth seal (vv. 12-17) – a great earthquake along with other celestial upheavals.
The breaking of the seventh seal occurs in Revelation 8 and marks the second wave of judgments, the trumpet judgments: "When the Lamb opens the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Then I saw the seven messengers who stand before YHVH, and seven trumpets were given to them. … Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them" (Revelation 8:1-2, 6).
The first six trumpets are comprised of the following judgments:
• First trumpet (vs. 7) – one third of earth, trees, grass is burned up
• Second trumpet (vv. 8-9) – one third of the sea creatures die and ships are destroyed
• Third trumpet (vv. 10-11) – one third of the waters polluted and many die
• Fourth trumpet (vs. 12) – one third of the sun, moon, and stars are darkened
• Fifth trumpet (vv. 9:1-11) – Locusts/demons are released to torment people
• Sixth trumpet (vv. 9:13-19) – Four bound demons are released to kill one third of humankind with an army
The sounding of the seventh trumpet ushers in the last and final series of judgments, the bowl judgments: "Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing, seven messengers with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of YHVH is finished. … And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven messengers seven golden bowls full of the wrath of YHVH who lives forever and ever" (Revelation 15:1, 7).
Whereas many of the trumpet judgments affect one third of their target, the bowl judgments are more comprehensive in their effect:
• First bowl (vs. 16:2) - Horrible sores on those with the mark of the beast
• Second bowl (vs. 16:3) - Everything in the sea dies – turn into blood.
• Third bowl (vv. 16:4-7) - All the waters are polluted – turned into blood.
• Fourth bowl (vv. 16:8-9) – The sun burns and scorches people
• Fifth bowl (vv. 16:10-11) – Brings complete darkness over the earth
• Sixth bowl (vv. 16:12-16) – Unclean spirits like as frogs - The Euphrates dries up ; the kings of the East come, and the scene is set for the battle of Armageddon
• Seventh bowl (vv. 16:17-21) – Produces a great earthquake; cities of nations fall; a huge hailstorm occurs
To understand the
context of this portion and end time events, it is important to understand that
there has always been a deep desire within the hearts of a remnant to return to
the land of Yisrael, but there have always been huge obstacles motivated by
demonic forces preventing such a return. It is no different in our day.
The “bowl” judgments
are possibly those that take place within the last three and a half year of the
final seven year judgment coming at the end of this age, that will finally
break the demonic strongholds preventing the return of the remnant.
Dan 12:4 “But you, Dani’ĕl, hide the words, and seal
the book until the time of the end1. Many shall diligently search
and knowledge shall increase.” Footnote: 1See v. 9.
Dan 12:9 And he said, “Go, Dani’ĕl, for the words are
hidden and sealed till the time of the end1. Footnote: 1See
v. 4
Dan12:10 ….. but those
who have insight shall understand.
Rom 9:17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this
same purpose I have raised you up, to show My power in you, and that My Name be
declared in all the earth.” – Shemot 9:16
It all has to
do with a remnant that is going to return to the land of Yisrael.
Rev 22:14 “Blessed are those1 doing His
commands,2 so that the authority shall be theirs unto the tree of
life, and to enter through the gates into the city.
Torah Portion:
Exo 7:19 And יהוה spoke to
Mosheh, “Say to Aharon, ‘Take your rod and stretch out your hand over the
waters of Mitsrayim, over their streams, over their rivers, over their ponds,
and over all their pools of water, that they become blood. And there shall be
blood in all the land of Mitsrayim, both in wooden and in stone containers.’
”
Exo 7:20 And
Mosheh and Aharon did so, as יהוה commanded. And
he lifted up the rod and struck the waters that were in the river, in the eyes
of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants. And all the waters that were in the
river were turned to blood.
Exo 7:21 And the
fish that were in the river died, and the river stank, and the Mitsrites were
unable to drink the water of the river. And the blood was in all the land of
Mitsrayim.
Exo 7:22 And the
magicians of Mitsrayim did the same with their magic. And the heart of Pharaoh
was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as יהוה had said.
Exo 7:23 And
Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and his heart was not moved by this
either.
Exo 7:24 And all
the Mitsrites dug all around the river for water to drink, for they were unable
to drink the water of the river.
Exo 7:25 And seven
days were completed after יהוה had struck the
river.
Perhaps these 7 days are prophetic of the last seven
years of this age. These years will witness the death – shedding of blood of
billions of people on earth.
Isa 13:9 See, the day of יהוה is coming,
fierce, with wrath and heat of displeasure, to lay the earth waste, and destroy
its sinners from it.
Isa 13:10 For the
stars of the heavens and their constellations do not give off their light. The
sun shall be dark at its rising, and the moon not send out its light.
Isa 13:11 “And I
shall punish the world for its evil, and the wrong for their crookedness, and
shall put an end to the arrogance of the proud, and lay low the pride of the
ruthless.
Isa 13:12 “I shall
make mortal man scarcer than fine gold, and mankind scarcer than the
gold of Ophir.
Isa 13:13 “So I
shall make the heavens tremble, and the earth shall shake from her place, in
the wrath of יהוה of hosts and
in the day of the heat of His displeasure.
Isa 24:1 See, יהוה is making the
earth empty and making it waste, and shall overturn its surface, and shall
scatter abroad its inhabitants.
Isa 24:2 And it
shall be – as with the people so with the priest, as with the servant so with
his master, as with the female servant so with her mistress, as with the buyer
so with the seller, as with the lender so with the borrower, as with the
creditor so with the debtor;
Isa 24:3 the earth
is completely emptied and utterly plundered, for יהוה has spoken
this word.
Isa 24:4 The earth
shall mourn and wither, the world shall languish and wither, the haughty people
of the earth shall languish.
Isa 24:5 For the
earth has been defiled under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed
the Torot1, changed2 the law, broken the everlasting
covenant3. Footnotes: 1Torot - plural of Torah, teaching.
2Jer. 23:36. 3This is the only reason, according to all
Scriptures, why the earth shall be burned in the day of judgment – see also
13:9, 13:11, 26:21, 66:24, Mic. 5:15, Zeph. 1:2-18.
Isa 24:6 Therefore
a curse shall consume the earth, and those who dwell in it be punished.
Therefore the inhabitants of the earth shall be burned, and few men shall be
left.
When the power of evil is finally broken, the remnant
will return one by one.
Isa 27:12 And in that day it shall be that יהוה threshes, from
the channel of the River to the wadi of Mitsrayim. And you shall be gathered
one by one1, O children of Yisra’ĕl. Footnote: 1Jer.
3:14-15.
Jer 3:14 “Return, O backsliding children,” declares יהוה, “for I shall
rule over you, and shall take you, one from a city and two from a clan1,
and shall bring you to Tsiyon. Footnote: 1See Isa. 27:12.
Jer 3:15 “And I
shall give you shepherds according to My heart, and they shall feed you with
knowledge and understanding.
Exo 8:1 And יהוה spoke to
Mosheh, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus said יהוה, “Let My
people go, so that they serve Me.
Exo 8:2 “But if
you refuse to let them go, see, I am smiting all your border with frogs.
Exo 8:3 “And the
river shall swarm with frogs, which shall go up and shall come into your house,
and into your bedroom, and on your bed, and into the houses of your servants,
and on your people, and into your ovens, and into your kneading bowls,
Exo 8:4 and the
frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your servants.” ’ ”
Exo 8:5 And יהוה said to Mosheh, “Say to Aharon, ‘Stretch
out your hand with your rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the
ponds, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Mitsrayim.’ ”
Exo 8:6 So Aharon
stretched out his hand over the waters of Mitsrayim, and the frogs came up, and
covered the land of Mitsrayim.
The Hebrew word here for frog is in the singular – “The
Frog!”
In Revelation
16:13-14 we read about a force that will cover the face of the Earth. It says,
“And I saw
coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and
out of the
mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs; for they are
spirits of
demons,
performing signs, which go out to the kings of the world, to gather them
together
for the war
of the great day of Elohim, the Almighty”.
Perhaps these
demonic spirits are compared to frogs as their power will cover the Earth as
the frogs of Mitzrayim covered the land.
“A frog test for human pregnancy, introduced by Lancelot Hogben, which still was used in the 1950s and allowed the frog to remain alive and be used repeatedly: a female frog was injected with serum or urine of the female patient; if the frog produced eggs within the next 24 hours, the pregnancy test was positive. This was called the Bufo test, named after the toad genus Bufo, which was originally used for the test. Other species of toads and frogs have been used later on.” Wikipedia.
Exo 8:7 And the
magicians did so with their magic, and brought up frogs on the land of
Mitsrayim.
Exo 8:8 Pharaoh
then called for Mosheh and Aharon, and said, “Pray to יהוה to take away the frogs from me and from my
people, and I shall let the people go to slaughter to יהוה.”
Exo 8:9 And Mosheh
said to Pharaoh, “Explain yourself to me: When am I to pray for you, and for
your servants, and for your people, to destroy the frogs from you and your
houses, and remain only in the river?”
Exo 8:10 So he
said, “Tomorrow.” And he said, “Let it be according to your word, so that you
know that there is no one like יהוה our Elohim.
Exo 8:11 “And the
frogs shall turn aside from you, and from your houses, and from your servants,
and from your people – they shall remain in the river only.”
Exo 8:12 And
Mosheh and Aharon went out from Pharaoh. And Mosheh cried out to יהוה concerning the frogs which He had brought
against Pharaoh.
Exo 8:13 And יהוה did according to the word of Mosheh. And
the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courtyards, and out of the fields.
Exo 8:14 And they
gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank.
Exo 8:15 And when
Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not listen to
them, as יהוה had said.
This sign
calls for great discernment. Is this sign relevant to believers – to Yisrael -
in our day?
“Ancient
Egypt was the spiritual and cultural cesspool of the world. Promiscuity,
adultery, and sexual perversion were the norm. When our Sages write that no
foreign nation in Egypt ever escaped from the land, they mean it in a spiritual
sense, as well as the physical. The clutches of temptation and sin were so
powerful that no people, in the natural course of events, could shake off the
shackles of lust that marked Egyptian life.
The Hebrews
were no exception. After 200 years dwelling in such a polluted, immoral
environment, they plummeted to the 49th degree of impurity and would
have been immediately destroyed if YHVH had not miraculously interfered and
rescued them with the utmost haste, speeding their exodus from the land.
Once again, we see that the
commitment to distance oneself from sexual transgression was one of the keys to
redemption from “Egypt.” This separation from sexual and spiritual immorality is the essence of
the Hebrew identity, "a nation of priests and a set apart nation."
Only those who are disgusted with the sordidness and pollution of ‘Egyptian
culture” are potentially able to escape
the chains of its bondage”.
"He sent divers sorts of flies among them, which devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them" (Psalm 78:45)
The word "destroyed" is translated from the Hebrew word shachath, which means, "to destroy, corrupt, ruin, decay", and, in many verses, this word has the connotation of "moral decay", "loss of integrity", or "degradation in righteousness", as is the case in the following verse:
"Exo 32:7
And יהוה said to Mosheh, “Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of
the land of Mitsrayim have corrupted themselves. "
“[The word "corrupted" was translated from the Hebrew word shachath. This verse speaks of how the Israelites corrupted themselves by fashioning a golden calf, after which they indulged in carnal excesses. As we have said before, people-pleasing Canaanite pastors like to fashion "golden calf gods" to the liking of their audiences.]
The connection between
"frogs" and Canaanite mental impurity is further reinforced by the
fact that frogs are very unclean animals that harbour many harmful bacteria in
their bodies. Canaanites are very comfortable with spiritual impurity, (Sunday
worship etc) which means that unrighteousness "bacteria" can live
comfortably and unchallenged in a Canaanite atmosphere. Canaanites ban judgments, (and Torah instruction) which allows
spiritual unrighteousness to thrive and flourish.” Italics mine the rest a
quote from http://shamah-elim.info/p_frogs.htm
- Frogs in the church – Patricia Alleyn.
Torah has and always will be our marriage
covenant with YHVH in Yahshua. All and every attempt to alter or do away with
this contract will lead to all diverse kinds of sexual immorality and
perversion – both physical and spiritual.
Even though Israel broke its marriage
covenant with YHVH – in the last days He will renew His covenant and place the
Torah (marriage covenant) in our hearts.
Jer 31:31 “See, the days are coming,” declares יהוה, “when I shall
make a new covenant with the house of Yisra’ĕl and with the house of Yehuḏah1,
Footnote: 1See Heb. 8:8-12, Heb. 10:16-17.
Jer 31:32 not like
the covenant I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand
to bring them out of the land of Mitsrayim, My covenant which they broke,
though I was a husband to them,” declares יהוה.
I believe judgment on
sexual dysfunction will come upon believers because many have allowed western
culture and the spirit of feminism and romanticism to obscure the truth and
blessing of what the Word teaches about human sexuality – see Song of Songs. So
something beautiful has been defiled by religious bigotry and ignorance of
Torah.
Exo 8:16 And יהוה said to Mosheh, “Say to Aharon, ‘Stretch
out your rod, and strike the dust of the land, so that it becomes gnats in all
the land of Mitsrayim.’ ”
Exo 8:17 And they did so, and Aharon stretched out his
hand with his rod and struck the dust of the earth, and it became gnats on man
and beast. All the dust of the land became gnats in all the land of Mitsrayim.
Exo 8:18 And the magicians did similarly with their
magic to bring forth gnats, but they were unable. And there were gnats on man
and beast.
Exo 8:19
The magicians then said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of Elohim!” But
the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as יהוה had said.
Now
for the Egyptians, matters were getting out of control.
Flies feed and breed on rotting
flesh, faeces and other unclean substances. Flies and other insects are the
chief diet of frogs.
It is impossible to determine what particular
troublesome insect pest of Egypt is meant by the 3rd plague, whether body-lice
or mosquitoes or sand flies or ticks or fleas (kinnim, "gnats"
Whatever these were it seems that they could
be connected to the frogs. This impure “frog spirit” was now replaced by
millions of insects (demon spirits) which were feeding on the rotten frog flesh
and so these demonic spirits were able to continue plaguing and oppressing the
inhabitants of Egypt (including Israelites).
It’s almost as if millions of demons of
impurity will be released in the last days because many refused to embrace the
sexual instruction of the Torah explained, not contradicted in the second
writings. The scriptures uphold the patriarchal model for righteous family
life. Today this is demonized and virtually non existant.
I believe that we have an opportunity in
these days to return to the Torah and to YHVH’s way of functioning sexually. I
believe we can be spared of the coming judgments.
Act 3:19 “Repent therefore and turn back, for the
blotting out of your sins, in order that times of refreshing might come from
the presence of the Master,
Act 3:20 and that He sends יהושע Messiah,
pre-appointed for you,
Act 3:21 whom
heaven needs to receive until the times of restoration of all matters,
of which Elohim spoke through the mouth of all His set-apart prophets since of
old.
Rev 3:7 “And to the messenger of the assembly in
Philadelphia write, ‘He who is set-apart, He who is true, He who has the key of
Dawiḏ, He who opens and no
one shuts, and shuts and no one opens, says this:
Rev 3:8 “I
know your works – see, I have set before you an open door, and no one is able
to shut it – that you have little power, yet have guarded My Word, and have not
denied My Name.
Rev 3:9
“See, I am giving up those of the congregation of Satan, who say they
are Yehuḏim and are not, but
lie. See, I am making them come and worship before your feet, and to know that
I have loved you.
Rev 3:10
“Because you have guarded My Word of endurance, I also shall guard you
from the hour of trial which shall come upon all the world, to try those who
dwell on the earth.
Rev 3:11
“See, I am coming speedily! Hold what you have that no one take your
crown.