Bar’chu
et YHVH ha-m’vorach, Baruch YHVH ha-m’vorach l’O’lam va-ed!
Baruch
ata YHVHEloheinu melech ha-olam asher bachar banu m’kol ha-amim, v’na-tan lanu
eht Torah-to. Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn ha-Torah. Ameyn.”
(Bless YHVH the blessed One; Blessed is YHVH, the
blessed One for all eternity. 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.
“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.
There are many
teachings and theories about the order and intensity and identity of the 10
plagues that came upon Egypt.
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.
Rev 10:4 And when the seven thunders spoke
their sounds, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from the heaven saying
to me, “Seal up what the seven thunders spoke, and do not write them.
Rev 10:7 but in the days of the sounding of
the seventh messenger, when he is about to sound, the secret of Elohim shall
also be ended, as He declared to His servants the prophets.
Exo 7:15 “Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he
goes out to the water, and you shall stand by the river’s bank to meet him. And
take in your hand the rod which was turned into a serpent.
Exo 7:16 “And you shall say to him, ‘יהוה the Elohim of the Hebrews has sent me to you, saying, “Let My
people go, so that they serve Me in the wilderness,” but see, until now you
have not listened!
Exo 7:17 ‘Thus said יהוה,
“By this you know that I am יהוה. See, I
am striking the waters which are in the river with the rod that is in my hand,
and they shall be turned to blood,
Exo 7:18 and the fish in the river shall die.
And the river shall stink, and the Mitsrites shall find it impossible to drink
the water of the river.” ’ ”
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.
The Nile was central to Egypt’s commercial and cultural
life – can this be compared to today’s world of technology. What would happen
if YHVH caused a major computer crash in the world?
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!”- feminine noun)
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 God, the Almighty”.
Frogs are
used for fertility testing. Is this possibly a reference to the Queen of
Heaven. When the frogs were released in Egypt the birth of an extremely evil
spirit took place.
“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.
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 be gathered 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.
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" (Exodus 8:16).
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).
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 seal judgments are also described in Matthew 24. The first four are mentioned in vv. 1-7; the fifth in vs. 9; and the sixth in vv. 7 and 29.
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
• 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 seal judgments are also described in Matthew 24. The first four are mentioned in vv. 1-7; the fifth in vs. 9; and the sixth in vv. 7 and 29.
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
YHVH will one
day call His Bride from the wilderness - Hos 2:14 “Therefore, see, I am
alluring her, and shall lead her into the wilderness, and shall speak to her
heart,
Hos 2:15
and give to her vineyards from there, and the Valley of Aḵor as a door of
expectation. And there she shall respond as in the days of her youth, as in the
day when she came up from the land of Mitsrayim.
Hos 2:16
“And it shall be, in that day,” declares יהוה,
“that you call Me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer call Me ‘My Ba‛al.’
Hos 2:17
“And I shall remove the names of the Ba‛als from her mouth, and they shall no
more be remembered by their name.
Eze 20:35 “And I shall bring you into the
wilderness of the peoples, and shall enter into judgment with you face to face
there.
Eze 20:36 “As I entered into judgment with
your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Mitsrayim, so I shall enter into
judgment with you,” declares the Master יהוה.
Eze 20:37 “And I shall make you pass under
the rod, and shall bring you into the bond of the covenant,
Eze 20:38 and purge the rebels from among
you, and those who transgress against Me. From the land where they sojourn I
bring them out, but they shall not come into the land of Yisra’ěl. And you
shall know that I am יהוה.
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.)