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.
This Torah
portion reminds us about the ‘’greater exodus’’- May our names (‘’shemot’’) be
amongst those inscribed in His Mighty Hand of deliverance.
Jer 16:14 “Therefore see, the days are coming,” declares יהוה, “when it is no longer said, ‘יהוה lives who brought up the children of Yisra’ěl from the land of Mitsrayim,’ Jer 16:15 but, ‘יהוה lives who brought up the children of Yisra’ěl from the land of the north and from all the lands where He had driven them.’ For I shall bring them back into their land I gave to their fathers. Jer 16:16 “See, I am sending for many fishermen,” declares יהוה, “and they shall fish them. And after that I shall send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks. Jer 16:17 “For My eyes are on all their ways; they have not been hidden from My face, nor has their crookedness been hidden from My eyes. Jer 16:18 “And first I shall repay double for their crookedness and their sin, because they have defiled My land with the dead bodies of their disgusting matters, and have filled My inheritance with their abominations.” Jer 16:19 O יהוה, my strength and my stronghold and my refuge, in the day of distress the nations shall come to You from the ends of the earth and say, “Our fathers have inherited only falsehood, futility, and there is no value in them.”a Footnote: aSee also Psa_147:19, Isa_2:3, Isa_60:2-3, Joh_4:22, Rom_2:20, Rom_3:2 and Rom_9:4.
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 one,[a] O children of Yisra’ěl. Footnote: a Jer_3:14-15.
“In her penetrating
analysis, Professor Leibowitz asks: What was the reason for the people’s exile
to Egypt? Citing the normative Jewish understanding of evil, Professor
Leibowitz states, “Like all other calamities that have overtaken us, this exile
too was a punishment for sin.”
What was the
particular sin of the Hebrew people in this case? Their desire to assimilate.
As proof of the people’s massive assimilation, Professor Leibowitz notes that
when the children of Jacob first entered Egypt, they declared to Pharaoh
(Genesis 47:4) that they intended to stay in Egypt only temporarily, לגור בארץ באנו “La’goor ba’ah’retz bah’noo.”
Eventually, however, Genesis 47:27 reports “ וישׁב ישׂראל בארץ מצרים בארץ גשׁן ויאחזו בה that not only did the sons of Jacob settle in Egypt, they took permanent
foothold in Egypt! (Heb niphal verb “achaz” – to be caught and captured and
then assimilating into a foreign culture)
Furthermore, the
Midrash Rabba on the verse (Exodus 1:8), “Now a new king arose,” notes,This
teaches you, that when Joseph died, they [the Hebrews in Egypt] abrogated the
rite of circumcision. They said, “Let us be like the Egyptians.” Because they
did so, the Holy One, blessed be He, turned the love that the Egyptians bore
them, into hatred…
The Midrash Yalkut
Shimoni also confirms that the Hebrews of Egypt were entirely assimilated. On
the verse (Exodus 1:7),”And the land was filled with them,” the Yalkut Shimoni
explains that the amphitheaters and circuses of Egypt were filled with Hebrews.
(Much like Hollywood)
The Ha’amek Davar
points out cogently that, originally, Yoseph had arranged for the Jewish people
to reside in an exclusive ghetto area in the land of Goshen. The fact that
during the tenth plague, the Almighty had to pass over the homes of the Hebrews
that had the mark of the blood on the door, indicates that the Hebrews had
forsaken Goshen, and were now entirely dispersed, living in Egyptian neighbourhoods
into which they had assimilated. Says the Ha’amek Davar, “the Israelites were
punished for violating Jacob’s wish that they should live apart from the
Egyptians in Goshen. The Midrash relates that they wished to be like the
Egyptians. As a result of intermingling with them, they preferred to imitate
them, and not be different. This is the reason why we [Hebrews] suffer
persecution in every age, because we do not desire to keep apart from the
nations.”
Nehama Leibowitz
points out a keen difference between the approach of the Midrash and the
approach of the Ha’amek Davar. According to the Midrash, the punishment that
the Israelites experienced emanated directly from Heaven. G-d turned the love
with which the Egyptians bore them into hatred. The Ha’amek Davar, who sees the
punishment as a natural consequence of the people’s desire to assimilate,
insists that the Hebrews brought the hardships upon themselves. The non-Hebrew
nations particularly resent the Hebrew minority invading their economic and
cultural life.
Professor Leibowitz
refers to a number of Midrashim that regard the sufferings and the exiles of
the Jewish people, not as punishment, but as a source of inspiration, one that
serves a vital educational purpose. Citing the verse in Proverbs 13:24, “Spare
the rod and spoil the child,” the Midrash in Shemot Rabba claims
that whoever spares his son corrective punishment, drives him to delinquency
and hates him. The fact that Absalom fell into evil ways is attributed to the
fact that his father, King David, failed to correct him. Declares Professor
Leibowitz, “Exile and suffering are here invested with the refining and
purificatory character.” End quote.
ואלה שׁמות- and these are the names
Exo 1:1 And
these are the names of the children of Yisra’ĕl who came to Mitsrayim with
Yaʽaqoḇ, 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 Yaʽaqoḇ 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 certain pattern. He calls and prepares a leader or visionary;
this leader lays down his life for this cause and for the people, YHVH calls for
Himself.
The pattern seems to repeat itself; 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.
The same words used to
introduce this parasha are also used in Mat 10:2 And these are the names of the
twelve emissaries……(‘’ve ele
shemot’’)
“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.
Five Major
Discourses or Sermons in Matthew correspond to the five books of Torah.
1. The Sermon on
the Mount (5:1‑7:28) – Beresheet/ Genesis – Foundational teachings of the
Messianic faith.
2. The Messengers
Discourse (10:1‑42)-Mat 10:2 ואלה שמות The same two words are
used in the opening chapter of Exodus – ve ele shemot – “these are the names”
3. The Parable
Discourse (13:1‑53) – Parables of the Kingdom of YHVH.
This sermon
compares to the third book of the Torah – ‘’Vayikra’’ – “and he called” – a
Kingdom of Priests. YHVH still establishes His Kingdom with a called out
priesthood. Exo 19:6
‘and you shall be to Me a reign of priests and a set-apart nation.
4. The Community or
Pilgrimage Discourse (Mat 17:22‑18:35) – Book of Bmidbar/Numbers – instruction
about Messianic life in the wilderness of this current world. 1 Pet 2:9
5. The Apocalyptic
Discourse (24:1‑25:46) – ‘’Devarim’’ the goal of our redemption – returning to
the land and the eternal establishing of the covenant. Jer 31:31-34
Exo 1:6 And Yosĕph died, and all his brothers, and
all that generation.
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 (‘’ נתחכמה'' deceive)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.”
The book of Yasher
gives some very interesting details about how powerful Yisrael had become and
how they conquered armies who vastly outnumbered them. So they devised a scheme
to enslave them. See chapters 65-80 also an interesting prophecy in Jasher Chapter
68 1. And it was at that time the spirit of God was upon Miriam the daughter of
Amram the sister of Aaron, and she went forth and prophesied about the house,
saying, Behold a son will be born unto us from my father and mother this time,
and he will save Israel from the hands of Egypt.
Deu
18:18 I shall raise up for them a Prophet[c] like you out of the midst of their brothers. And I shall put My Words
in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. Footnote: cSee
also Act_3:22-26, and Act_7:37.
Act 3:22 “For Mosheh truly said to
the fathers, ‘יהוה your Elohim shall raise
up for you a Prophet like me from your brothers. Him you shall hear according
to all matters, whatever He says to you. Act 3:23 ‘And it shall be
that every being who does not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from
among the people.’ Deu_18:15-19.
Act 3:24 “And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Shemu’ěl and those following, have also announced these days.
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 Raʽamses.
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 Puʽah,
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.
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,
Exo 2:6 and opened it and saw the child, and see, the
baby 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?”
Exo 2:8 And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” And
the 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.
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.”
Exo 2:11 And in those days it came to be, when Mosheh was grown, that he went out to his brothers and looked at their burdens. And he saw a Mitsrite beating a Heḇrew, one of his brothers.