HaKadosh Baruch Hu, (‘’The Set Apart One Blessed is He’’) Creator of the universe, whose blessings have fallen upon all mankind through Moshiach Ben David – The Tree of Life – who established the root and fruit of Your Torah on earth through which all the families of the earth are blessed.
Please, YHVH, our Elohim, sweeten the words of Your Torah in
our hearts and in the hearts of Your people, the family of Israel. May we and
our offspring and the offspring of Your people, the house of Jacob – and all
Jacob’s extended family – know Your Name and study Your Torah, for the sake of
the Torah- empowering us to sincerely love one another and to love You above
all. Please uncover our eyes and open our hearts that we may carefully examine
and understand the marvels and mysteries of Your Torah- Amein.
וילך
אישׁ - ‘’Va yilech ish’’- "And a man
went" carries immense, distinct messianic significance. The text
deliberately refuses to name Amram and Yochebed (Moses' parents) here, even
though they are named later in Exodus 6:20.
The Scribe's Intent: By starting the Torah portion
with an anonymous "man" (ish), the narrative emphasizes
that the impending redemption of Israel did not begin with flashy,
world-renowned heroes. It began with an ordinary, nameless family acting
faithfully under severe persecution.
The famous commentator Baal HaTurim notes a brilliant
linguistic connection that justified making these two words the head of a new
weekly cycle - The exact phrase "Vayeilech ish" (וַיֵּלֶךְ אִישׁ) occurs prominently in only two places in the
entire Hebrew Scripture:
- Exodus
2:1: "And a man went... [and Moses was born]."
- Ruth
1:1: "And a certain man went... [from Bethlehem, leading to
the birth of David-]
The Rabbinic Insight: The scribes recognized that
both times this precise phrase opens a narrative, a redeemer of Israel is
born. In Exodus, it leads to Moses (the First Redeemer); in Ruth, it leads
to King David and ultimately Mashiach ben David (the Final Redeemer). The
portion is structured to highlight the pattern of how YHVH reveals His
redemption.
The birth narrative of Moses in Exodus 2:1–10 serves
as one of the most profound prophetic blueprints (typology) for the
birth of Yahshua in the New Testament. Matthew’s Writings, in particular,
deliberately structures the birth of Yahshua to mirror Moses, establishing Yahshua
as the "Prophet like Moses" promised in Deuteronomy 18:15.
The Decrees of the Wicked Kings: Both births take place under the shadow of a
tyrannical rulers who fears a threat to their thrones and orders the systematic
slaughter of male infants.
Moses: Pharaoh orders all newborn Hebrew boys to be
thrown into the Nile River (Exodus 1:22).
Yahshua: King Herod orders the execution of all male
children two years old and under in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:16)
Both children find physical safety and refuge in Egypt.
Both figures grow up with a dual identity, bridging the gap
between royalty and the common people.
Moses: He is a Hebrew slave by birth but is adopted
into royalty, growing up as a prince of Egypt.
Yahshua: He is the true King of Kings and Son of YHVH,
yet He humbles Himself to be "adopted" by a carpenter, growing up
anonymously in the despised town of Nazareth.
Destined to be Redeemers - The ultimate parallel of YHVH’s
calling is given to both infants before they are even aware of it.
Moses: Born to break the physical chains of Egypt and
lead Israel through the wilderness to the Promised Land.
Yahshua: Born to break the spiritual chains of sin
and death, leading all who believe in Him into the ultimate, eternal Promised
Land.
Miriam (Moses' sister) and Mary (Yeshua's mother)
share the exact same Hebrew name (Miryam) and prophetic roles.
in Exodus 2:1, the text immediately shifts to the actions of
the family. The presence of Miryam guarding the infant Moses is the
Torah’s way of signalling that when YHVH’s prepares to redeem His people from
"Egypt," He first prepares a righteous woman named Miryam to
watch over, protect, and sing about the victory of that redemption.
Exo 2:1 And a man (וילך אישׁ) of the house of Lěwi
went and married a daughter of Lěwi.
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 (teivah) of wicker (woven basket) 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.
A teivah has no rudder, no oars, no sails, and
no steering wheel. It is essentially a secure, enclosed chest designed
simply to float - By placing Noah and baby Moses into a teivah, the text
emphasizes that YHVH alone is the captain and navigator.
Exo 2:5 And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to
wash herself at the river, and her young women were walking by the riverside.
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 Hebrews.”
Exo 2:7 And his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter,
“Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women to nurse the child
for you?”
Exo 2:8 And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.”
And the young womana went and called the child’s mother. Footnote: aSee
Explanatory Notes: Maiden – Heb ‘’alma’’
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.
The Midrash
classifies Bithiah as a Tzadeket (a righteous woman). Leviticus Rabbah
1:3 states that YHVH renamed her Bithiah because she took Moses in as her son,
so YHVH took her in as His daughter. Midrashic sources view her not as a simple
pagan, but as a woman who rejected her father’s idolatry and converted to the
worship of the Elohim of Israel.
Another famous Midrash (Exodus Rabbah 5:9) states that when YHVH spoke at Sinai, His voice split into 70 distinct languages so that every nation on earth could understand the invitation to covenant with Him.
Moses Flees to Midian
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 Mitsrian striking a Hebrew, one of his brothers.
Exo 2:12 So he turned this way and that way, and
when he saw no one, he struck the Mitsrian and hid him in the sand.
Exo 2:13 And he went out the second day and saw two
Hebrew men fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, “Why do you
strike your neighbour?”
Exo 2:14 And he said, “Who made you a head and a
judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Mitsrian?” And Mosheh
feared and said, “Truly, the matter is known!”
Exo 2:15 And Pharaoh heard of this matter, and he
sought to kill Mosheh. But Mosheh fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in
the land of Miḏyan. And
he sat down by a well.
Exo 2:16 And the priest of Miḏyan had seven daughters. And
they came and drew water, and they filled the troughs to water their father’s
flock,
Exo 2:17 but the shepherds came and drove them
away. Then Mosheh stood up and came to their rescue, and watered their
flock.
Exo 2:19 And they said, “A Mitsrian rescued us from
the hand of the shepherds, and he also drew enough water for us and watered the
flock.”
Exo 2:20 And he said to his daughters, “And where
is he? Why did you leave the man? Call him and let him eat bread.”
Exo 2:21 And Mosheh agreed to dwell with the man,
and he gave Tsipporah his daughter to Mosheh.
Exo 2:22 And she bore him a son, and he called his
name Gěreshom, for he said, “I have become a sojourner in a foreign
land.”
God Hears Israel's Groaning
Exo 2:23 And it came to be after these many days
that the sovereign of Mitsrayim died. And the children of Yisra’ěl groaned
because of the slavery, and they cried out. And their cry came up to Elohim
because of the slavery.
Exo 2:24 And Elohim heard their groaning, and
Elohim remembered His covenant with Aḇraham,
with Yitsḥaq, and with
Ya‛aqoḇ.
Exo 2:25 And Elohim looked on the children of
Yisra’ěl, and Elohim knew!
YHVH didn't just look down and consider their dilemma. He
entered into their condition, feeling their agony from the inside - He knew
their physical exhaustion, the trauma of infanticide, and their broken spirits –
as He will know again His compassion on our condition in the last days.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz81dIfwf4Y
‘’Recently I heard a messianic scholar comment on Jn
16:7-12 – he believed that this passage of scripture has been misunderstood by
many believers – he said in vs 8 the Greek word elegchō was used and could carry the meaning
of ‘’confute’’ – ‘’to prove a person, an argument, or a theory to be
wrong, invalid, or false using evidence or logic’’ he states that this is
possibly what Jesus meant when he said that it would be good if he goes away,
because then the Holy Spirit could ‘’confute’’ that the world had a wrong
perception of sin. He said religion had compiled its own definitions of what
sin righteousness and judgment – but it was not in line with understanding
about what God said about these issues. He went on to say that this error has
persisted since the Holy Spirit was given and claimed that it would require a
very strong shaking for the world to come to the correct understanding because
it was evident by examining the spiritual condition of the church that this
work of the Holy Spirit had been ignored – he went on to quote Is 6 which
basically said that this issue would become clear in the last days – referring to
Is 6:11-13. He based his argument on the fact that believers had separated the
scriptures into old and new covenant contrary to the teaching of scripture and
then went on to give examples of how these issues were misrepresented – are there
any other scholars who share a similar conviction?’’
·
In Isaiah 6, the prophet is told that the people
will look but not see and listen but not understand. Isaiah asks, "Lord,
how long?" (v. 11). God responds that this spiritual blindness will
remain until the cities are laid waste, the land is utterly desolate, and a
great shaking leaves only a "tenth" remaining as a holy seed (v.
11–13).
·
Prophecy Scholars (e.g., Dr. Arnold
Fruchtenbaum of Ariel Ministries): Fruchtenbaum, a towering figure in
Messianic eschatology, heavily details the "blindness of Israel" and
the parallel "blindness of the Gentile church" in the latter days.
He, along with other futurist scholars, notes that the book of Revelation
describes a global, severe shaking precisely designed to strip away religious
self-righteousness. It is only when man-made religious systems are physically
and spiritually shaken to their core that the remnant of Israel and the nations
will finally yield to the Holy Spirit's definition of truth.
The scholar you listened to is synthesizing a robust,
macro-theology that is highly prevalent in Hebrew Roots and Messianic academic
circles today. He is essentially stating that human religion built a
counterfeit house of morality, and the Holy Spirit’s primary, uncomfortable
job since Pentecost has been to systematically confute, evict, and tear down
that house so that the true, uncompromised Kingdom of God can be
established.
This indicates that the set-apart, spiritually wakeful
remnant at the end of the age is vastly smaller, narrower, and more intensely
purified than most mainstream religious institutions realize.
This matches the scholar's comment you heard
regarding John 16. The global religious "tree" (the visible,
institutional church and corporate religious structures) will be chopped down
because its definitions of sin, righteousness, and judgment are counterfeit.
·
Zechariah 13:8–9: Zechariah outlines this
exact same mathematical reduction. He notes that in the final judgment,
two-thirds of the land will be cut off and die. Then, God takes the remaining one-third
and brings them through the fire, refining them like silver and testing
them like gold.
·
The Teachings of Yeshua: Yeshua constantly warned that the remnant would be shocking in its
smallness. In Matthew 7:14, He explicitly warns: "Because
narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there
are few who find it." In Luke 18:8, He poses a haunting question that fits this exact
context: "When
the Son of Man comes, will
He really find faith on the earth?"
Summary for your 42-Month Cycle
As you sit with your current Seder starting at Exodus 2:1 (Vayeilech
ish), this ultra-narrow remnant theme beautifully loops back to the
very beginning of the Moses story.
When Pharaoh's decree went out to drown an entire generation of Hebrew
boys, the "visible tree" of Israel looked utterly doomed. God did not
launch a massive, loud army to stop Pharaoh. Instead, the entire future of the
covenant was narrowed down to one anonymous couple, one brave sister, and
one tiny baby hidden in a papyrus basket. God’s deliverance always
starts in the hidden, small, twice-refined "stump" of human history.
End of conversation with AI.
So, then we may ask why have believers missed the meaning of this text
in Jn 16?
This is where the challenge comes in. If you speak to someone who has
been conditioned by the religious systems of this world about their perception
of sin, righteousness and judgment, they will be angry with you, sometimes very
angry, ‘’sometimes they may even kill you’’ – as they did the Messiah, his
disciples and the ancient prophets and even many precious saints throughout
history who dared to challenge the religious teachings of the church. Most
believers resist the Set Apart Spirit because it exposes the false foundations
that religious people have created and have built their entire lives upon.
2Co 11:3 But I am afraid, lest, as the
serpent deceived Ḥawwah by his trickery, so your minds should be
corrupted from the simplicity that is in Messiah. 2Co 11:4 For, indeed, if he who is coming
proclaims another יהושע,a whom we have not proclaimed, or if you receive a different
spirit which you have not received, or a different Good News which you have not
accepted, you put up with it well enough! Footnote: a Mat_24:5 and Mat_24:23-24,
Jhn_5:43.
Moses gave mankind the blueprint for our spiritual
journey on earth – Yahshua followed that same blueprint – we are called to do
the same.
Rom
3:11 “There is no one who is understanding, there is none who is
seeking Elohim.
Rom
3:12 “They all have turned aside, they have together become worthless.
There is none who does good, no, not one.” Psa_14:1-3, Psa_53:1-4.
The word Torah (תּוֹרָה) literally means "instruction," "teaching," or "guidance."
While it is frequently translated into English as
"Law," the original Hebrew meaning is much closer to a parent guiding
a child rather than a rigid legal code
Joh 16:8 “And having come, He shall convicta the
world concerning sin,b and concerning righteousness, and concerning judgment –
Footnotes: aOr confute or prove wrong. b 2Ch_24:20, Neh_9:30,
Ezk_36:27, Mic_3:8, Act_28:25-27.
Joh 16:9 concerning sin because they do not
believe in Me, (if you believed Moses
Joh 16:10 concerning righteousness because I go
to My Father and you see Me no more,
Joh 16:11 concerning judgment because the ruler
of this world is judged.
Joh 16:12 “I still have many words to say to
you, but you are not able to bear them now.
Joh
5:46 “For if you believed Mosheh, you would have believed Me, since he
wrote about Me.
Joh
5:47 “But if you do not believe his writings,c how shall you believe My
words?” Footnote: c Luk_16:31.
Deu
18:19 And it shall be, the man who does not listen to My Words which He
speaks in My Name, I require it of him.
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.
1Jn
2:4 The one who says, “I know Him,” and does not guard His commands, is a
liar, and the truth is not in him.
1Jn
2:5 But whoever guards His Word, truly the love of Elohim has been
perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.
Joh 3:36 “He who believes in the Son possesses everlasting life, but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of Elohim remains on him.”
·
The Connection to Torah: In this view,
walking in disobedience is walking away from YHVH's instructions (Torah).
·
The Return (Teshuvah): The Hebrew
concept of repentance is Teshuvah, which literally means "to
return" to the path. Scholars like Dr. Brad Young or David Stern
emphasize that a person remains trapped under the consequences of the broken
Covenant (wrath) unless and until YHVH breaks their hard heart and
enables them to turn back to Him
Rom
11:26 And so all Yisra’ěl shall be saved, as it has been written, “The
Deliverer shall come out of Tsiyon, and He shall turn away wickedness from
Ya‛aqoḇ,
Rom
11:27 and this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.”
Isa_59:20-21.
Rom
11:30 For as you also at one time disobeyed Elohim, but now have obtained
compassion through their disobedience, Rom 11:31 so also these have
now disobeyed, that through the compassion shown you they also might obtain
compassion.
Rom
11:32 For Elohim has shut them all up to disobedience, in order to have
compassion on all.
Rom
11:33 Oh, the depth of riches, and wisdom and knowledge of Elohim! How
unsearchable His judgments and untraceable His ways!
Rom
11:34 “For who has known the mind of יהוה? Or who has become His counsellor?” Isa_40:13.
Rom
11:35 “Or who first gave to Him, and it shall be given back to him?”
Job_35:7, Job_41:11.
Rom
11:36 Because of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all, to whom be
esteem forever. Aměn.
Psa
139:8 If I go up into the heavens, You are there; If I make my bed in
She’ol, see, You are there.
Before the end of this age YHVH will send 144 000 helpers to help us to the finish line:
The most explicit scriptural link between these two
groups involves a specific song sung in heaven - Rev 14:3 And they sang a renewed song
before the throne, and before the four living creatures, and the elders. And no
one was able to learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who
were redeemed from the earth.
In
Revelation chapter 15 the end time wilderness remnant will sing the song of
Moses and the song of the Lamb (same song)
Rev 15:3 And they sing the song of Mosheh the servant of Elohim,
and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and marvellous are Your works, יהוה Ěl Shaddai! Righteous and
true are Your ways, O Sovereign of the set-apart ones!
Halleluyah.