PARASHA: “Va’era” (and I appeared)
EXODUS 6:2-9:35........ EZEKIEL 28:25-29: 21.......... MATT 24:1-51
YHVH speaks to Moshe saying that when he appeared to Abraham, he revealed himself as “El Shaddai” which means “God Almighty” or “God all-powerful, yet he did not reveal himself as he did to Moshe, with Moshe he revealed himself with the more personal name; YHVH (Yod Hey Vav Hey) These letters stem from the word; “HaVaYaH” which means “To exist” (we just re-arrange the letters) one could say that the name YHVH means “the God who exists from time past, present, and future) “Haya=the past” “Hoveh=the present “Yiyah”=future” As one can see, these words are a mixture of the letters YHVH.
YHVH plans to take his people out of Egypt and return them to Canaan, the promised land, and at the same time, “judge the Egyptians” using a series of judgments leading up to the slaughter of the “Passover lambs” a very important “Moed” which we know so well. This year, Passover starts April 10th. We can look forward to this time as we do every year.
The judgments are directed against the false deities of Egypt and against Pharaoh himself. Egypt is pretty well destroyed and left in ruin afterward and never did regain the power and military might it once boasted of.
From verses 6 to 9, YHVH makes 8 “I will” promises to his people and I want to look at these promises in light of how they affect us as believers in Messiah Yeshua today;
1. I WILL bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
2. I WILL rescue you from their bondage.
3. I WILL redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.
4. I WILL take you as my people.
5. I WILL be your God.
6. I WILL make myself known to you as your GOD who brings you out from under the burdens of Egypt.
7. I WILL bring you to the land I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
8. I WILL give it to you as an inheritance.
How do these promises affect us as believers?
1. I WILL bring you out from under the burden of SIN (already done!)
2. I WILL rescue you from the bondage of SIN (through Yeshua) (already done!)
3. I WILL redeem you with “Two outstretched arms, which received two nails” and “judged” HaSatan (done!)
4. I WILL take you as part of my people, now, through Yeshua. You are part of the Commonwealth of Israel, you have been “grafted in”
5. I WILL be your God; Adonai-Elohim-Yeshua YHVH
6. I MADE myself known to you through my Torah! And through YESHUA
7. I WILL bring you to my land, in the near future (and now if you feel you are called to come over here to Israel, even if it is to serve for a while, check out the IDF! )
8. I WILL give you as an inheritance ETERNAL LIFE, and you will be part of MY KINGDOM. If you have already come to Yeshua, you already have it! No problemo!
A quick look at the plagues that Adonai brought down upon the Egyptians. All were directed against the pagan Egyptian gods.
The staff of Moshe, which was thrown down and it became a serpent, the serpent (Cobra) was the emblem of power in Egypt, the emblem of Pharaoh, in this case, the staff of Moshe, (the staff representing the power and authority of Adonai, through Moshe and Aaron) turned into a serpent, and quickly devoured the serpent-staffs of the magicians of Pharaoh. Result? The power (serpent) of Adonai overpowers the authority (serpents) of Pharaoh, case closed!
The Nile was worshipped as a god who gave life. The Torah teaches that the life of the flesh is in the blood, yet in this case, the “bloody Nile” symbolized death. Again, Adonai triumphs over the god or goddess of the Nile. Only in Goshen was there fresh water, Yeshua, who is the “Living Water” gives life to those who seek Him and are on “His side”.
Frogs are cute yet kinda slimy, a few are OK, but too many are bad, especially when they all start to sing and croak together. The Egyptians could not kill them since they considered them gods. The goddess “Heket” was the goddess of fertility and had the head of a frog! And boy did they ever reproduce! Too many frogs! Too many “Heketim!” yet Adonai got rid of them, and the land “stank!”
The plague of lice and boils made the Egyptian priests “unclean” to serve. Again, two strikes against Egypt’s religious order.
The plague of the death of the cattle, a strike against the Egyptian god “Apis” (the bull).
The hail from the sky, a strike against Hathor, the goddess of the heavenlies.
Darkness, a strike against Ra, the sun-god. The list goes on. It is a war against the gods of Egypt against the ONE true God, Adonai-Elohim. We know who’s winning, and who won. Yeshua gave HaSatan the death blow at Calvary. The death blow of the first-born in Egypt was the blow against Osiris, the god of death and of the underworld. In Yeshua, life triumphs over death. That is why it is important to be “born again” then we go from death to life;
…..Before being “born again”, accepting Yeshua/Jesus as our LORD and Savior, Messiah, we are under the burden and bondage of “HaSatan” the deceiver, father of Lies, and we do “his bidding” whether we know it or not, maybe a lot of us were not involved in crime, drugs, murder, etc., but we were hell bound and just did not give God a second thought, If Yeshua/YHVH is not our Father, LORD, redeemer, than, we are of our father, “the devil”, there is no other choice, we are either on one side of the fence or on the other side, there is no “in between” fences. We are under the bondage of sin, and under its burden until we are redeemed.
Yet Yeshua DID rescue us from the bondage and burden of sin with “HIS OUTSTRETCHED ARMS” He stretched out his arms and hands to receive the nails of Calvary. He allowed the Roman soldiers to nail him to that rugged cross that Passover day, so as to pay the price of sin for us all. That day, he “judged” sin and death with his blood.
From the moment we accept HIM as LORD and Savior, we are taken by him as HIS PEOPLE, we join the great Commonwealth of Israel, being grafted in to the Olive Tree. We are now HIS PEOPLE and part of HIS FAMILY of redeemed. He is OUR GOD, and he made himself known to us through his WORD. His WORD, has been taught to us through his faithful ministers, preachers, rabbis, teachers, etc.
We are now living in different lands, in the USA and in other countries, yet someday, we will go to live in HIS glorious city “The New Jerusalem” which is now in the Heavenlies, yet will one day come to rest on earth. This is our inheritance as believers in Messiah Yeshua, Eternal life in his glorious kingdom. We can rest assured that we all have a glorious future to look forward to.
EZEKIEL 28:25-29:21
The prophet speaks through the Holy Spirit and affirms that even though Israel has been scattered throughout the countries of the world, they will be returned to their land in the future, it is already happening, Israel was recognized as a nation in 1948, and since then, the people have been returning.
One positive thing to dwell upon, the Jewish people made known to the nations of the ONE GOD, Adonai-Elohim-YHVH” and through the migration of the Jewish peoples to different parts of the world, we now have the Ashkenazim, Sephardim, Falashim, people groups which make up most to the Jewish peoples today. These people groups have introduced many varieties of foods, customs, and ways of worship in today's Judaism, many are also Messianic believers.
Bad news for Egypt, just as the Israelites were scattered among the nations, the Egyptians will also be scattered among the nations for 40 years, Egypt will be desolate and people-less, for this period of time, this will probably happen during the millennium. The Egyptian people will come back after that time, but Egypt will never be a prosperous country. Since the fall of Egypt after the time of Passover, Egypt was conquered by the Babylonians, the Greeks, and Romans. Even today, there are Egyptians living in many countries in the world, but Egypt has never been left completely without people and animals, at least not yet.
Yet a good note to ponder on, Egypt opened its doors to receive young Yeshua with Mary, and Joseph when they were fleeing from Herod. There are quite a few believers in Egypt today, making up the “Coptic Church”
My wife and I visited Egypt in 1999 and it is indeed an interesting (yet poor) country. The food is fantastic!
MATT 24:1-51
Yeshua tells his talmidim about the “end times” and we all know and have read this chapter, of “wars and rumors of wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, etc. As we look around today, we can be certain that we are living in these “end times” for sure, yet the end is not yet...we still have a way to go. We have heard of many “false-Messiahs” leaders claiming to be “Jesus” yet we know better than believing on them. When Yeshua returns, the “Whole World” will see him returning, what will modern satellite cameras, etc.
The gospel will be preached to the whole world, which is happening now, we need to be ready for his return, those of us that are alive, we will be gathered together as well as those who have gone on before us and who are now in heaven, we will be ONE FAMILY and share life together in the Millennial Kingdom of Yeshua and for all eternity.
Ben Avraham
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