Parsha # 14: “Va’era / I Appeared”
(Sh’mot / Exodus *6:2 to 9:15*)
Edition: 15a17
“Into Your Cups”
Greetings Sojourners, Friends, Guests and Other Readers! Welcome!
Have you ever been chastised by someone in authority over you? How do you remember the experience? I look back over my years, especially as a young student both in Elementary School and later in High School, and I recall that I was a bit of a rabble-rouser who spent a lot of time in the Principal’s office. Some of these occasions were worse than others, of course, because they involved “getting the strap”. In high-school it was a little different. Here the student was treated more like an adult, and the vice-principal (he was in charge of school discipline) would try to reason with the ‘accused’ so as to instill some semblance of self-discipline. For many it worked, for a few it didn’t, and I dare say those few are probably doing twenty-five to life in some cold, damp prison in a remote third world fiefdom.
But as terrible as it might be to be upbraided by one’s vice-principal, I am sure it couldn’t hold a candle to falling under the ire of the God of Yisra’el. And that is precisely where we find Moshé as we begin to read this week’s Parsha. But how did he get into such a predicament? Let’s go back to the last few verses of Chapter 5 in Parsha Sh’mot.
Have you ever been chastised by someone in authority over you? How do you remember the experience? I look back over my years, especially as a young student both in Elementary School and later in High School, and I recall that I was a bit of a rabble-rouser who spent a lot of time in the Principal’s office. Some of these occasions were worse than others, of course, because they involved “getting the strap”. In high-school it was a little different. Here the student was treated more like an adult, and the vice-principal (he was in charge of school discipline) would try to reason with the ‘accused’ so as to instill some semblance of self-discipline. For many it worked, for a few it didn’t, and I dare say those few are probably doing twenty-five to life in some cold, damp prison in a remote third world fiefdom.
But as terrible as it might be to be upbraided by one’s vice-principal, I am sure it couldn’t hold a candle to falling under the ire of the God of Yisra’el. And that is precisely where we find Moshé as we begin to read this week’s Parsha. But how did he get into such a predicament? Let’s go back to the last few verses of Chapter 5 in Parsha Sh’mot.
Moshé has tried to be obedient to Elohim’s command that he and Aharon, his brother, go to Pharaoh and ask that the people of Yisra’el be permitted to go out of Egypt to the wilderness, ostensibly to worship their own God apart from the influence of the idols and demigods of the land. Pharaoh has not only refused but has added to the torment of the people by making them gather their own straw to use in their brick-making labours. Those who were Hebrew foremen complained about the extra work-load and were beaten by the Egyptian taskmasters. The foremen, on leaving the court of Pharaoh, encounter Moshé and Aharon, and they accuse them of bringing the extra torment down on the people. As a result, Moshé becomes despondent and begins to wonder if he was mistaken. As a result he goes up before God and passes on his frustration.
“My Lord,” he cries out, “Why have You done evil to this people? Why have you sent me? From the time I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your Name, he did evil to this people, but You did not rescue Your People.” The problem that Moshé is working out is an understandable one. Moshé is impatient, even rambunctious about things. When he expects something, he expects it immediately. When he saw the Egyptian guard beating the Hebrew slave, for instance, he stepped in to bring justice, (or so he thought). He has, therefore, not fully learned to trust God “in the long run”. He reminds me of the person who, when praying for patience, adds “and give it to me NOW!” God is sometimes slower to act than we might like. He has already waited 80 years for Moshé to become the divinely inspired spokesperson to Yisra’el and to Pharaoh. A little longer being patient is nothing to God, for he is long-suffering to allow for the full quota to repent and experience His redemption.
“My Lord,” he cries out, “Why have You done evil to this people? Why have you sent me? From the time I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your Name, he did evil to this people, but You did not rescue Your People.” The problem that Moshé is working out is an understandable one. Moshé is impatient, even rambunctious about things. When he expects something, he expects it immediately. When he saw the Egyptian guard beating the Hebrew slave, for instance, he stepped in to bring justice, (or so he thought). He has, therefore, not fully learned to trust God “in the long run”. He reminds me of the person who, when praying for patience, adds “and give it to me NOW!” God is sometimes slower to act than we might like. He has already waited 80 years for Moshé to become the divinely inspired spokesperson to Yisra’el and to Pharaoh. A little longer being patient is nothing to God, for he is long-suffering to allow for the full quota to repent and experience His redemption.
So it is that in the opening words of this week’s portion of Scripture we see Elohim speaking to Moshé with words of reproach. I have been told that the essence of the original Hebrew is not just that Elohim ‘spoke’ to Moshé, but that it includes the essence of “harshness”, as if to say, instead, “God spoke harshly to Moshé, and said to him, ‘I AM HaSHEM”, starting off with a bit of a subtle reminder about who’s who in this dialogue. “I AM GOD, and you are NOT!” Then having re-established the ground rules, Elohim puts Moshé and his rocky faith up against the Patriarchs.
And He puts it clearly. “I appeared [hence the parsha title] to Avraham, to Yitz’chak and to Ya’acov…” and I established a covenant with them, and they believed even though they were far-distant, hundreds of years, in fact, from the time of fulfillment. Their faith never wavered. But you, you are standing on the brink of that covenant’s realization, in fact you are the instrument of that accomplishment I have planned and you can’t believe strongly enough to see it through! The time is now for this to happen – “I have remembered my covenant, I have heard the groan of B’nei Yisra’el” and it is time, so shape up, soldier… and have faith!
Wouldn’t you just be a big lump of gel, lying quivering on the carpet? Moshé has been balled-out by the best. But look what comes next? Is Moshé fired? Is he imprisoned in some heavenly cell? Is he crushed by the thumb or heel of Elohim? No! He is given his next assignment. God is so quick to forgive and move on that it is over-whelming.
The next few words are important to the understanding of all that Elohim intends to do. There is a total of seven moves which will be made by God through Moshé and mostly through His Own endeavours. One will actually become the work of the B’nei Yisra’el themselves. Our Jewish friends celebrate the first four actions regularly, and I will reflect on them first, but let’s see all seven in their entirety first.
From the mouth of Adonai Elohaynu (The Lord, Our God) Himself, we hear: “I have remembered My covenant. Therefore say to the Children of Yisra’el: ‘I Am HaShem, and …
And He puts it clearly. “I appeared [hence the parsha title] to Avraham, to Yitz’chak and to Ya’acov…” and I established a covenant with them, and they believed even though they were far-distant, hundreds of years, in fact, from the time of fulfillment. Their faith never wavered. But you, you are standing on the brink of that covenant’s realization, in fact you are the instrument of that accomplishment I have planned and you can’t believe strongly enough to see it through! The time is now for this to happen – “I have remembered my covenant, I have heard the groan of B’nei Yisra’el” and it is time, so shape up, soldier… and have faith!
Wouldn’t you just be a big lump of gel, lying quivering on the carpet? Moshé has been balled-out by the best. But look what comes next? Is Moshé fired? Is he imprisoned in some heavenly cell? Is he crushed by the thumb or heel of Elohim? No! He is given his next assignment. God is so quick to forgive and move on that it is over-whelming.
The next few words are important to the understanding of all that Elohim intends to do. There is a total of seven moves which will be made by God through Moshé and mostly through His Own endeavours. One will actually become the work of the B’nei Yisra’el themselves. Our Jewish friends celebrate the first four actions regularly, and I will reflect on them first, but let’s see all seven in their entirety first.
From the mouth of Adonai Elohaynu (The Lord, Our God) Himself, we hear: “I have remembered My covenant. Therefore say to the Children of Yisra’el: ‘I Am HaShem, and …
1. “I shall take you out
From under the burdens of Egypt;”
2. “I shall rescue you
from their service;”
3.”I shall redeem you
with an outstretched arm and with great judgements;”
4. “I shall take you to Me
for a people;”
5. “I shall be a God to you;
and you shall know that I am Hashem your God,
who takes you out from under the burdens of Egypt.”
6. “I shall bring you to the Land
about which I raised My hand to give it to Avraham, Yitz’chak and
Ya'acov; and…”
7. “I shall give it to you
as a heritage.”
From under the burdens of Egypt;”
2. “I shall rescue you
from their service;”
3.”I shall redeem you
with an outstretched arm and with great judgements;”
4. “I shall take you to Me
for a people;”
5. “I shall be a God to you;
and you shall know that I am Hashem your God,
who takes you out from under the burdens of Egypt.”
6. “I shall bring you to the Land
about which I raised My hand to give it to Avraham, Yitz’chak and
Ya'acov; and…”
7. “I shall give it to you
as a heritage.”
Then Elohim, closes off the list by saying once again, just to drive the point home, “I Am HaShem!”
Here, in this brief list of seven seemingly simple little statements, we have the most profound, and the most comprehensive outline of God’s plan – both for the Hebrew people, the B’nei Yisra’el, and – at the very same time - for all of mankind. So what does each segment of this prophetic promise mean?
The first four statements are known collectively in the Jewish community as “the Four Expressions of Redemption”. Each one represents a “progressive stage” in the rescue of Yisra’el from the land of Egypt, and all that that implies. We need to be cognizant of the fact, however, that even these seven promises, as imminent as they were, will not happen over-night. Many scholars believe that several years, a minimum of two in fact, will pass during the about-to-happen series of ‘plagues’ that lead to the Exodus itself, and that still more time will be required for the completion of even the first four steps listed here. [ Editor’s Note: This fact alone will explain how the livestock (for instance) can be killed off, and then in the next verse or phrase ‘appear’ again to be used for something else.]
Here, in this brief list of seven seemingly simple little statements, we have the most profound, and the most comprehensive outline of God’s plan – both for the Hebrew people, the B’nei Yisra’el, and – at the very same time - for all of mankind. So what does each segment of this prophetic promise mean?
The first four statements are known collectively in the Jewish community as “the Four Expressions of Redemption”. Each one represents a “progressive stage” in the rescue of Yisra’el from the land of Egypt, and all that that implies. We need to be cognizant of the fact, however, that even these seven promises, as imminent as they were, will not happen over-night. Many scholars believe that several years, a minimum of two in fact, will pass during the about-to-happen series of ‘plagues’ that lead to the Exodus itself, and that still more time will be required for the completion of even the first four steps listed here. [ Editor’s Note: This fact alone will explain how the livestock (for instance) can be killed off, and then in the next verse or phrase ‘appear’ again to be used for something else.]
1. I Shall take you out from under the burden of Egypt: God responds first in this promise to the immediate needs of the people. He has heard the cries of the people about the back-breaking, spirit-breaking labour they endured, beneath the heat of the almost equatorial sun which would have been intensified of course as it was reflected off the burning sand, day after day, without a break. In fact, the sages teach that even before licence was given to leave the land, even while the last few plagues were being inflicted on Egypt, the people were rescued from their labours. The slavery came to an end, we are told, in the month of Tishrei (equivalent of our September / October) but the people did not depart until the month of Nisan (the equivalent of our March / April). I suspect that, in agreement with the claim about length of time, these may not have been consecutive months – for example, in today’s thinking, it could have been Tishrei 2013 and Nisan 2015. They remained slaves, naturally, but for some reason, lost in time now, they were no longer submitted to the arduous labour. Thus the first promise is fulfilled.
2. I shall rescue you from their service: God did not just get them away from the labours, although that might have been “enough” (Dayenu) for many of the people who might have been willing to stay in Egypt and return to the days pre-slavery, when all was ‘good’. But this was not what God desired for His people. Furthermore, Elohim knew, even now, that bad times awaited Egypt ‘down the road’ so he would not have willingly left any of His people behind. (Ed’s Note: The Hahftorah portion for this week is in Ezekiel (28:25 to 29:21) in which Ezekiel warns of a forty year drought coming upon Egypt.]
Clearly, it was God’s will to get all his people to safety, away from the land which had welcomed B’nei Yisra’el so warmly but then turned on them and tortured them with loss of privilege, captivity, and even murder. His plan was not complete until every vestige of their subjugation was broken off them.
3. I shall redeem you with an outstretched Arm: It is never enough, in the long run, for Elohim to simply get His people out of a situation. He must also get them to a place of safety. This only makes sense. One does not rescue a flooded home-owner by getting them out of the house just into a boat on the flood-waters – one must get them to dry land. So it is that God is not satisfied by leaving the people within the borders of the land of their travails. He will get them out to safety. In this case, as we will see shortly, God will deliver His people through the waters of the Red Sea to dry land in what is today the Negev. This had to be the case, for the people could well have been pursued forever by the Egyptian armies. At the same time, El Shaddai, (God all Powerful) is showing His tremendous power and authority even over nature, by pushing the waters back and later bringing them down on what was in essence the power and authority of Egypt, crushing the armies in the process. For now, remember the prophetic statement as it is given to Moshé: “I will redeem my people with an out-stretched arm”. We shall look at this in more detail in a couple of weeks.
4. I shall take you to Me for a people: It can not be denied that Adonai Elohaynu has had an ongoing relationship with certain of the Shemite people’s for centuries. We have traced that relationship since the climax of the Creation story – the creation of mankind. Without a doubt, God has been following more closely, the development of the people of His choosing from the time of the third son of Noach. In a sense, it is safe to say, I believe, that God had taken this ‘string’ of descendants as His own already, but it isn’t until the descendants of the twelve sons of Ya'acov come along that a nation is ready to develop. And it isn’t until Elohim reveals Himself to them ‘en masse’ as it were, that we could say He truly has taken the descendants ‘as a whole’ unto Himself, to be to them a God who will be with them, for them, to guide them for ever, to protect them, and to deliver them into the “Land of Promise”. It is God’s dearest desire to be to His people as a King would be. Not to lord His power over them, but to share with them the immeasurable blessings He has to give. It will be at Sinai, with the establishing of the Law / Torah, that God ‘takes’ the people unto Himself for ever.
2. I shall rescue you from their service: God did not just get them away from the labours, although that might have been “enough” (Dayenu) for many of the people who might have been willing to stay in Egypt and return to the days pre-slavery, when all was ‘good’. But this was not what God desired for His people. Furthermore, Elohim knew, even now, that bad times awaited Egypt ‘down the road’ so he would not have willingly left any of His people behind. (Ed’s Note: The Hahftorah portion for this week is in Ezekiel (28:25 to 29:21) in which Ezekiel warns of a forty year drought coming upon Egypt.]
Clearly, it was God’s will to get all his people to safety, away from the land which had welcomed B’nei Yisra’el so warmly but then turned on them and tortured them with loss of privilege, captivity, and even murder. His plan was not complete until every vestige of their subjugation was broken off them.
3. I shall redeem you with an outstretched Arm: It is never enough, in the long run, for Elohim to simply get His people out of a situation. He must also get them to a place of safety. This only makes sense. One does not rescue a flooded home-owner by getting them out of the house just into a boat on the flood-waters – one must get them to dry land. So it is that God is not satisfied by leaving the people within the borders of the land of their travails. He will get them out to safety. In this case, as we will see shortly, God will deliver His people through the waters of the Red Sea to dry land in what is today the Negev. This had to be the case, for the people could well have been pursued forever by the Egyptian armies. At the same time, El Shaddai, (God all Powerful) is showing His tremendous power and authority even over nature, by pushing the waters back and later bringing them down on what was in essence the power and authority of Egypt, crushing the armies in the process. For now, remember the prophetic statement as it is given to Moshé: “I will redeem my people with an out-stretched arm”. We shall look at this in more detail in a couple of weeks.
4. I shall take you to Me for a people: It can not be denied that Adonai Elohaynu has had an ongoing relationship with certain of the Shemite people’s for centuries. We have traced that relationship since the climax of the Creation story – the creation of mankind. Without a doubt, God has been following more closely, the development of the people of His choosing from the time of the third son of Noach. In a sense, it is safe to say, I believe, that God had taken this ‘string’ of descendants as His own already, but it isn’t until the descendants of the twelve sons of Ya'acov come along that a nation is ready to develop. And it isn’t until Elohim reveals Himself to them ‘en masse’ as it were, that we could say He truly has taken the descendants ‘as a whole’ unto Himself, to be to them a God who will be with them, for them, to guide them for ever, to protect them, and to deliver them into the “Land of Promise”. It is God’s dearest desire to be to His people as a King would be. Not to lord His power over them, but to share with them the immeasurable blessings He has to give. It will be at Sinai, with the establishing of the Law / Torah, that God ‘takes’ the people unto Himself for ever.
It is these first four promises, (the “Four Expressions of Redemption”) as I mentioned above, that are at the very centre, the core, of the annual celebration of the ‘coming out’ of the People Yisra’el from Egypt. That annual celebration, that “Festival”, or more accurately that “Moed” (meaning ‘Appointed Time’) was set by God back at the fall of Adam and Havah, and it was just as important and just as precise in its timing as an appointment we might make with a doctor to discuss a life and death issue – for indeed this appointed time dealt with just that: Life and Death. It would be the time of God and His people coming together in rescue, redemption and deliverance. That Moed is known as Passover. We will learn more about Passover (or ‘Pesach’) later, but suffice to say at this point that it involves a special meal of symbolic foods, along with four cups of wine to be consumed through the meal at given times.
To carry on with the other promises made by God to Moshé….
To carry on with the other promises made by God to Moshé….
5. I shall be a God to you and you will know that I am HaShem: This is the promise that is up to the people. Through out all the promises up to this point, Elohim will be proving to the people who He is. But it is not a complete picture, it is not a true covenant until the people accept the truth about Him, and turn to Him and declare that, “Yes, indeed, You are God to me!” Every covenant has two sides, two parties – on the one hand the Lord, or Master, who makes certain promises to the subjects over whom he rules, and on the other hand, the subjects, (vassals) who agree to accept his position over them. Both sides have to agree on the conditions of the covenant. When Elohim prophecies that the people will accept him as “the Lord” or “Adonai”, he is declaring that the time will come for that to happen. Unfortunately, it is not as easy a step as one might think.
6. I shall bring you to the land: More than four centuries before, God stood with Avraham on a hill top surveying the lands we know today as Israel. Avraham was visibly impressed with all that he saw, and then Elohim turned to him as He made a promise. “You see all this?” God asked. “All the land that you see” [and even more, for they could not see it all from where they stood I am sure] “to you will I give it, and to your descendants forever…. They will leave [the nation that they will serve] with great wealth… know with certainty that your offspring shall… return here.” (paraphrased from Genesis 15:13 and 15:13f) This is the promise that Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya'acov each accepted, believed and clung to throughout their lives, trusting God to fulfill it, even though it did not take place in their life-times.
7. I shall give it [that land to be known as Israel] to you as a heritage: This is basically the same promise that Elohim had made to Avraham. The difference is that now, Moshé and the people whom he will lead out from Egypt are on the cusp of its fulfillment. For more that 400 years, this promise has been passed down father to son, mother to daughter, generation after generation. The truth of it must have seemed so far away to the people after the last 120 years of dwelling in a foreign land, so far removed from the land and from the promise. Still it must have been whispered in the ears of the children as they fell off to sleep at night, or as they puzzled over why things were so bad for them, or as they sat on their father’s knee – if they ever had that opportunity – for the people God had chosen were and are a people of hope – not wishing something would be so, but knowing that, when the time was right, God would deliver.
The problem was that the facts of life would often cloud over that hope within, and in the midst of their enslavement they may have lost the edge from that hope. For it is, that when Moshé returned to the people as God had told him to, and shared these seven promises with them, They could not accept them. Slavery had all but broken their spirit – individually and corporately. We read this very sad sentence in verse 9 of chapter 6: “So Moshé spoke accordingly to “B’nei Yisra’el”; but they did not heed Moshé, because of shortness of breath and hard work.”
Moshé would certainly have his hands full as a leader of these down-trodden people…..
Shavua Tov!! - Have a Great Week!!
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6. I shall bring you to the land: More than four centuries before, God stood with Avraham on a hill top surveying the lands we know today as Israel. Avraham was visibly impressed with all that he saw, and then Elohim turned to him as He made a promise. “You see all this?” God asked. “All the land that you see” [and even more, for they could not see it all from where they stood I am sure] “to you will I give it, and to your descendants forever…. They will leave [the nation that they will serve] with great wealth… know with certainty that your offspring shall… return here.” (paraphrased from Genesis 15:13 and 15:13f) This is the promise that Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya'acov each accepted, believed and clung to throughout their lives, trusting God to fulfill it, even though it did not take place in their life-times.
7. I shall give it [that land to be known as Israel] to you as a heritage: This is basically the same promise that Elohim had made to Avraham. The difference is that now, Moshé and the people whom he will lead out from Egypt are on the cusp of its fulfillment. For more that 400 years, this promise has been passed down father to son, mother to daughter, generation after generation. The truth of it must have seemed so far away to the people after the last 120 years of dwelling in a foreign land, so far removed from the land and from the promise. Still it must have been whispered in the ears of the children as they fell off to sleep at night, or as they puzzled over why things were so bad for them, or as they sat on their father’s knee – if they ever had that opportunity – for the people God had chosen were and are a people of hope – not wishing something would be so, but knowing that, when the time was right, God would deliver.
The problem was that the facts of life would often cloud over that hope within, and in the midst of their enslavement they may have lost the edge from that hope. For it is, that when Moshé returned to the people as God had told him to, and shared these seven promises with them, They could not accept them. Slavery had all but broken their spirit – individually and corporately. We read this very sad sentence in verse 9 of chapter 6: “So Moshé spoke accordingly to “B’nei Yisra’el”; but they did not heed Moshé, because of shortness of breath and hard work.”
Moshé would certainly have his hands full as a leader of these down-trodden people…..
Shavua Tov!! - Have a Great Week!!
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Acknowledgements
Wikipedia and other Internet sources for background information
Scherman, R. Nosson; and Zlotowitz, R. Meir; Editors, Stone Edition Art Scroll Chumash, Mesorah Heritage Foundation / Mesorah Publications, Ltd., Brooklyn, New York, 2008
Stern, David, The Complete Jewish Bible, Jewish New Testament Publications Inc, Clarkville, Maryland. 1998
Zodiates, Spiros, Exec Editor, The Hebrew Greek Key Word Bible (New American Version Bible) AMG Publishers, Chattanooga, TN 1977
Barker, Kenneth, General Editor, The New International Study Bible, Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1985
= = = ================================================== = = =
Wikipedia and other Internet sources for background information
Scherman, R. Nosson; and Zlotowitz, R. Meir; Editors, Stone Edition Art Scroll Chumash, Mesorah Heritage Foundation / Mesorah Publications, Ltd., Brooklyn, New York, 2008
Stern, David, The Complete Jewish Bible, Jewish New Testament Publications Inc, Clarkville, Maryland. 1998
Zodiates, Spiros, Exec Editor, The Hebrew Greek Key Word Bible (New American Version Bible) AMG Publishers, Chattanooga, TN 1977
Barker, Kenneth, General Editor, The New International Study Bible, Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1985
= = = ================================================== = = =