Although Jewish and Christian scholars disagree about whether the sacrifices were to cease after the coming of the Messiah, as Edersheim points out, all agree that the object of a sacrifice was substitution for the offender (The Temple—Its Ministry and Service, p. 90). He also notes that the Jewish fathers along with the Scriptures that all of these substitutionary sacrifices pointed to none other than the Messiah. This understanding is especially expressed in the proto-rabbinic biblical Aramaic commentaries or Targumim (e.g., Targum Jonathan and the Jerusalem Targum; ibid., p. 92). Later rabbinic sages, in light of the rise of Christianity, were loath to accept this interpretation and, to this day, pretend it was never the belief of their ancient predecessors.
As the Tanakh progresses, the concept of the substitutionary sacrifice as it relates to the sinner and to the Messiah expands and unfolds. The unity of the Tanakh in this regard and its progression of revelation on this subject must be taken into consideration when studying the sacrifices listed in Leviticus and the rest of the Torah if we are to understand completely the biblical concept of substitutionary sacrifice as well as the Messianic prophecies. The concept of sacrifice in the Tanakh point us prophetically in progressive stages to the sin-atoning death of the Messiah on behalf of sinners. Such passages in the Tanakh as Psalms chapters 2, 22, 35, 69, 72, 89, 110, 118 along with Isaiah 52:13–53:12 (many other scriptural passages could be cited here as well) point undeniably to the Person and work of Yeshua the Messiah including his suffering and glorification. The apostolic writers understood these prophecies and how Yeshua fulfilled them perfectly (e.g., Isa 52:13–53:12 cp. Heb 9:11–15; 10:4–7, 1; etc.), and this understanding forms the basis for the New Testament, which the authors thereof refer to as The Testimony of Yeshua (Rev 1:9; 6:2; etc.).
All the animals slaughtered in the sacrificial system were similar, in modern terms, to the minimum amount due on a credit card statement of a bill so huge one cannot possible pay the balance; therefore, one is able only to afford to pay the minimum amount due until somehow, miraculously, someone will step in to pay the full amount. Yeshua paid that monstrously huge sin debt for each of us at the cross. All of the sacrifices in the Tabernacle of Moses were merely tiny down payments on the vast sin bill that each sinner owed for his sins and which would ultimately be paid by Yeshua’s death on the cross. The penalty for sin is death, and this debt can only be paid by the death of the sinner. Once he is dead, then what? No more life. This is why Yeshua had to pay the price for man, so that we might live forever and not die forever. How could Yeshya’s death pay for all of humanity? After all he was only one man. This is possible only because the Bible reveals in numerous places that Yeshua was the Creator of man (John 1:3, 10; Heb 1:2, 10; Col 1:16) thus making his death life more valuable than all that he ever created, even as the builder of the house is more valuable than the house he builds (Heb 3:6).
Six Types of Offerings (Heb. korban) Offered on the Altar (Lev 1-7)
Burnt or Elevation (Heb. Olah) Offering(Lev 1:3–17)
The olah or ascending offering signified the offerer giving himself up totally, wholly ascending or complete surrender to Elohim. The priests offered up this sacrifice twice daily—the morning and evening (Exod 29:38–42; Num 28:1–8). This offering was always a male animal whose blood was to be sprinkled around the altar. The offerer was to lay his hands on the head of the animal before it was slaughtered symbolizing substitutionary atonement for sins. The offering would be accepted as a sweet aroma by Elohim.
The daily burnt offering was made in conjunction with a meal or grain offering and a wine libation (Exod 29:38–42; Num 28:1–8). Burnt offerings (along with the grain offering and wine offering or libation) were also made on the weekly Sabbath, at the new moon, on the all of the biblical feasts. These burnt offerings (including the one offered on Passover day) were in addition to the twice daily burnt offerings. This was a perfect prophetic picture of Yeshua’s death on the cross and of the communion cup, which memorializes our Savior’s death.
Meal, Grain or Meat, (Heb. Minchah) Offering(Lev 2:1–16; 6:14-23)
This offering was brought in conjunction with the burnt and peace offerings or by itself. The name minchah implies a gift, present or a tribute to a superior and proclaimed the offerer’s acknowledgement that his life is in Elohim’s hands. This offering was made of finely ground flour mixed with oil, salt and frankincense (and water) and could contain no leavening or honey. When part of the burnt offering, it was combined with the drink offering or wine libation, which was poured out on the altar (Exod 29:38; Num 28:5–7).
It was brought by people too poor to afford anything else as a trespass offering (Lev 5:11).
Fine flour represents Yeshua and oil symbolizes both the Set-Apart Spirit of Elohim and the Torah (i.e., Spirit and Truth). This offering could be baked or fried. If fried it was done so in oil and broken into three pieces with oil poured over it. This offering speaks of Yeshua’s death, burial and resurrection with which the believer must identify when he eats the elements of communion.
Sin (Chatat) Offering (Lev 4:1–35; 6:24–30)
This offering was made for general sin (violation of any of YHVH’s commandments), and not specific or special offences (as was the case with the trespass offering). The sin offering symbolized general redemption or atonement for the individual offender (including rulers, priests or common people) or for the whole congregation of Israel, and like the trespass offering, was for only for sins committed in ignorance, unintentionally or because of weakness as opposed to wilful sin or presumptuous sin In all cases, the offender would lay his hands on the head of the animal victim before it was slaughtered as a symbolic act of transferring the person’s sin guilt to the animal.
This offering involved a bull or a lamb offered on the altar and was eaten by the priests. Sin speaks of man’s sinful nature leading to sinful (unintentional) deeds for which man (including believers) needs atoning on an ongoing basis (1 John 1:9).
Trespass or Guilt (Asham) Offering(Lev 5:14–19; 6:5–7; 7:1–7)
This offering was made for specific transgressions committed in ignorance, weakness or unintentionally as a result of one voluntarily confessing his guilt. If one were too poor to bring a lamb, he could bring two turtle doves or pigeons, or on minchah or meal offering.
Peace or Fellowship (Shelam) Offering(Lev 3:1–7; 7:1–36)
This was a joyous sacrifice intended to celebrate one’s happy fellowship with Elohim through covenantal relationship. It’s as if YHVH is the guest of honor at the meal. It was offered voluntarily out of thanksgiving or in honor of a vow made to Elohim (Lev 7:12, 16). The peace offering may be what the psalmist had in view when he speaks of a sacrifice given in grateful fellowship with Elohim (Pss 54:6; 116:12).
This was a voluntary offering expressing the offerer’s desire to express thanks to Elohim and to seek friendship or communion with him. The priests and the offerer consumed the flesh of this offering in a meal that also included unleavened bread with oil and fine flour. This offering was a sign of a healthy and loving relationship between the offerer, the priests and Elohim.
Drink Offering(Gen 35:14; Exod 29:40–41; Num 28:7–10, 14–15, 24, 31)
This offering was poured out upon an existing offering such as the twice daily burnt offering. This offering can signify consecrating to Elohim or pouring one’s life out for his service (Phil 2:17).
Leviticus 1
Leviticus 1:1, Moses ends the word vayikra with a small aleph out of humility before YHVH (Tikkun, p. 225).
Herd…flock.The Hebrew means a herd of cattle (defined in v. 3, 5) or a flock of sheep or goats (defined in v. 10).
Leviticus 1:3,Of his own free will. Acknowledgement of sin, repentance and acceptance of Yeshua the Messiah’s atoning death on the cross, which the burnt offering symbolically represented, is an act of a person’s free will. No one, including YHVH, compels a person to choose the path of redemption, salvation and life that YHVH has offered to humans. Each person has to make that spiritual transaction himself of his own volition, even though YHVH loves the whole world (John 3:16) and desires all to be saved (2 Pet 3:9).
The door of the tabernacle. This is a symbolic and prophetic metaphor for Yeshua the Messiah, who is the door to salvation (John 10:7–10).
Leviticus 1:4,Put his hand on. Acknowledgment and confession of sins is an individual matter.
To make atonement for him. Atonement and salvation is an individual matter.
Leviticus 1:5,He shall kill. In ancient Israel, a sinner was kill the animal to be sacrificed as an atonement for his sin. This act reinforced upon the individual’s heart and mind the gravity of his sin and the consequences there of upon an innocent animal, which symbolically pointed to the death of Yeshua, the Lamb of Elohim, upon the cross, who had to die for each person’s sins. If killing an innocent animal brings grief to a person’s heart, then how much more the death of Yeshua, the Son of Elohim?
Sprinkle. Heb. word zaraq means “to scatter, sprinkle, toss, throw, scatter abundantly, strew.” The sprinkling of the blood of the sacrificed animal on and around the altar of sacrifice (and elsewhere in the tabernacle as well) is mentioned numerous times in the Torah (e.g. Exod 24:6; 29:16; Lev 1:11; 3:2, 8, 13; 4:6,17; 5:9; 7:2). The blood was even sprinkled on the people (Exod 24:8), and on Aaron and his sons (Exod 29:20–21). This is a prophetic picture of Yeshua bleeding, while dying on the cross and shedding his blood as an atonement for our sins. Yeshua’s sprinkling his blood on the cross fulfilled the sprinkling of blood under the sacrificial system in the following ways:
Exodus18:2–3, After he had sent her back.This verse suggests that Moses divorced his wife after their altercation over the circumcision of their sons (Exod 4:24–26). If so, what are the spiritual implications of this for us today?
The phrase sent away/back in verse two is the Hebrew shilluach which according to Strong’s Concordance and Gesenius’ Hebrew Lexicon can be a biblical term referring to divorce. Shilluach is from shalakh, a basic verb meaning “to send,” where in Isaiah 50:1 and Jeremiah 3:1 the prophets use it referring to YHVH’s divorce from the house of Israel or Ephraim.
Though rabbinical commentators Rashi and Hirsch fail to note the possibility of Moses’ divorce (Jewish Torah commentators tend to gloss over the faults of their great biblical heroes), Medieval Jewish Torah scholar Baal HaTurim notes this possibility in his commentary.
Yet in Exodus 18:2, YHVH still views Zipporah as Moses’ wife. What is going on here? Before this, Zipporah seems to have evidenced reluctance at obeying YHVH’s command to circumcise their sons (Exod 4:25), so did Moses put her away (divorce her) as a result? Was Moses, as the human “savior” of Israel from Egypt and an antetype (or prophetic forerunner) of Yeshua the Messianic Savior (Deut 18:15–19) in that he had to deal with a rebellious wife, even as Yeshua (in his preincarnate state as YHVH of the Tanakh) had to deal with his rebellious Israelite wife and eventually had to put her away?
Zipporah is never again mentioned in the Torah and, in fact, we see the possibly that the divorced Moses even married another woman (Num 12:1)—apparently a black woman from Ethiopia. Is this a prophetic picture of Yeshua remarrying his former wife (Israel) during the time of the Renewed/New (Marriage) Covenant (Ketubah), who has adulterously mixed herself with the nations and returns to him in a mixed racial (spiritually and biologically-speaking) condition (Hos 7:8)?
Thus, it is possible that Moses had to divorce his wife because she not only was reluctant to circumcise her sons, but there is no biblical record that she followed Moses in his divine commission to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt much less into the wilderness. If this is the case, then this is reminiscent of Lot’s wife who refused to follow her husband at YHVH’s command and chose instead to return to Sodom. It happened in Bible times and still does in our time that YHVH gives a ministry commission to a man and the wife refuses to follow with the marriage ending in divorce as the two go their separate ways.
If Moses led Israel as a divorced and remarried man, does this change your perspective about him? This could also affect our perspective on divorced people in ministry whose unsaved spouses are adversarially opposed to their spouses divinely commissioned ministry calling.
Moses and the Ethiopian Women. Moses’ marriage to the Ethiopian woman can be found in Josephus Antiquities of the Jews, book 2, chapter 11 (Ant. 2:11.1–2). According to Josephus based on Jewish tradition, she was one of the “spoils” of war when Moses, on behalf of the Egyptian monarchy, led an Egyptian army triumphantly against the Ethiopians who had invaded Egypt. The Ethiopian woman was a daughter of the king of Ethiopia. So quite possibly after Moses fled Egypt for Midian as a wanted criminal, he must have assumed that he would never return to Egypt and see his Ethiopian wife again, which, in his mind, freed him up to marry Yitro’s daughter, Zipporah. This marriage would have been before Moses was “saved” and before Elohim called and commissioned him at the burning bush in Exodus chapter three. So, when Zipporah refused, apparently, to follow him on his divinely appointed mission to Egypt, she abandoned him, which is why Moses had dismissed, divorced or sent her back (see Exod 18:2 where we read that Moses had “sent her [Zipporah] back,” Heb. shillûach meaning “dismissed, i.e., divorced”). It also appears that the righteous and YHVH-fearing Yitro tried to reconcile Moses and Zipporah when he brought her to Moses in Exodus 18:6. Moses implored Yitro to remain with him and accompany him in the wilderness (Num 10:29). However, the aged Yitro, and presumably along with his daughter, refused Moses’ plea ostensibly preferring the safety, security and familiarity of his own home in Midian over the uncertainties and inconveniences of wandering like a nomad in the wilderness. So Moses let Yitro return (Exod 18:27) evidently taking Zipporah with him, for it appears based on the textual evidence that she wanted nothing to do with Moses’ mission. Therefore, Moses, being left alone without a marital partner to accompany him on his divine mission, may have called back his former Ethiopian wife to join him, which she obviously did causing the scandal we read about it Numbers 12. If these suppositions are correct which the biblical and secular historical evidence seems to suggest that they are, this all goes to show that love, marriage and divorce and remarriage can lead to difficult, complex, sticky and divisive issues. Nevertheless, and obviously, YHVH’s merciful grace prevailed and Moses went forward approved of Elohim on his mission of leading the Israelites to the Promised Land.
To be sure, divorce and remarriage is not YHVH’s ideal for people because of all the attendant and problematic issues it engenders. The Bible is clear. YHVH’s perfect will from the beginning has always been one man for one woman until death separates them. But humans are imperfect, and YHVH’s grace is sufficient, and so there for his grace go each of us, as the saying goes.
Exodus 18:24, Chose able men. Here we see Moses choosing elders or judges over the congregation of Israel. These were “able men of accomplishment” in Israel. Compare this with Paul’s instructions about the qualifications of an elder in 1 Timothy 3:1–13 and Titus 1:5–9. If Moses was divorced at the time of his choosing the elders of Israel, does this clarify Paul’s statement that an elder must be “the husband of a [often mistakenly misunderstood to mean “one’s first and only wife” —a meaning not suggested by the Greek] wife”(1 Tim 3:2)? It would appear that the Scriptures do not prohibit divorced and remarried people from holding leadership positions (if the grounds for divorce are biblically legal) in the household of faith as some churches teach.
Exodus 19
Exodus 19:1,The third month. YHVH gave his Torah-instuctions in righteousness to Israel at Mount Sinai most likely on the Feast of Weeks (Chag haShavuot or Pentecost; Lev 23:15–21), which occurred in the third month of the biblical year. On the very same day, some 1,500 years after YHVH gave the Israelites his Torah-law at Mount Sinai another momentous event occurred. On the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter two, the Spirit of Elohim descended upon Yeshua’s disciples—the literal descendants of the children of Israel—who were gathered in one accord, and on that day YHVH wrote the very same Torah on the hearts of the disciples in fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy (Jer 31:31–33 and Acts 2:1, 37 cp. Heb 8:7–13). There is a continuity of theme and purpose between these two events: a legally delineated standard of righteousness. YHVH does not change, for he is the same yesterday, today and forever!
Exodus 19:2,Mount Sinai. Mount Sinai, also known as “the mountain of Elohim” (Exod 3:1; 4:27; 18:5; 24:13; 1 Kgs 19:8), and is a geographical symbol of YHVH’s exalted earthly presence and heavenly government here below. Israel camped at the base of this mountain, positioning themselves through a process of sanctification to receive YHVH’s Torah. Empowered with the word of Elohim, YHVH commissioned the Israelites to be his special people, his kings and priests or, in other words, earthly evangelistic ambassadors to take his instructions in righteousness to the world. Likewise, Yeshua instructed his disciples to tarry or position themselves on another mountain—Mount Zion in Jerusalem—until they were endued with power from on high (Luke 24:49). For what purpose? Once empowered by the Spirit, and with the Torah written on their hearts (Acts 2:37), and as devoted followers of Yeshua the Living Torah-Word of Elohim (John 1:1, 14), they would be heaven’s spiritual salt and light to the nations (Matt 5:13–14; Acts 1:8), while walking out the Torah as his own chosen, special people as well as YHVH’s holy and royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:5, 9–10). Yeshua’s promise of empowerment and the commission he gave to his disciples leading up to and on the day of Pentecost has never changed from then until now. As redeemed believers in Yeshua, we are not only his disciples, but are the spiritual descendants of the ancient Israelites (Gal 3:29; Rom 4:16; 9:8–11 cp. Eph 2:11–19), and our mission is to pick up where our failed forefathers left off and finish the job of taking YHVH’s Torah (both the Written Torah and Yeshua the Living Torah) to the nations (Matt 28:18–20; Mark 16:15–18 cp. Matt 10:6)—a job that ancient Israel failed to accomplish because of disobedience to the Torah brought on by hardness of heart and unbelief (Ps 95:7–10; Heb 4:1–7).
Before the mountain.The children of Israel coming to Mount Sinai, preparing themselves to meet YHVH Elohim, and to receive his instructions in righteousness is symbolic of the spiritual path that all humans must take if they want to meet their Maker as we will learn in the brief study below.
Throughout history, humans have invented a myriad of religions and philosophical ideologies in an effort to reconcile man to heaven or some great power that is above him. This is because the Creator made man in his own image, made man to be connected to and dependent upon his Creator and placed eternity in the heart of man (Eccl 3:11); therefore, humans instinctively know that there is something more to this physical life—there is something “out there” beyond each of us that beckons us to a higher place—something eternal and spiritual. Humans instinctively know that they must improve themselves morally in order to get there. Some people follow that instinct and some reject it. In either case, the Creator has given each of us a conscience, that like the needle on a compass, points us to true north. The problem is that (a) man does not know how to get there and (b) he has internal (i.e., his rebellious and lawless sin nature; Jer 17:9; Rom 8:6–8; Jas 3:15) and external forces (i.e., the world the devil, as well as all the invented, non-biblical religions of the world; Jas 3:15) that keep him from find the way. All of these false paths lead everywhere else but to “true north.” In an effort some reach their Creator and to fulfill the inner longings of their hearts, man has invented religions and philosophies to get him to “heaven” through his own efforts but without dealing with the root reason that has prevented man from coming into the presence of his Creator. One thing keeps man bound to this earth, lost and confused; it is sin. No matter what his or her religious or philosophical efforts may be, it is impossible for one to pull oneself up by one’s own bootstraps. Until each human deals with the sin issue in his or her life, he will not progress one inch toward upward toward his higher destiny.
Only one religion, ideology, philosophy or whatever else you want to call it deals with the sin issue, and that is the Truth of the Bible. Until each man recognizes that his sin has separated him from a perfect, holy (totally pure, holy or seet-apart, righteous, all-loving and transcendent Elohim and that only by going through the spiritual cleansing process that heaven prescribes for the disease called sin can one find the answers to the deeper questions of life, resolve the sin issue that separates earth from heaven, and then eventually come into the presence of one’s Creator during and after this physical life.
Through Moses, a man who was prophetic picture of Yeshua the Messiah, YHVH led the Israelites to the foot of the Mount Sinai representing the presence of Elohim; it was an earthly metaphor for of heaven itself and the very throne room of the Creator.
To experience the presence of Elohim, humans are required to consecrate themselves before hand, and only then is one allowed one to climb upward spiritually to meet YHVH. This is done through a process of spiritual consecration or sanctification and involves getting cleansed from the defilements or rudiments of the world, flesh and devil (Jas 3:15; Col 2:8, 20), even as the Israelites cleansed or consecrated themselves physically in preparation to meet their Maker (Exod 19:10–11, 14).
A spiritual relationship with Elohim through the cleansing blood of Yeshua is the only cleansing process which is acceptable to YHVH Elohim by which humans can transcend spiritually. There is no other way (1 Pet 1:2; 18–19; 1 John 1:7; Rev 1:5; 7:14; Heb 10:19–22; 9:12; 12:24; Matt 26:28; Eph 1:7). Yeshua is literally the only way to the Father in heaven (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). He is the spiritual ladder that each person must climb (John 1:51) to attaint the summit of Mount Sinai representing the exalted presence of Elohim (Gen 28:12). Yeshua is literally the gateway or door to heaven (Gen 28:17; John 10:7–9; 14:6).
The Book of Exodus’ account of the children of Israel coming into the presence of Elohim is an illustrative example of the process that each of us must go through to meet our Maker on his terms, not our terms.
Of course, this cleansing process or spiritual journey did not start at Mount Sinai for Israelites. It started back in Egypt when they put their faith in the blood of the lamb to save them from Elohim’s judgment against sin, and when they had then deleavened their lives of sin, and then passed through the Red Sea—a picture of baptism for the remission of sins. These are all symbolic and prophetic pictures that point to the steps that each person must take if they want to see Elohim. These steps include acceptance of Yeshua the Messiah, the Lamb of Elohim and his death on the cross, putting sin out of one’s life, and then being baptized for the remission of sins.
To the spiritually astute whose eyes are opened to heaven’s light, these truths should be as plain as day, but human pride and rebellion against the Truth of Elohim have blinded most humans from reality.
Now that you know this simple Truth, what will you do about it?
Exodus 19:3, Moses. The name Moses/Moshesh literally means “drawing out or rescued.” What was Moses drawn out of or rescued from? From the waters of the Nile River in Egypt. Water can be a biblical metaphor for humanity, and Egypt a metaphor for Satan’s world. That is to say that Moses was drawn out of or rescued from the seas of humanity. YHVH then used Moses to rescue, draw forth or fish the children of Israel out of the same sea of Satan’s world and lead them to YHVH, which brings us to Mount Sinai. There YHVH gave his people laws that would help to bring them into a loving relationship with him.
Moses went up to Elohim. Moses acted as YHVH’s intermediary to prepare the Israelites for their “marriage” to him. In a repeat of history, Malachi prophesied that in the last day YHVH would send other intermediary forerunners to turn the hearts of the children back to the foundations of their faith including the Torah before the return of Yeshua, thus preparing the saints to be the bride of Yeshua (Mal 4:1–6). As YHVH gave the children of Israel, his spiritual bride, three days to prepare themselves to meet him (Exod 19:11), so YHVH is likewise giving his end time saints time to prepare themselves to meet Yeshua, their heavenly Bridegroom at this second coming. As Malachi prophesied and Yeshua alluded to in his Parable of the Ten Virgins, returning to the ancient Torah-roots of the saints’ faith is central to this preparation process.
Exodus 13:18, 21, But Elohim led the people…and YHVH went before them…to lead the way. The Bible records that YHVH speaks to his people in various ways, and still does to this day. He communicates with his people…
Through his written word (Ps 119:105).
By his Holy Spirit who leads YHVH’s people to into all truth (John 16:12).
Through his divinely appointed leaders (Eph 4:11–16).
By directing the steps (through life’s circumstances) of a righteous man (Ps 37:23–24; Prov 16:9).
By directing the hearts of men (Prov 21:1).
Through prophetic words (Num 12:6).
Through dreams and visions (Num 12:6).
Through wise counselors (Prov 24:6).
Through Divine Messengers from heaven (e.g., Judg 6:11–14; 13:3).
Exodus 14
Exodus 14:13–15,And Moses said. The first four statements that Moses makes in these two verses presupposes the four fear responses that the Israelites would naturally have had when trapped between the Egyptian army and the Red Sea. What were the Israelites’ reactions? Maybe we can learn something about our own responses when faced with dire situations.
To those who felt hopeless and depressed and essentially wanted to commit suicide by fleeing, which meant certain death since there was nowhere to go: fleeing meant certain death either by drowning in the sea or by Pharaoh’s army, Moses said, “Do not be afraid. Stand still and see the salvation [Heb. Yeshua] of YHVH.”
To who longed for the good old days of their past lives back in Egypt, Moses said, “The Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see no more.”
To those who wanted to fight, Moses said, “YHVH will fight for you.”
To those who wanted to just complain to Moses and YHVH about their plight, Moses said, “Hold your peace.”
When faced with similar impossible situations, we typically have the same responses as that of the children of Israel, when all we have to do is to stand still in faith and wait on YHVH to supernaturally deliver us. But there’s more. Faith isn’t passive. It’s active. This is where the fifth statement—this one made by YHVH—comes into play.
YHVH command the Israelites to “Go forward” in faith! YHVH expected Moses, the leader, to lead the way. YHVH told the Israelites to confront their fears including the fear of death and to step into the Red Sea. Only when the people’s leader stepped forward in faith and placed his foot into the Red Sea did the sea part and the deliverance of YHVH became evident.
Note what Moses told Israelites in this first statement: “Stand still and see the salvation [Heb. Yeshua] of YHVH.” As already noted previously, the pre-incarnate Yeshua the Messiah was the Messenger of YHVH who was with the children of Israel in the fire cloud positioned between the Israelites and the Egyptians. When Yeshua the Messiah is in your camp, there is nothing to fear! This was a lesson in faith that the Israelites had to learn—and one we have to learn as well. Let’s not forget the words of the apostle:
I can do all things through Messiah which strengthens me. (Phil 4:13)
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through [Messiah] that loved us. (Rom 8:37)
What shall we then say to these things? If Elohim be for us, who can be against us? (Rom 8:31)
Exodus 14:13,Salvation. The word salvation here is the Hebrew word Yeshua. Think about this for a moment in light of the context in which this word appears in this story, and the implications for your own life when you are confronted with difficult situations.
Exodus 14:19,Angel [or Messenger] of YHVH. This is divine entity was none other than the preincarnate Yeshua—the Messenger or Word of Elohim before he was made flesh (John 1:1, 14).
Went behind them. Fire does two things. It both destroys and purifies substances depending on the durability of their composition. It consumes that which is flammable (e.g., wood, hay and stubble) and refines or purifies that which is inflammable (e.g., gold, silver and precious stones; see 1 Cor 3:12–15). To those people whose lives are characterized by wood, hay and stubble (spiritually speaking, this refers to sin and the works off the flesh), fire is a threat and terror. On the other hand, to those whose lives are like gold, silver and precious stones (spiritually speaking, this refers to works of righteousness and the fruit of the Spirit of Elohim), fire is welcomed, since they have nothing to fear. This is because fire will only refine, not destroy them spiritually.
Moreover, fire creates light. To those whose lives are characterized by light (i.e., truth and righteousness), fire is a positive thing, since it exposes sin and gives them light by which to go forward spiritually. To those people who live in spiritual darkness (i.e., the world, the flesh and the devil), as was the case with Pharaoh and Egypt (a symbolic picture of Satan and the world), and those who love sin and hate Elohim and his righteousness (John 3:19–20), fire and light are feared because it will not only expose their evil deeds, but will consume them through divine judgment (see Rev 20:15).
Therefore, the fiery flame that separated the Israelites from the Egyptians was a good thing and a blessing for the former and a horrific thing, a curse and a terror for the latter. In fact, in Exodus 15:7, in poetic terms, the Egyptians (a biblical metaphor for rebellious and unrepentant sinners) are likened to stubble that YHVH destroys in his wrathful judgment. This same thing will occur again on a global scale when the earth is burned with fire and the wicked become ashes under the sole’s of the feet (Mal 4:1–3) of the righteous after the white throne judgment (Rev 20:11–15).
What is your life comprised of? Wood, hay and stubble, or gold, silver and precious stones:
For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Yeshua the Messiah. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. (1 Cor 3:11–15)
Exodus 14:22,The children of Israel went. According to Jewish tradition (e.g., see TheArtScroll Stone Edition Chumash commentary on verse eight), the Red Sea crossing occurred on Nisan 21 (or the month of the Abib, which is the first month of the biblical calendar occurring in the early spring, Exod 13:4), which is the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, even though the Scriptures does not explicitly state this. The Jewish sages deduce this from the chronology of events leading up to the crossing. On the fifteenth day of the first month, they reason, Israel left Egypt and traveled from Rameses to Succoth. On the sixteenth day, they traveled from Succoth to Etham, and on the seventeenth from Etham to Pi-hahiroth. Then on the eighteenth it was reported to Pharaoh that Israel had been gone for three days. On the 19th and 20th Pharaoh mustered his army and pursued Israel, and on the twenty-first day of the first month Israel crossed the Red Sea, which was the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
The [Red] Sea. The Israelites went through the midst of the Red Sea. Like the killing of the Passover lamb and the painting of his blood on the door posts, the crossing of the Red Sea prophetically pointed forward to the message of the gospel and the steps a disciple of Yeshua must take in his spiritual journey. Paul states in his letter to the believers in Corinth,
Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Messiah. (1 Cor 10:1–4)
The Israelites going through the Red Sea is a prophetic picture of baptism for the remission of sins of the new believer. Red reminds us of the blood of Yeshua that cleanses sinners of sin. Moreover, sea water is salty and salt is a biblical symbol representing cleansing, purification, preservation and eternity and all of which point to the efficaciousness of Yeshua’s atoning blood on behalf of the redeemed saint.
Now let’s look at Israel’s Red Sea passage in light of its larger gospel message context. While back in Egypt, YHVH sent Moses the evangelist to the Israelites with the message of redemption from their Egyptian slave masters. To be spared from Eloim’s judgments against sin, all the Israelites had to do was to believe the evangelist (i.e., the preacher of the gospel message), when he instructed them to kill a lamb and to put its blood on the doorposts of their houses (i.e., have faith in the shed blood of Yeshua the Messiah who died on the cross to set us free from the penalty of our sins). Those who obeyed these instructions were spared Elohim’s judgment against sin.
Next, the Israelites were told to put leaven (i.e., a picture of sin) out of their houses (a symbol of their lives), eat unleavened bread (i.e., a picture of accepting Yeshua unconditionally and living a sin-free life from that point forward) and to leave Egypt (i.e., a picture of leaving behind the world’s ways and lifestyles).
After that they went through the Red Sea (i.e., a picture of baptism for the remission of sins).
These were merely the initial steps that the Israelites had to take on their journey to the “Promised Land.”
After that, they came to Marah, then to the desert oasis of Elim, then they received manna from heaven and water from the rock.
Through these steps, the Israelites learned about sin, redemption, the Messiah, how to have faith in Elohim, and how to overcome the triple headed enemy of the world, the flesh and the devil.
For those readers who can discern the code, the gospel message is encrypted in the steps that the Israelites took while traversing the wilderness (a biblical metaphor for our physical life on earth) en route to our own promised land as immortalized and glorified children of Elohim in his eternal kingdom. What the Israelites went through, how they reacted and the consequences of their actions can act as a sort of spiritual road map to aid modern saints in guiding them forward in their own spiritual journey toward inclusion in the kingdom of Elohim as his glorified children. The wise saint will learn from both the mistakes and triumphs of the Israelites. So may we all study the Bible to show ourselves approved, and may YHVH help us to learn our lessons well, so that we may overcome the world, the flesh and devil and be included in YHVH’s everlasting kingdom. Amein!
YHVH took Moses’ weaknesses and turned them into strengths!
Of Frail Men and a Faithful Elohim—The Roots of the New Covenant Revealed
How many times have you started off on a new venture full with enthusiasm and alacrity only to have it fail immediately out of the starting gate? We all have our stories to tell. The difference between one who is successful and one who is not is that the former does not give despite initial failure. Though Moses was one the Bible’s greatest heros of faith, he experienced apparent failure in his initial efforts to free his people from Egyptian tyranny. However, thanks to overcoming faith in YHVH, he “let go and let God” and became the great liberator of the Israelite people and victor over that era’s most powerful nation—a biblical metaphor for the world, the flesh and devil. There is an inspiring lesson and an encouraging message in this story for each of us to this day.
Moses’ first brushes with defeat began the moment he exited the womb, for he was born with a death sentence on his head as he narrowly escaped being aborted. At the last moment, he was adopted into an alien, heathen family and was raised as a prince in the king of Egypt’s household estranged from his Israelite heritage. We can now look back with perfect 20-20 hindsight and see how YHVH orchestrated circumstances in Moses’ life to accomplish a divine destiny, but at the time both Moses and his Israelite family were totally oblivious to higher purpose. For them, it was a day-by-day struggle for survival much less a faith walk.
Despite an auspicious and promising future as a member of the Egyptian royal family in the region’s most power nation, Moses suddenly found himself fleeing for his life as a wanted criminal—a murderer. From riches and fame, he escapes to the backside of the desert out of the legal jurisdiction of the Egyptian authorities where he becomes a lowly peasant tending sheep for forty years. As a shepherd leading quiet, bucolic life, he end up marrying the sheep rancher’s daughter, but his life struggles do not end there.
Two sons are born to him. And they all live life happily ever after. Right? Well, not exactly. While leading a rather mundane life for decades tending sheep in the desert, he unexpectedly has a divine encounter. While tending sheep, YHVH suddenly drops into his life through the spectacle of bush that is engulfed in flames but is not consumed. At that moment Moses’ life is suddenly turned upside down. Then and there, YHVH commissions him to return to Egypt and demand that Pharaoh set the children of Israel free. This is when Moses’ troubles really begin.
A happy marriage, the father of two, a peaceful life as a shepherd—what could go wrong? Moses’ wife wanted nothing to do with Moses’ new ministry. She likely thought that he was out of his mind. Consequently, she abandons him and Moses’ marriage likely ends in divorce. Now Moses is alone and without his family. Likely a monumental depressions situation for him.
But in faithful obedience to YHVH, Moses accepts the call to lead the enslaved Israelites out of captivity and into the wilderness in which he had spent forty years leading sheep. For all those years, YHVH had been preparing him to lead two-legged sheep.
As Moses returned to Egypt to confront Pharaoh, YHVH literally put a sermon in Moses’ mouth to preach to Pharaoh, even though he was stricken with a speech impediment of some sort. To this point, Moses’ life is one of stumbling, failure and seemingly random and serendipitous events. What could YHVH possibly make out of this stew of disparate ingredients? A disgraced member of the Egyptian royal family, a wanted criminal, a lowly shepherd, a failed family marriage and life plus a speech impediment on top of it all. This sounds like a recipe for disaster!
The Bible is teeming with examples like Moses of individuals, who YHVH called to accomplish great things, but who encountered seemingly insurmountable and often life threatening challenges en route to their ultimate, heaven-mandated destiny.
For example, like Moses, although YHVH gave Abraham a divine mission, but stumbled along the way in fulfilling his destiny by trying to make things happen in his own way. The same occurred with both Jacob and Joseph whose lives took a series of unexpected and seemingly disastrous and dead end turns until the seemingly random puzzle pieces fell into place and YHVH’s plan for their lives came to fruition. Similarly, David was anointed as king of Israel many years before became king. In the interim, he spent many years fleeing for his life from those who wanted to kill him. Many more examples could be given.
So Moses’ struggles did not end with his divine encounter, commissioning and empowering at the burning bush. They only begin. As mentioned earlier, shortly thereafter, his marriage likely ended in divorce. His wife of some forty years failed to catch YHVH’s vision for Moses’ life and preferred to remain in the comfort zones of her father’s house in the land of Midian.
Moving on, YHVH had set the stage is set for Israel’s redemption in Exodus 5:22–23. After all, Moses, as either Pharaoh’s adopted grandson or his nephew (depending on whether this was the Pharaoh of Moses’ childhood or his son), had an “in” with the monarch that he could have exploited for the benefit of securing the release of Israel. Yet Moses’ first venture to Pharaoh was a disaster. The plight of the children of Israel deteriorated instead of being improved. Discouraged, Moses almost takes on an accusative tone toward YHVH (Exod 5:22–23). Graciously, YHVH doesn’t rebuke Moses, but as a loving Father encourages him to refocus on his word and the veracity and surety of his promises (Exod 6:2–5).
Despite Moses’ complaints, YHVH graciously encourages Moses upward and onward in spite of his discouraging first attempt at securing the children of Israel’s release from captivity. Is it possible that YHVH allowed immediate success to elude Moses to bring him “to the end of himself” with regard to any tendency he might have had to rely on himself and on his own wisdom to accomplish Elohim’s plans? Probably so, for YHVH tested the faith of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and David in a similar manner.
As YHVH wanted Moses to rely on him alone for Israel’s deliverance, even so YHVH is teaching is modern saints to trust him alone to accomplish his will in our lives, rather than on not relying on our own human abilities. This is how YHVH increases the faith of his servants. For faith “is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb 11:1). We have to be totally emptied of ourselves before we are ready for the Master’s use. This does not mean that YHVH will not use our natural abilities, talents or what he have gained through life’s experiences, but we must learn to submit all that we have and are to his sovereign will. Moses gave up everything important in his life to serve YHVH: his wife, his family, his career as a successful shepherd, and his connections to Egyptian royalty. He learned to “trust in YHVH, and do good…Trust in YHVH, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in YHVH; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto YHVH; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass…Rest in YHVH, and wait patiently for him…The steps of a good man are ordered by YHVH: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for YHVH upholdeth him with his hand” (Ps 37:3–5, 7, 23–24).
By following this upward path of spiritual matriculation and maturation, not only is one’s faith built, but YHVH, not man, gets the glory when success occurs (Jer 9:22–23). There is no truer maxim in the Bible than this: they down is the way up. Yeshua characterized this counterintuitive spiritual path this way:
And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. (Matt 10:36–39)
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. (Matt 16:25)
He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. (John 12:25)
David summarized this spiritual journey similarly:
Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them. Who passing through the valley of Baca [or weeping] make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools. They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God. (Ps 84:5–7)
They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. (Ps 125:5–6)
Or to put these ideas into modern parlance, there is no gain without pain.
When one finally dies to oneself and lets Elohim have his way in his life, it is then that one steps into heaven’s river of life and into the realm of supernatural with its miraculous possibilities endless opportunities.
To this point, at age 80 Moses’ life continues to be one of ongoing struggles and failure.
Moses’ story is one to which most of us can relate. How is this? Because Moses’ road to ultimate success involved multiple setbacks and wrong turns, and he was beset with human foibles and weaknesses. Yet out of the bittersweet ingredients of Moses’ life, out of this confused potpourri and miscellany of human experiences, the Creator of the universe, who ex nihilo created the heavens and the earth, created Moses out of nothing, formed and shaped him, prepared him to prophetically prefigure Yeshua the Messiah, who was to come 1,500 years later. So what is the moral of this story? Like formless, worthless lumps of clay, if we will, in faith, trust and submit our lives into the hands of the Almighty, despite our weaknesses and failures, he can turn each of us into useful vessels that will ultimately bring glory and honor to him—and to ourselves as well.
So what was Moses’ ultimate destiny that required him to go through such a refining process? What was the real meaning and ultimate purpose his life? Here is a key takeaway regarding the life of Moses. He was the tool that YHVH would use to unfold heaven’s plan of redemption for the descendents of Abraham—a plan that would eventually expand to encompass all humans. Through Moses, YHVH brings the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant and adds to it the of righteousness as outline in the Mosaic or Sinaitic Covenant, and in the process lays the groundwork for the New Covenant.
How did YHVH encourage and empower Moses? By reminding Moses of and reaffirming his covenantal promises made to the patriarchs, Moses’ forefathers, and by standing by his word which is summarized in his name and reputation. YHVH reaffirmed his covenant promises to Moses using his covenant name YHVH, three times (Exod 6:6, 7, 8). Here are some other examples of how Scripture uses YHVH’s covenant name along with modifying adjectives to describe his promise and ability to meet all our human needs and to fulfill his lofty plans in our lives:
Exodus 1:7,Increased abundantly…multiplied. This was a partial fulfillment of Jacob’s prophecy in Genesis 48:16 and 19.
Exodus 1:11,Taskmaster…afflict them. The Hebrew word behind taskmaster literally means “gangs of government officials who exacted or levied tribute or taxes from the Israelites by forcing them to work as serfs.” These government bureaucratic goons forced the Israelites, through affliction, into compulsory service involving government works projects. The Egyptians imposed a fascistic and socialistic system upon the Israelites, which was a form of slavery.
Exodus 1:19–21,Midwives said. The righteous, Elohim-fearing midwives (v. 17), chose to obey Elohim rather than to follow government edicts that violated the laws of the Creator. This necessitated them lying to the Egyptians to preserve the lives of the innocent babies. This teaches us that it is not only acceptable to lie in certain circumstances, but it is even commendable in YHVH’s eyes, in order to preserve life (see also Josh 1:17 where Rahab lied to protect the Israelite spies from certain death, and 1 Sam 20:6 where David had Jonathan lie for him to save his life from the murderous Saul). For their work of preserving innocent lives, YHVH blessed the midwives with houses, households or a honorable family lineage (vv. 20–21). In reality, the midwives were pro-life, anti-abortion activists who were involved in civil disobedience for righteous purposes (On the subject of what is biblically righteous civil disobedience, see my notes at Rom 13:1).
Shiphrah…Puah. (See my article at Rom 13:1 on civil disobedience.) Respectively these names mean “brightness; from the root to glisten” and “glitter, brilliance.” One wonders whether these were the midwives’ literal names or symbolic names given to them later by Moses, the writer of books of the Torah, to indicate the beautiful and glorious nature of their work in saving the lives of the Israelite boy babies from abortive deaths at the hands of the evil secular authorities. After all, Moses himself was saved from death in a similar manner. The saving of life from abortion is indicative of the value that the Hebrews and later Christians place on human life because, after all, humans are made in the image of Elohim as the Bible reveals. To kill a human, except in self defense or in accordance with the Torah’s stipulations regarding capital punishment, is an affront to Elohim himself of whom man is a reflection, and who is called to be an imager of the divine. Where as the evolutionary, atheistic and secular humanistic and materialistic philosophy views man simply as an animal or material substance and nothing more, the supernaturalistic, biblical view sees man as being subdivine. These two views are diametrically opposed to each other and project very different philosophies to the people that hold them. Each of these opposing philosophies radiate different ethos and a set of mores to the respective societies and cultures that reflect each of them.
Exodus 2
Exodus 2:16; 3:1 (also 18:1),Priest [Heb. kohen] of Midian. The Hebrew word kohen means “priest, principal officer or chief ruler.” In the days prior to the Levitical priesthood, the Bible considers a father to be the priest of his family (see Exod 19:22, 24). Since Torah mentions three times that Jethro was the priest of Midian, evidently he was more than just a spiritual leader to his family; he was likely also a regional, priestly leader.
Exodus 2:15,Land of Midian. Midian is located in located east of the Sinai and across the Gulf of Aqaba in the modern country of Saudi Arabia (cf. The Works of Philo, “On the Life of Moses,” 1.47; Gal 4:24). The Sinai Peninsula was at times under Egyptian hegemonic control, while Midian was outside of Egyptian control making it a safe place of exile for Moses out of the reach of Egyptian legal justice. There is biblical evidence that points to the fact that this same land of Midian was also where Mount Sinai was located and was in Arabia (e.g., Gal 4:25), and not the traditional sight in the Sinai Peninsula where St. Catharine’s Monastery is now located.
Exodus 2:18,Reuel. Moses’ father-in-law had several names including Jethro (Exod 3:1) and Hobab (Num 10:29). Jethro was a descendant of Abraham through Midian, his son by Keturah (Gen 25:1–2). It’s likely that Jethro was knowledgeable about Abraham’s Yehovist faith and thus was able to train Moses, who for all practical purposes, was an Egyptian, was raised in the Egyptian religion and culture and would have known little about YHVH and his Torah-law. As such, YHVH strategically placed Moses in a spiritual boot camp for forty years where he not only learned to manage physical sheep in preparation for his leading the children of Israel, but he was trained by a godly priest eventually to become the Levitical priest over Israel.
Exodus 2:22,Gershom. A sad piece of Bible trivia is that some of Moses’ descendants didn’t follow in his righteous steps. Gershom’s sons became idol worshipers (Judg 18:30–31). Many of the children of righteous men in the Bible didn’t follow in the footsteps of their fathers in remaining faithful to Elohim.
Examples rotten apple children falling from good fruit trees include Isaac (Esau), Aaron (Nadab and Abihu), Samuel’s sons (1 Sam 8:1–3), and some of David’s children as well as the children of many of the other righteous kings of Judah.
What’s more, the Bible tells us nothing about the spiritual status of the sons of any of the prophets or apostles. Whether they remained faithful to YHVH or not, we don’t know. If they had been notable in their service to YHVH, it seems that Scripture would have recorded this notable fact.
One thing seems certain. Most of the high visibility servants of YHVH were solitary figures. Little if anything is known about their spouses, families or children, who, in general, seemed to play no major role in the key figure’s ministry activities.
Interestingly, there are also several examples of righteous sons coming from unrighteous fathers and vice versa. This is the case with several of the kings of Judah.
All this is to say that just because a child was raised well in a godly family doesn’t guarantee they will continue to serve Elohim and walk in righteousness. Conversely, just because a child was raised in an ungodly, even wicked family, doesn’t mean they will become wicked and ungodly.
Salvation is an individual matter. YHVH calls and chooses whom he will, and it’s up to the individual to respond to that calling. Some will respond, but most will not. As Yeshua said, many are called, but few are chosen (Matt 22:14), the spiritual gate is wide that leads down the wrong path, while the gate that leads down the straight path to salvation and eventually into the kingdom of Elohim is narrow (Matt 7:13). One thing is certain though. The Father’s arms are open wide for his prodigal children to return to him, and so should ours (Luke 11:15–31).
Gershom and Eliezer. Gershom was Moses firstborn son (Exod 2:22; 1 Chron 26:24). Moreover, the Scriptures records what happened to Gershom later in his life. In the Book of Judges (Judg 18:30) we find a reference to a “Manasseh” (in the KJV and NKJV), but according to the LXX and Latin Vulgate this is an erroneous translation. Instead, this Bible text should say “Moses” and not Manasseh (as the NKJV notes in the margin). The Masoretic rabbinates later changed Mosheh to Manasheh to hide the fact that Moses’ son was an idolater and idol maker. The NIV correctly states Moses, not Manasseh, and explains why the Jews changed Manasseh in its footnotes (see the NIV Study Bible). Elsewhere (1 Chron 23:15) states that both Gershom and Eliezer where Moses’ sons.
Exodus 3
Exodus 3:1,Tending the flock. Moses spent forty years in the wilderness of Midian tending the flocks of Jethro, his father-in-law. After this phase of his life, YHVH called and commissioned Moses to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt and then to shepherd them through the wilderness en route to the Promised Land. This was the very same wilderness where Moses had shepherded Jethro’s sheep for forty years, so he knew the area’s geography well. Moses’ job as a physical shepherd prepared him for the next phase of his life—his ministry as a spiritual shepherd.
Often YHVH chooses individuals as his servants based on their vocational background, which provides training for the spiritual ministry to which he then calls them. For example, David was a shepherd before he became the king over Israel. Amos was a picker of fruit and a shepherd who called the nation of Israel back to return to YHVH by producing good spiritual fruit and to come back into a relationship with their Creator, who was Israel’s true spiritual Shepherd. John the Baptist was a priest calling the Jews to repent of sin and to become a holy nation. Yeshua was a carpenter before he became a builder of the spiritual house of Israel (Heb 3:3–6; 1 Pet 2:5). Several of Yeshua’s disciples were commercial fishermen before becoming “fishers of men” (Matt 4:19) or apostolic evangelists. Paul was a tent maker helping to raise up the fallen tabernacle of David (Acts 15:16). Sometimes our physical vocations may be an indicator of and preparatory to our eventual spiritual calling.
Being a shepherd of physical sheep is a most suitable profession to prepare one for tending YHVH’s spiritual sheep. A shepherd has to put the needs, comfort, care and protection of the sheep above his own needs and wants. This is one reason why the Scriptures refer to those who care for and protect YHVH’s spiritual sheep as shepherds or pastors.
There are many similarities between physical and spiritual shepherds, and physical and spiritual sheep. Unless one has been a physical shepherd and cared for physical sheep or parented children, it is unlikely that these reasons will be readily apparent. This is why being a parent is a one of the qualifications for being an elder or deacon in the church (1 Tim 3:2, 4, 12; Tit 1:6).
Exodus 3:5,Take your sandals off. In the Orient, it is common to take off one’s shoes before entering a house, since people typically would sit on a mat or a rug (as opposed to a chair). To keep these mats from getting soiled by dirt, sandals were left outside. The idea of defilement from the shoes led to the custom of removing shoes when entering sacred place, which the Moslems practice to this day when entering a mosque. It is because of this, that the Messenger of YHVH asked Moses to take off his sandals at the burning bush (Manners and Customs, pp. 74–75), since this spot, at that moment, represented the dwelling place of YHVH.
Moreover, the removal of one’s sandals was an act of submissive worship to YHVH. When coming into the Presence of Elohim, Moses removed his sandals (as did Joshua, Josh 5:15), and the priests ministered barefoot in the tabernacle. Not only this, the priests covered their genitals when ministering in YHVH’s Presence (Exod 28:42), or when ascending to the altar of sacrifice (Exod 20:26). Not only was this a modesty issue to prevent the Israelites from descending into the perverse sexual religious rites of the surrounding heathen nations, but this, as with the removal of shoes, was a sign of reverence. In the world of the Bible, genitals symbolized power over children and sandals represented power over land. It was considered prideful and irreverent to display signs of reproductive ability and land ownership before YHVH (Social World of Ancient Israel, p. 10, by Matthews and Benjamin).
Holy ground.Holy is the Hebrew word qodesh meaning “sacredness or separateness.” That which is qodesh is the opposite of that which is common, profane, worldly, polluted or vile. The biblical record is clear: only YHVH can make something holy either by his presence or because he declares something to be qodesh. Men have no authority to call something holy unless YHVH has declared it so. Thus the idea of holy water, the Holy See, the holy mother of God, the holy rosary, the holy Koran and many other things that men have declared to be holy are not technically holy by biblical definition and according to biblical criteria. Several things that the YHVH calls holy in the Bible that most Christians ignore include are YHVH’s feasts and weekly Sabbath (Exod 12:16; 16:23; Lev 23:2), YHVH’s people or the nation of Israel when they obey him (Exod 19:6; Deut 26:19), the Tabernacle of Moses (Exod 26:33), the anointing oil (Exod 20:25), where YHVH’s holy people dwell when they obey him (Deut 23:14), YHVH’s Hebrew name which most Christians do not even know much less use (1 Chron 16:35; Ps 103:1), YHVH’s covenants with his people (Luke 1:72), Yeshua the Messiah (Acts 4:27, 30), the Scriptures or Bible (Rom 1:2) and YHVH’s Torah-law (Rom 7:12). How many of the things in this list does the mainstream church either ignore or reject as being holy, and how many things does the church call holy that YHVH in his Word does not call holy? Let us recall the words of Yeshua when rebuking the religionists of his day for all of their man-made traditions that ignored the Word of Elohim. “And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of Elohim, that ye may keep your own tradition…Making the word of Elohim of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye” (Mark 7:9, 13). May we endeavor to elevate in our lives and thinking those things that YHVH as declared to be holy and reject as being holy those things that YHVH has not called holy.
Exodus 3:14–15, I AM THAT I AM. The name YHVH is Elohim’s memorial name forever. It reflects the fact that he is; that he is undefinable in human terms, and that he has always existed. This is the name by which he is to be remembered and not forgotten as is the case with the modern rabbinic Jews which have a non-biblical doctrine forbidding the use of the Hebrew names of Deity. Exodus 3:14 and 15 read as follows:
14 And Elohim said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM (EHYEH ASHER EHYEH הוהא רשא הוהא): and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM (EHYEH הוהא) hath sent me unto you. 15 And Elohim said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, YHVH (הוהי) the Elohim of your fathers, the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Isaac, and the Elohim of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name [Heb. shem] for ever, and this is my memorial [Heb. zeker] unto all generations.
Here are some examples of how various Bible versions translate the name of YHVH:
I Am That I Am (KJV)
I Am Who I Am (NAS, NIV, NKJV
I Am That Which I Am (YLT)
I Shall Be As I Shall Be (The ArtScroll Stone Edition Tanach)
I Will Be What I Will Be (The Gutnick Edition Chumash, JPS)
I Will Be There Howsoever I Will Be There (The Schocken Bible)
I Am the Being (LXX, Brenton)
Exodus 3:15 states that YHVH is Elohim’s memorial name that Moses was to use when referring to I AM THAT I AM. I AM THAT I AM is Elohim’s actual name and what he calls himself, but men are to refer to him as YHVH, which means “the existing one, the one who is, the one who will be.” Both the former and latter are forms of the Hebrew verb hayah meaning “to be.” YHVH instructed that YHVH was to be his memorial name forever. In other words, humans were to use YHVH to remember him by. There is no indication anywhere in the Bible that it was YHVH’s intention that his name was to be forgotten or hidden through euphemization. The word memorial in Exodus 3:15 is the Hebrew word zeker and means “memorial, remembrance or memory.” There is nothing here to indicate that his name was to be forgotten.
It must be noted here that we don’t refer to YHVH as I AM, for were we to do so it would be necessary to say “I AM,” and in all reality, we aren’t the I Am, but YHVH is the I AM. Just so there is no confusion when communicating YHVH’s name in every day speech, the Bible uses, not the Hebrew ehyeh meaning “I AM,” but the form of the verb which means “He Is.” In this way, every time we say his name, we are glorifying him, and not inadvertently glorifying ourselves.
Instead of getting all vexed and confused on how exactly to pronounce Elohim’s name, let us just learn to love, worship and obey YHVH! These are the weightier matters of the Torah (Matt 23:23; 1 Cor 13:1–13). The last thing that YHVH wants is for his children to cause division and strife over how to pronounce his name!
The name YHVH, referred to as the tetragrammaton, is the personal name of the Creator and occurs some 6800 times in the Tanakh. The exact pronunciation of this name has been lost down through the ages, and there is debate among well-meaning individuals on how to pronounce this four consonant Hebrew name. Because there are no vowels in this name, scholars can only speculate and make educated guesses about what the vowels between the consonants should be. No one knows for sure how to vocalize the consonants Y-H-V-H. The best scholarly opinions on this subject are just that—educated guesses.
Instead of getting all worked up about how exactly to pronounce Elohim’s name, let us just love, worship and obey YHVH! Again, these are the weightier matters of the Torah (Matt 23:23; 1 Cor 13:1–13). This is the distinguishing mark a true disciple of Yeshua (John 13:35), and what will separate the goats from the sheep (Matt 25:37–44)—not how we pronounce YHVH’s name!
Exodus 3:2; 13:21; 14:20
The Burning Bush and the Messenger of YHVH
From the first to the last book of the Old Testament, an enigmatic figure keeps making an appearance onto the stage of Israel’s long history—usually at critical moments. Scripture calls this divine entity “the angel of the LORD/YHVH.” The appearance of this unnamed personage was not infrequent. He drops in on Israelites numerous times and he is mentioned fifty times. Was he a single divine entity or were there several “angels of YHVH?” Was he a literal, stereotypical angel or something more? We will explore this question.
One of his epic appearances occurred prior to Moses leading the children of Israel out of Egypt at a burning bush that refused to be consumed by fire. Such a spectacle would render any passerby immobile and gawking with mouth agape. It was here that the shepherd Moses not only came face to face with the Angel of YHVH, but received some secret intelligence along with a divine calling. Let’s dive in and explore this subject.
In Exodus 13:21 we read,
And YHVH went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night.
Then in Exodus 14:19 it is written,
And the angel of Elohim, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them.
Who was this “Angel” of Elohim (elsewhere he is called “the Angel of YHVH”)? Angel is an unfortunate translation. The Hebrew word for angel is malak/ךאלמ and simply means “a heavenly or a human messenger.”Prophetically this word can refer to human messengers such as the one coming in the spirit of Elijah prior to Messiah’s coming, as well as to the Messiah himself (as in “the Messenger/Malak of the covenant” in Malachi 3:1). Then in Genesis 32:22–30 Jacob wrestles with a man Scripture identifies as the “Malak of YHVH” (Hos 12:3–5), and whom Jacob also called Elohim (verse 30). This same Individual redeemed Jacob (Gen 48:18), and is identified with “the Malak of Elohim…the Elohim of Bethel” (Gen 31:11 and 13). He again appeared to Moses at the burning bush (Exod 3:2). After this, we find him leading children of Israel through the wilderness. Again who is this personage of divine origination?
Stephen in Acts 7:37–39 identifies the Messiah (i.e., “that Prophet” Moses mentioned in Deut 18:15) with this same “Angel” or Heavenly Messenger which spoke to the children of Israel from Mount Sinai and who gave them the “living oracles,” who the Israelites later rejected for pagan gods. Paul elsewhere said of that same Personage that the Israelites did “all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Messiah/Christ” (1 Cor 10:4).
Moreover, Yeshua declared to the Jews that he was the I AM, YHVH or Messenger of YHVH of the burning bush incident who spoke to Moses (Exod 3:2, 14). The Jews knew that Yeshua was declaring himself to be YHVH, which is why they picked up stones to kill him, for they considered such a declaration to be a blasphemous (John 8:59). A human calling himself God? Scandalous to be sure! Yeshua went on to state that the Israelites never heard the voice of the YHVH the Father, nor saw his face at anytime (John 5:37). This would include the time period of the children of Israel. If it wasn’t the Father who spoke to the Israelites, then who did? That leaves only one other person—the Word of Elohim that was with Elohim and who would latter become flesh and dwell with men as Yeshua the Messiah (John 1:14)—God in the flesh (Phil 2:5–11; 2 Cor 4:4; Col 1:15–16; 1 Tim 3:16; Tit 2:13; Heb 1:8).
Concerning the pillar of fire that led the Israelites through the wilderness, we see that it gave them light. Light in the Scriptures is often a biblical a metaphor for the Torah (Pss 19:8; 119:105; Prov 6:23). We know that Yeshua the Messiah is the Light of the World (John 8:12), and that he is the Word of Elohim in living form (personified, John 1:1, 14).
Furthermore, in Nehemiah 9:12 and 19 we read,
Moreover thou leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar; and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way wherein they should go…Yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way wherein they should go. (emphasis added)
While light in the Scriptures often allegorically refers to theTorah, the term the way (Heb. derek,ךרד) can be a metaphor for “the way of Torah righteousness.” The Scriptures uses the term way(s)/derek as a reference to the Torah in the following passages (and many more as well):
Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of YHVH thy Elohim, to walk in his ways, and to fear him. (Deut 8:6)
And now, Israel, what doth YHVH thy Elohim require of thee, but to fear YHVH thy Elohim, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve YHVH thy Elohim with all thy heart and with all thy soul. (Deut 10:12)
For if ye shall diligently keep all these [Torah] commandments which I command you, to do them, to love YHVH your Elohim, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him. (Deut 11:22)
And a curse, if ye will not obey the [Torah] commandments of YHVH your Elohim, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known. (Deut 11:28)
I have chosen the way of [Torah] truth: thy judgments have I laid before me. (Ps 119:30)
I will run the way of thy [Torah] commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart. (Ps 119:32)
Teach me, YHVH, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end. (Ps 119:33)
The Messenger of Elohim from within the pillar of fire not only directed the Israelites in the way they should go (Exod 13:21; Deut 1:33), but the Messenger spoke to Moses from within the pillar as well,
And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and YHVH talked with Moses. And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man in his tent door. And YHVH spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle. (Exod 33:9–11)
And YHVH descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of YHVH. (Exod 34:5)
And YHVH came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease. (Num 11:25)
And YHVH appeared in the tabernacle in a pillar of a cloud: and the pillar of the cloud stood over the door of the tabernacle. And YHVH said unto Moses…(Deut 31:15–16a)
What can we gather from all the above texts pertaining to the Messenger of YHVH (improperly translated “Angel” of the LORD)? This same Divine Messenger thundered out the words of the Written Torah from Mount Sinai, he gave divine revelation to Moses out of the pillar of fire, he lit the path of the Israelites through the wilderness with both physical and spiritual light. He led them in the physical and spiritual way they should go as they were trekking through the wilderness. This fiery Messenger who gave both physical and spiritual light to the Israelites is nothing else but another manifestation of the complete, supernal light which shone upon this earth during the first three days of creation—a light which will once again shine at the end of days in the New Jerusalem replacing the physical sun (Rev 21:23; 22:5). This divine Torah-light was concealed after day three of creation, but was hidden in the Written Torah and in the Person of Yeshua the Messiah, the Living Torah. This same Light was none other than the fiery Messenger who led the Israelites through the wilderness, and who became the Torah-Word of Elohim made flesh. Yeshua was torch bearer of Truth to the world in the first-century and to this day. As the fiery Messenger led the Israelites out of the land of Egypt and out of the house of bondage through the wilderness, this same Torah light, concealed to most, but revealed to those who have eyes to see, is still leading and guiding us through the wilderness experience of your life as you are heading to the Promised Land of the kingdom of Elohim in the New Jerusalem.
This same “Angel” or Messenger from heaven who was the second person of the Godhead and who would become Yeshua the Messiah appeared numerous other times to godly Old Testament saints including Abraham, Hagar, Jacob, Joshua, Samson’s parents, David, Elijah, Zechariah and even to Balaam and his donkey!
Exodus 4
Exodus 4:3,Serpent. Serpents and staffs were powerful symbols and are biblical metaphors for evil spiritual entities. What lessons can we learn from Moses’ power encounter with Pharaoh’s magicians?
A serpent is often a biblical metaphor for Satan or demonic powers (e.g., Gen 3:1; Luke 10:19 cp. 9:1 and Mark 16:18; Rev 12:9; 20:2). Pharaoh, as ruler over Egypt (a metaphor for this world), was a symbol of Satan who is the ruler of this world. A rod or a staff can be a biblical metaphor for power, authority, rulership or judgment (Gen 38:18; Exod 4:17, 20; Ps 2:9; Rev 19:15).
In this verse, YHVH was giving Moses authority over the powers of Satan and his forces. When Moses cast down his rod, it became a serpent, and Moses was immediately able to assume control over the serpent at will for the purposes of advancing YHVH’s spiritual kingdom. This seems to have been YHVH’s way of showing Moses that he was giving him supernatural authority over Pharaoh (Satan) in fulfilling his divine commission to liberate the children of Israel.
The staff changing into a serpent reminds us of the authority that Yeshua gave his disciples to cast out demons and to heal diseases (Luke 9:1; 10:19; Mark 16:15–18).
Furthermore, later on YHVH instructed Moses to construct a bronze serpent and place it on a pole, which when the Israelites looked on it, they were healed of the bites of the fiery serpents (Num 21:8). Here the serpent represents sin, since it is Satan the serpent who introduced sin to man in the Garden of Eden, which resulting in “the fall” of man and brought upon each of the curse of death because of sin. Yeshua took that curse on himself when he was lifted up on the cross of judgment even as Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the wilderness (John 3:14). As a result, Yeshua defeated Satan the serpent at the cross (Col 2:15; Gen 3:15; Rom 16:20), even as Moses’ serpent defeated the serpents of the satanic Pharaoh’s magicians. Likewise, we as the servants of Yeshua the Messiah have the same authority over demonic powers (Luke 9:1; 10:19; Mark 16:15–18) as Moses did when we act on alignment with the will of YHVH.
Exodus 4:6,Put your hand in your bosom. This second sign was to demonstrate Moses’ authority over sickness, disease and sin. Authority over sickness by healing the sick was a key component of Yeshua’s ministry as well. Leprosy is another biblical metaphor for sin; both are highly contagious (Lev 13–14). Only Yeshua’s death on the cross can heal men of this spiritual disease as the Torah’s cleansing ritual for leprosy metaphorically symbolizes (Lev 14:4–7).
Exodus 4:9,Blood on the dry land. This was the third sign or witness that YHVH gave Moses as confirmation of his divine commission. The Scriptures instruct us to confirm a matter in the mouth of two or three witnesses (2 Cor 13:1). The Nile River was like a god to the Egyptians because it was the source of much of Egypt’s economic wealth, since it watered that country’s crops and made that nation rich and powerful. Bringing the judgment of death upon the Nile’s waters was a judgment against one of Egypt’s gods and the source of its economic might.
Exodus 4:3–9,A summary. The three signs that YHVH had Moses perform to Pharaoh were merely warning shots against a wicked and unrepentant nation instructing them to submit to YHVH’s will. YHVH was telling the Egyptians that if they refused to obey his prophet, he would unleash demonic spirits, and plagues of sickness and economic destruction on that nation. These are YHVH’s judgments against a nation that refuses to repent. Of course, Egypt refused to obey YHVH, and so he not only brought these judgments against Egypt, but much more, such that Egypt was totally destroyed. The same fate befalls end times satanic and antichrist worldwide system that the Book of Revelation calls Mystery Babylon the Great. As YHVH used Mosess to destroy Egypt, so he will use Yeshua, his Son, to destroy Babylon the Great.
Exodus 4:10,Slow of speech. This doesn’t necessarily mean that Moses had a speech impediment, for Stephen tells us that he was “mighty in words” (Acts 7:22). Perhaps, with practice, Moses became might in words. Moreover, Moses struggled to speak Hebrew fluently, since he was raised speaking the Egyptian language. Likely Moses spoke Egyptian fluently and without an accent having been raised in an Egyptian home. His inability to speak publicly seems to be emphasized by the fact that he used Aaron as his spokesman even to Pharaoh, who would have spoken Egyptian, a language in which Moses would have been fluent.
Exodus 4:20,Sons. The names of Moses were Gershom (Exod 2:22) and Eliezer (1 Chron 23:15).
Exodus 4:21,I will harden Pharaoh’s heart. There is an interesting interplay in the Torah’s narrative regarding the a condition of Pharaoh’s heart. At times, Scripture records that Pharaoh hardened his own heart (Exod 7:23; 8:15, 32; 9:34), and at other time times, we read that Elohim hardened Pharaoh’s heart (Exod 7:3, 13, 22; 8:19; 9:7, 12, 35; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10; 14:4, 5, 8). Who is in control of Pharaoh’s heart? Pharaoh or Elohim? Initially, it appears that Pharaoh had control over his heart disposition, but as time progressed, his heart became totally sold out to rebellion against YHVH. When he crossed this line, it was a point of no return for Pharaoh, and so YHVH simply used him to accomplish his purposes. Paul discusses the sovereignty of Elohim with regard to the free will of men in Romans 9:15–18. YHVH can save whom he wishes (Mark 10:26–27 cp. Rom 9:18) and condemn whom wishes (Rom 9:18, 22). It is true that YHVH loves the whole world (John 3:16) and is not willing that any should perish, but desires all to be saved (2 Pet 3:9). At the same time, there are people who refuse Elohim’s love and choose to remain in their sinful rebellion. These are the wicked that he has reserved for the day of his judgment (Job 21:30; Prov 16:4; Rom 9:22; Jude 4). However, YHVH sets before humans two paths: life and death. All have the freedom and ability to choose the path of righteousness, leading to life, or wickedness leading to death (Deut 30:15–20). When Pharaoh chose the path of wickedness and death and hardened his heart to go in that direction, YHVH simply complied with the dictates of the king’s heart and used him to accomplish his sovereign and divine purposes. In the Exodus record relating to the condition of Pharaoh’s heart, we see that initially sometimes Pharaoh hardened his own heart, and sometimes it was YHVH who did it. In the end, however, it was YHVH who exclusively hardened Pharaoh’s heart. This is because by this time, Pharaoh had already predetermined to harden his heart, and YHVH was simply manipulating Pharaoh according to his sovereign purposes. YHVH was no way violating Pharaoh’s freewill or freedom of choice, but was merely acting in accordance with the choices Pharaoh and already made.
Exodus 4:22,Israel, my son, my firstborn. The nation of Israel was YHVH’s firstborn son among the nations of the world. As such, YHVH through Moses was first declaring the birth of Israel as a nation, and secondly, that Israel was preeminent among nations in YHVH’s eyes. This was an in-your-face declaration to Pharaoh, sovereign of the world’s mightiest nation at the time, to move over, for a greater nation was on the rise that would replace Egypt. This was a bold move on Moses’ part, and one that no man in his right mind could make unless he were either full of ultra-arrogance and delusions of grandeur, or else he truly had been commissioned, authorized and sent by the Creator of the universe on a divine mission. Had Moses not had YHVH’s backing, Pharaoh could have pronounced a death sentence on Moses then and there. Not only this, Moses, as the leader of the nation of Israel, was declaring spiritual war on Pharaoh and Egypt in the name of YHVH Elohim when he gave him the ultimatum to free the Israelites or face YHVH’s judgment.
Exodus 4:25,Cut off the foreskin. Presumably, Moses would have already been circumcised by his mother when he was a baby, thus he was consecrated in YHVH’s eyes. However, for Moses to continue forward in his ministry call, it was necessary for him to consecrate his minor sons through the ritual act of circumcision in accordance with the Abrahamic Covenant. What is the lesson in this for us today? Simply this. A servant of YHVH must get his own spiritual house in order before pointing an accusing finger at someone else. If he doesn’t, he will be revealed as an arrogant, two-faced hypocrite, thus bringing disrepute to YHVH as a laughing stock of the devil resulting in hindering the advancement of his kingdom. YHVH required this of Moses before confronting Pharaoh accusingly.
The cutting away of the flesh of the foreskin symbolically signifies the death of the carnal man from following idols of the flesh and dying to its lusts. The foreskin being at the forefront or the leading edge of a man’s anatomy is a graphic illustration of cutting away the filthy flesh and going forward spiritually in a clean, righteous and sanctified state. Moreover, one’s willingness to undergo the procedure of circumcision indicates a willingness go forward as the Creator’s spiritual bondservant.
Zipporah. Why did Moses expect Zipporah to circumcise his sons? This is a question that has puzzled many Bible students over the years. To answer this question, we must understand the role of the mother in ancient Near Eastern culture during Bible times. The mother was the sole manager of the household. Because ancient Israel was a subsistence economy, a household’s resources had to be managed carefully, and this was the woman’s responsibility. She directed the preservation and storage of food and allotted food rations to each family member to ensure that everyone in the household was fed and that the food lasted until the next harvest cycle. “In the world of ancient Israel, a man’s home was his wife’s castle She had the domestic authority which he did not” (Social World of Ancient Israel, p. 25, by Matthews and Benjamin). The mother’s dominant role over the household including the children may explains why Moses expected Zipporah to circumcise his two sons (Exod 4:25–26).
For the mother, childbearing and teaching children were synonymous roles. The Book of Proverbs shows the dual role of the mother (Prov 1:8; 6:20; 23:22–25; 31:1–9).
A mother’s intimate bond to her children not only lasted through pregnancy and infancy, but also through the weaning process, which often didn’t occur until the child was four years of age. After teaching them how to walk, talk and dress themselves, she taught the child the domestic skills of gardening, cooking herding, weaving and making pottery (Social World of Ancient Israel, p. 28, by Matthews and Benjamin).
Exodus 4:31,They bowed their heads. When YHVH intervenes supernaturally on behalf of his people in a convincing and powerful manner to deliver them in their affliction, what more can man do but to bow their heads in worship?
Exodus 5
Exodus 5:1,Feast. Feast is the Hebrew word chagag meaning “to hold a feast, hold a festival, make pilgrimage, keep a pilgrim-feast, celebrate, dance, stagger.” This a general term referring to one of the biblical pilgrimage festivals (i.e. Passover/Unleavened Bread, Feast of Weeks and Feast of Tabernacles). Specifically, this was referring to the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which ended up being the night when the children of Israel existed Egypt after just having celebrated the Passover.
Exodus 5:14–20,Divide and conquer. This is the strategy of Satan to defeat his enemies. This is what Pharaoh (a biblical metaphor for Satan) did to the Israelites. He set the people against their leaders and vice versa, and ultimately against Elohim.
Exodus 5:21–23,And they said to them. When YHVH commissions his servants, often they encounter obstacles in executing his orders. This serves to humble YHVH’s servants, so they will be less likely to rely on their own carnal prowess, schemes and abilities to fulfill his commission for them and thus to become more reliant on YHVH to help them to overcome the obstacles. Furthermore, obstacles are a test of the faith of YHVH’s servants. Will they trust him and rely on him to help them overcome the obstacles, or will they, in fear and discouragement, give up defeated? This is part of the refinement and honing process that YHVH’s chosen vessel go through to hone their leadership skills, so that they will be righteous and godly leaders.
Exodus 5:22,Now you shall see. YHVH was about to set the enemy’s strategy of divide and conquer (see notes at vv. 14–20) on its head. YHVH is in charge and will be glorified, and his people will come out victorious if they keep their eyes on him and follow his instructions (Rom 8:28–29).
Exodus is the book whose principle theme is redemption—Israel’s deliverance from Egypt. Here we learn how YHVH saves his people and we are shown that his people are redeemed in order to worship him. The traditional Jewish name for Exodus is the Hebrew word Shemot meaning “names.” This is based on the fact that this word is the first noun that appears in the first verse in Exodus. The Jews name all the books of the Torah or Pentateuch based on the first verb or noun that occurs at the beginning of each book.
The Theme of Redemption
The first major theme in Exodus is idea of redemption of YHVH’s people from enslavement in Egypt. Egypt is a biblical symbolic metaphor for the world, the flesh and the devil. This speaks to the larger and overall biblical theme of redemption or salvation of those people who put their trust in YHVH Elohim, who promises to deliver them from all the influences of evil. The aspects of divine redemption are delineated in Exodus chapter six.
Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, “I am YHVH, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your Elohim; and you shall know that I am YHVH your Elohim, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you to the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you for a possession; I am YHVH.” (Exod 6:6–8, emphasis added)
Worshipping and Obeying YHVH Elohim
Once YHVH has delivered and redeemed those who trust him from enslavement to the evil influences of “Egypt,” if people are to stay delivered from the powers of evil or the dark kingdom of Satan, then people must be will to enter the kingdom of Eohim, which involves obeying and worshipping YHVH Elohim, who delivered them from death and spiritual darkness into life and spiritual lght.
And he said, “Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be a token unto you, that I have sent you, when you have brought forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve Elohim upon this mountain.” (Exod 3:12, emphasis added)
And I say unto you, “Let my son go, that he may serveme, and if you refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay your son, even your firstborn.” (Exod 4:23, emphasis added)
And you shall say unto him, “YHVH Elohim of the Hebrews has sent me to you, saying, ‘Let my people go, that they may serveme in the wilderness, and, behold, until now you would not hear.’” (Exod 7:16, emphasis added)
The Basic Outline of Exodus
Chapters 1–6 show us the need for redemption.
Chapters 7–11 show us the power or might of the Redeemer as he pours out the ten plagues on Egypt as symbolic of his divine judgment against this world in general and man’s sin in particular.
Chapters 12–18 show us the character of redemption, and how sinful man is redeemed by blood of a lamb and is emancipated from heaven’s judgment against the sins of the world by the blood of an innocent life, which prophetically points to Yeshua the Redeemer, who would be the Lamb of Elohim to redeem man from sin.
Chapters 19–24 teaches us the duty of the redeemed to obey and worship YHVH Elohim.
Chapters 25–40 gives further instructions on how to be redeemed and how to stay redeemed. Provisions are also made for the failures of the redeemed to be restored back into a right relationship with their Creator when they fall spiritually.
The Prophetic Metaphors in Exodus
Egypt is a biblical metaphor for the world, the place of sin and bondage where one is held captive before being delivered or redeemed by the power of YHVH and the blood of Yeshua, the Lamb of Elohim. It is interesting to note that although Egypt was the land of science and art, it was simultaneously the land of death in that their religion was morbidly fixated with the theme of death.
Pharaoh is a metaphor for Satan, a merciless taskmaster who opposes the people of YHVH in every way.
Pharaoh’s magicians symbolically represents the demonic spirits that are active in the world and are doing Pharaoh’s (Satan’s) bidding in opposing Israel, the people of Elohim, and Elohim himself and his plans to redeem his people.
Moses is a prophetic metaphor for and antetype of Yeshua the Messiah (at his first coming). Both Moses and Yeshua acted as deliverers of the people from the bondage and power of sin, death and hell, which is the power of the enemy, Satan.
The blood of the lamb on the door posts is a metaphor for Yeshua, the Redeemer, whose death on the cross atoned for man’s sins causing YHVH’s judgment death penalty against sin to pass over or to be lifted off of his people.
The crossing of the Red Sea is a metaphor the saint’s union with Messiah Yeshua in his death, burial and resurrection via the ritual of tevilah (immersion or baptism) at a mikvah (a gathering of waters).
The journey through the wilderness is a metaphor for the trials and testing that occur during the redeemed believer’s spiritual walk through this physical life with YHVH’s provision to meet every need and his protection from every attack of the adversary.
The giving of the Torah represents one’s spiritual walk after having exited spiritual Egypt. This teaches YHVH’s people the importance of obedience and submission to him as they learn to love and to obey in gratitude for freeing them from Satan and the world. He is now their new loving Father and Master in place of Satan the slavemaster.
The Tabernacle of Moses with its furnishings is a pictorial layout or blueprint of the steps in YHVH’s plan of redemption (salvation) for mankind and the steps in man’s spiritual maturation into intimate relationship with the Father through Yeshua the Messiah. The tabernacle, in reality, is like a giant gospel tract where Yeshua the Messiah is the over-arching, central theme, for the tabernacle points to Yeshua in every detail!
