Exodus Lesson

Old Testament Studies
Category: Exodus
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EXODUS
Week 1, Introduction
Today, we start what I think you will find to be an exciting, eye-opening, and (I hope) spirit-filled
adventure into the 2nd book of the Torah……Exodus. And, to set the table for what it is we’ll study,
and where it will take us, I would like to spend a little time giving you an overview of Exodus, and
talking a little about the conditions Israel lived under during the time between Joseph’s death, and
the first mention of Moses.
The Hebrew name for the section of the Torah that we call “Exodus”, is Sh’mot. Sh’mot means
“names”, and certainly comes from the fact that the first words of the book begin with “These are
the names of the sons of Israel……..”
Just as a quick refresher, the first five books of the Bible are called in Hebrew, Torah. It means
teaching. It does NOT mean Law. And, the Torah, consisting of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers, and Deuteronomy, consists of traditions handed down orally from generation to
generation as well as what God gave to Moses on the Holy Mountain that we call Mt. Sinai.
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Genesis is often called the Book of Beginnings…….that’s “beginnings” ending in an

“s”….plural……several beginnings. In Genesis it is my opinion that we were not really so much told of
the beginning of the universe (that is, that time when an incalculably vast nothing became
something) but rather it seems to me that the start of Genesis is about God creating the conditions
for life. In other words the Creation account begins by stating that it was God who created
everything and then explains that the earth was formless and void (meaning that it had been
created and had been sitting there for some unspecified period without life as with the rest of the
universe). Then we’re told that darkness was over the surface of the deep (so there already WAS
a “deep”); and lastly that the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. So what we
see is that the Creation story is about the beginning of the physical environment that could support
life was but it was only the first of several “beginnings” that we would be told about in Genesis.
Exodus, Sh’mot, is, in many ways, another book of beginnings. And, it is the book of beginnings of
a nation of people who God elected, and separated from all other people on planet Earth: the
Israelites. And Yehoveh established the set-apart nation on political, civil, and religious levels. In
other words, although the earth, and stars, and animals, and plants, and mankind were all created
in the earliest part of the Creation story, God had not yet finished developing His divine work with
these infants of Creation; He didn’t create and then just let everything evolve on its own without
His further molding and shaping.
Exodus is entirely God centered; and Exodus establishes several important understandings about
the nature of the Lord, most of which we are expected to already have digested as a prelude to
studying the New Testament. In Exodus we learn that there is but ONE God, and His name is Yud-
Heh-Vav-Heh. That he is the same God that appeared to the Patriarchs as El Shaddai. He is the
Creator of all things, but He is also above and not organically part of the things He created. He is
present, and He is near but His being is not the same substance of any created thing……except, in
small part, for Mankind. This God of Abraham is different than any of the pagan Mystery Babylon
gods. His area of dominion is infinite, He is without boundaries and limitations, his powers are
infinite, and yet, He constantly interacts with mere men. In other words, the God of Israel is deeply
involved in human affairs, and in fact, uses human affairs to achieve a much grander purpose. And,
His grand plan involves the establishment of a nation of people that He will rescue, redeem, teach,
nurture, and discipline: Israel.
So, although Israel (as created in Genesis) was a separate and identifiable people group, it was, at
the time of the last words written in the book of Genesis, still in a fairly primitive form. God had
done little, yet, to create that peculiar order of society that would make Israel separate and distinct
from all others. About the only thing that made them different from the Egyptians was race and
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Category: Exodus
vocation: they were mainly Semite shepherds while the Egyptians were cattle ranchers and brick
makers from the line of Ham. Exodus is the place in the Bible where we see another division,
election and separation: Israel advances from infancy to adolescence and is founded as a NATION
of people, maturing from just a group of people. A nation with its own culture and laws, well defined
morals and ethics…… its own history, its own land, and its own God who establishes the
unchangeable morals and ethics and justice system that Israel is to live their lives by.
We will, early in Exodus, be introduced to the principal of Passover. And, the first Passover was
that great and dreadful night when God sent the final plague upon Egypt that caused Pharaoh to
loosen his grip on God’s people; and it was that plague that resulted in the death of every firstborn
child all throughout Egypt. However, for those who followed God’s instruction to paint the
doorposts of their homes with the blood of a lamb, death passed by. That is, all of Egypt was
placed under a death penalty for their rebellion against God. But, God made provision for those
alone who trusted Him. And, that provision was by means of the blood that was spilled from an
innocent lamb; by that blood alone would they would be saved. Here, in Exodus, we could not have
a more perfect picture in the entire Bible for the purpose of the future Messiah, Yeshua, Jesus the
Christ.
And, in Exodus, we will also be introduced to a new covenant. If you were paying attention to what I
just said, your ears probably perked up, and you’re thinking “What? What did he just say?
Exodus, a new covenant?” You see terminology has an enormous impact on the way we perceive
new information. We have typically been taught that the Bible is based on two main divisions called
the O.T. and the N.T. Most everything in Christianity is based on the premise that there was an
original set of rules and laws handed down to mankind by God, which was eventually replaced by a
new and better set called the N.T. And for gentile EVANGELICAL Christians it has been heavily
implied that there is little point to knowing more about the Bible than we can find in the N.T, so the
O.T. is seen more as simply ancient history, or as a curiosity, fit only for scholars and
academics…….or perhaps interesting Sunday School stories for children….and for people with lots of
time on their hands.
Those of you who graduated from dissecting the book of Genesis hopefully are beginning to
appreciate that most of the spiritual principles that we tend to ascribe as originating in the N.T.
were already in operation, and we have already found them, right there in the oldest book of the
Old Testament.
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The point is this: we really need to relegate the terms O.T. and N.T. to the waste bin of our
vocabulary. What we have is the Bible: ONE unified Word of God. And, just as God is one, echad,
so are our Holy Scriptures. Take away the O.T., and we only have half a Bible. Take away the N.T,
and we only have half a Bible; half the Word of God. And, when we take away EITHER HALF, its
not that we lose half the understanding, it’s that most, if not all, of what we think we know is
actually quite incomplete and skewed.
Let me also make the point that the New Covenant, and the New Testament, are not the same
things. The New Covenant is proclaimed in the Old Testament (in Jeremiah 31). The New
Covenant is a prophecy of yet another in a series of covenants that God would make with men;
each covenant is necessary and important……and each covenant is still valid. The New
Testament simply records that the New Covenant as foretold in Jeremiah came about, and that
Yeshua Ben Yosef, Jesus son of Joseph, is the Messiah who brings in the New Covenant by
means of spilling His atoning blood for our sakes.
Indeed, we will see that God also gives Moses a new covenant; not the same covenant as what we
call The New Covenant; but it was, for Moses, the latest of a series of covenants that the Lord
established to bring about His will. The covenant given on Mt. Sinai is that which Christians
typically call the 10 Commandments, or The Law; yet it consists, as we will see in the weeks
ahead, of far more than 10 basic laws of God.
What we will also be introduced to in this newest covenant given to Moses is a new TYPE of
covenant; a CONDITIONAL covenant; a covenant that is bilateral; a covenant that is based on
Man, as well as God, each doing his part. A covenant that is mutual between God and Man. This is
entirely different than the covenant God made with Abraham some 600 years earlier. For that
covenant, which led to the establishment of what the Bible calls the “line of covenant promise”,
was Unconditional. The covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was unilateral. It was one-
way……NOT mutual. It all depended on God. Nothing Man could do would cause God to pull back
from that covenant, nor to change it. In other words, the earlier covenants were but promises from
Yehoveh to Abraham.
This new covenant given to Moses on Mt. Sinai in no way replaced the different and older covenant
given to Abraham. It was not a newer and better model, with all the latest bells and whistles,
designed to replace an older and outdated one. It was simply another covenant, entirely distinct in
purpose and in nature from the one given to Abraham. Yet, just as the first half of the Bible is the
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Category: Exodus
foundation of the second, so is Abraham’s covenant the foundation for the new one given to
Moses. Therefore the covenants of Abraham and Moses are very different but tightly connected, as
are chapters in a book.
Exodus is a saga; it’s a wide canvas painted with broad strokes. Yet, we must not think of it like a
secular history lesson. Only events and mental pictures that illustrate and demonstrate divine
principles and purposes are recorded for our study. Therefore, Exodus doesn’t give us a lot of
detail on happenings, and places, and people, and cultures. It doesn’t describe the magnificent
and advanced society of Egypt, nor tell much of Israel’s time there. It doesn’t give us precise
information on the route of the Exodus. It doesn’t tell us much about the Pharaoh of the Exodus.
Except for explicit instructions on the building of the Wilderness Tabernacle and the accompanying
rituals, details are in short supply in Exodus.
From the time of the close of the last chapter of Genesis to the beginning of the book of Exodus,
about 350 years have passed…silently, as though it doesn’t really suit God to even bother to tell us
much about what went on in Egypt. Or, it’s as though God just forgot about poor Israel,
languishing away in the heat and forced labor that had become their lot. And, no doubt, the majority
of those Hebrews must have felt that, indeed, God had abandoned them.
What I think you will come to see, however, is that what God did with Israel was to metaphorically
make a cake. God carefully selected the ingredients to make Israel; then He mixed them until
properly blended, and next set the mixture in an oven to be baked. He set His heavenly timer for
exactly the amount of time He knew was needed for this Hebrew cake to congeal and to rise and to
become usable….400 years…..and He waited. Although He undoubtedly monitored the baking
process, in general, there was no need for substantial intervention on His part. The cake would
remain in the oven until the timer went off, and it was finished baking. Well, when God opened the
oven, out popped Israel. And, apparently there was little point in His telling us the details of what
went on during the time Israel was baking in the oven of Egypt. So, the Bible contains almost
nothing of those years.
The Torah presents us, essentially, with a pair of bookends (with the volumes in between those
bookends missing) concerning what was apparently one of the most, if not THE most, important
purpose for God’s determination that Israel would, indeed, spend a long time in Egypt. The first
bookend is Gen. 46:3, where God tells Jacob, “Fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will THERE
make of thee a great nation”. And, that one bookend stands alone until the next one occurs
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shortly after the opening verses of Exodus: “and the children of Israel were fruitful, and
increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceedingly mighty; and the land was
filled with them.” God prophesied Israel’s expansive population group, declared it would be so,
and it happened. How if all happened may be of interest to man, but God’s only mission was to
ensure that His divine purposes be fulfilled, not that posterity should have a blow-by-blow account
of it.
Perhaps some of the Israelites remembered that God told their forefather, Abraham, and later
Jacob, that Egypt was their destiny for a time. And, perhaps, they reckoned that just as the
prediction of their sojourn in Egypt and their population explosion had come true, so it would
happen at God’s appointed time that, as promised in Gen. 46:4, “I will surely bring you back up
again”. Yet, after 3 ½ centuries in Egypt, with apparently very little input from God, how much
would those Hebrews actually have remembered about those precious and reassuring promises,
given their condition as slave laborers? And, more importantly, how much would they still trust in
the One who had MADE those now-distant promises; trust Him during a time while they lived
amidst a culture that deified and worshipped beasts, men, and the sun, moon, and stars? A culture
that was completely preoccupied with life after death….. and knew nothing of God.
This death culture of Egypt was probably one of the reasons that we see such a reticence on the
part of the Torah to even discuss death and afterlife. The OT never introduces a concept of dying
and going to Heaven; in fact, what happens after death is barely touched upon in the OT, and it
gives us the haziest of pictures. Egypt’s religion was one of magnificent monuments and god
images, and one that focused on death. The Pyramids were but elaborate burial chambers and self-
contained kingdoms for living the afterlife. Therefore, Israel’s religion became an imageless one,
and the only authorized monument we’ll find in Exodus was a modest tent structure built for God to
dwell with His people. And the subject of death was simply dealt with as a mysterious fact.
Unfortunately for us, Exodus opens by immediately cutting to the chase, and telling us only in the
broadest terms the condition of the Hebrews in Egypt. In shorthand fashion the verses of Chapter 1
set the stage for God’s upcoming battle with Pharaoh, through Moses. But, there are other
sources of information of historical importance that exist about the Israelites’ time in Egypt……that
is, sources other than the Bible; and we will explore several items of interest that makes use of this
information, including the elusive route of the Exodus, the location of Mt. Sinai, the site of the Red
Sea crossing, and more.
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Category: Exodus
To best understand the book of Exodus, and to comprehend not just what it says, but what it
MEANS in relation to the overall Scriptural picture, we need to be able to stand back, and look at it
from a structural standpoint: for there are themes and patterns and logical divisions that emerge
that all work together to give us a good understanding of the formation and maturing of Israel as a
nation. And, understanding the contents of Exodus is key to understanding everything that will
follow in the Bible.
The noted Bible scholar, Everett Fox, sees 6 divisions within the book of Exodus. Now, let me state
from the outset, that just as the standard Biblical divisions of OT and NT, the 66 named books, and
all the numbered chapters and verses are entirely manmade and of no Spiritual importance, so is
the concept of 6 divisions within the book of Exodus. It’s all somewhat arbitrary. The purpose of all
of these divisions is only to give our finite little brains a way to deal with the sheer volume of Holy
Scripture (what is it they say about how you eat an Elephant……one bite at a time?), and a more
efficient way to communicate amongst ourselves concerning specific Biblical passages, as we
study and discuss and search out God’s Word to us.
So, according to Everett Fox’s method, he sees Exodus’ opening division, the first of six, as what
he calls the Deliverance Narrative. That is, God redeems His chosen people, Israel. These first few
chapters will review the circumstances and the methods that God used, primarily through Moses
and Pharaoh, to allow the now enormous nation of the Hebrews to leave Egypt…..at a time when
that’s the last thing Pharaoh wanted to see occur, because Pharaoh well knew that Israel’s
leaving Egypt would be a devastating blow to his nation.
Division 2 he calls the Wilderness Experience. It deals with the experiences of Israel as a displaced
hoard of refugees, trekking across a barren wasteland, immediately following their escape from
Egypt. The beginning period when God would show Israel who He is, that He is trustworthy, that
He is Holy, and that He is just and not to be trifled with. And, it would end with Him showing them
who THEY are in His sight, as they march away from who they used to be in Egypt.
This leads to Division 3, Covenant and Law…..(but what is more correctly called Torah), whereby
God starts to deal with the structure of Israel itself; particularly societal and religious structure. In
Egypt, Israel was but an appendage OF Egypt; now, however, they experience that first great
Governing Dynamic of God that we discussed about a year ago: division, separation, and election.
Israel was in process of being divided and separated and molded into a nation built in God’s
image, and for service to Him. And, by means of God giving Moses the Torah, He also effectively
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gave Israel a manual for living; a manual for living for a redeemed people; a manual for living in
harmony with God. No guesswork was needed.
Following along with the Biblical theme of “structure”, Division 4 moves on to instructions,
blueprints if you would, for the building of a structure and the setting up of a priesthood for service
in that structure, so that God would tabernacle, dwell, among His chosen people; and that building
structure is what we call the Wilderness Tabernacle. Since the Wilderness Tabernacle is but a
physical model of a spiritual and heavenly place, that would be followed hundreds of years later
with the first Temple, we will be spending quite some time exploring the design of the Tabernacle,
and the symbolism behind the God-ordained rituals that the priests would perform there. For both
the design and the rituals are prophetic as well as symbolic learning devices, and it will help us to
understand much that is hidden from us in the N.T. if we don’t first understand the meaning of the
Tabernacle and it’s services, particularly as it applies to the book of Revelation.
Next, after God has put forth His divinely ordered structure, Division 5 shows man respond by
implementing their OWN structure just the way one would expect a fallen race’s concept of
structure might proceed: they construct a Golden Calf. In so doing, they are trying to return to their
old and familiar ways of Egypt. And, what follows is the terrible consequences when man rebels
against God’s system of order, engages in idolatry, and how God provides a much needed
pathway for reconciliation when man sins, rebels, against such a just God. This division of Exodus
Mr. Fox calls, appropriately enough, Infidelity and Reconciliation.
The 6th and final division of Exodus concerns the actual construction of the Wilderness Tabernacle,
and then God’s inhabitation of the divine structure.
I don’t think Everett Fox intended to make any analogies by means of the way he, appropriately I
believe, divided up Exodus. But, it does give us an interesting tool to look at how God works, and it
helps us to visualize patterns that God develops and uses throughout the Bible. And, we see this
same God-pattern emerge in our own lives as Believers: deliverance, wilderness experience,
receiving the covenant and law (Torah, the Living Word), preparing the tabernacle (us) that God
(the Holy Spirit) might dwell with us, our inevitable infidelity against God due to the evil inclinations
that are still part of who we are, and His gracious provision for reconciliation, and finally the
completion and perfection of the tabernacle that is yet future.
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But, beyond this structure of Exodus, there are also certain words that God uses which give a
beautiful unity to it all. Sadly, most of our modern English Bibles mask this unity to various degrees
because these words are of Hebrew origin, and the WAY Hebrew words are used is quite different
from English. We will find, throughout Exodus, the recurrence of the words see, glory, serve, and
know. English can make this a little harder to observe, and I want you to be aware and prepared
as we move through Exodus to discover these word patterns, so let me give you an example of
what I’m talking about.
Let’s take the recurring root-word “serve”; it will change form and emphasis as we roll through
Exodus. We’ll see the Hebrews move from serv-itude to Pharaoh, to serv-ice to God. When the
Hebrews are given the Torah, they are also warned against serv-ing other gods. The Torah also
specifies how the Israelites, as children of God, are to treat “serv-ants”, how they are to conduct
the “serv-ice” in the Tabernacle, and how God is to be “serv-ed”.
Now this example is neither contrived nor is it allegorical or just a slick literary style….. it is typical.
I’m taking you on this momentary detour to explain the significance of the unique and meaningful
word structure of Biblical Hebrew that takes a root word, like “serve”, and then molds it and
shapes it within the scripture in a way that particularly is helpful for listening to it as a spoken word;
absorbing it through hearing, and then memorizing it. These Hebrew word patterns are also most
useful in helping us to connect the dots…….that is, we can follow thought patterns as God weaves
and develops His creation in such an organic and intricate way, far beyond human ability to ever
conceive and carry out. One concept linked to the next, and then the next, and the next, forming a
chain; each tiny step necessary, no matter how painfully long and drawn out it all might seem to us.
And all this is done in the ONLY way it can be done, in order for God to bring mankind from
Creation to the place of re-Creation and of perfect unity with Him that He desires and He WILL do.
And, the foundation and structure of this divine plan, and this unchanging pattern, is fully laid out in
Exodus.
Well, let’s move on. I don’t expect you to remember all that, only to make mental note of it, so that
the light might come on from time-to-time as we spend the next 6 months or so, in Exodus.
Since the Bible doesn’t give us much information about the 350 years that pass from the time of
the Israelites entering Egypt, until God starts preparing Moses to bring them OUT of Egypt, I want
to spend a few minutes painting as accurate a setting as possible for the opening scenes of
Exodus. And, this information comes from archeological finds, as well as Egyptian, Greek and
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Roman historical records.
The first one to two centuries that the Israelites spent in Egypt had been prosperous for them. All
indications are that they lived comfortably and peacefully. They had been allotted, by Pharaoh,
thanks to Joseph, what was intended to be a permanent territory perfectly suitable to their
shepherd lifestyle, in the Land of Goshen. Goshen was in an area of Egypt called Lower Egypt,
though it lay in the northernmost area of Egypt. Noph was the capital city of Lower Egypt, and likely
that is where Joseph was when he first dealt with his brothers, who had come down to Egypt to
acquire grain on account of the worldwide famine.
But, new evidence, gathered by people who expected anything but what they discovered, is that
Joseph also had a palace in the city where so many of the Israelites would live: Avaris. And, this
would seem most natural, as Joseph would have wanted to be close to his father and brothers and
his Hebrew family members.
As might be imagined, not every Hebrew remained a shepherd. Many took up building trades,
learned (no doubt) from the Egyptians who excelled in architecture. Others became merchants and
some even cattle ranchers and farmers. Again, they would have learned these occupations from
some combination of the Egyptian nationals and the many foreigners they would have come in
contact with, since they lived in the very area that many foreigners from the area we now call the
Middle East would have had to pass through on their way to Egypt proper.
The Bible texts, and the scores and scores of Egyptian monuments, give every indication that the
Hebrews were not restricted to only the Land of Goshen, nor were they shy about moving into other
areas of Egypt. Over time, many became expert at growing crops, using the tremendous resources
of the Nile to their advantage.
More, they assimilated into Egyptian culture, to varying degrees. Through everyday dealings with
native Egyptians, and through intermarriage, Israel and Egypt fashioned quite a connection. And,
along with accepting Egyptian culture, they began to adopt many Egyptian religious views and
rites.
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Sometime around the halfway mark of their sojourn in Egypt, a sea change occurred and it forever
altered the lives of the Israelites. Beginning just a few decades before Joseph’s arrival as a slave
in Egypt, the so called Hyksos rulers had established their dominance over most of Egypt: primarily
Lower Egypt. The Hyksos were from somewhere in the Middle East. They were Semites, cousins
of Israel. Regardless of where they were from, they were NOT Egyptians…..they were foreigners,
and the Egyptians detested being ruled by these “Shepherd Kings” as they were known. Their
dominance ebbed and flowed, at time making gains into Upper Egypt (to the south), and the
territory that lay between Upper and Lower Egypt……and inevitably losing ground as well.
Eventually, an Egyptian general in the capital of Upper Egypt, a city called Thebes (now known as
Luxor) gathered an army of Egyptian nationals and defeated the hated Hyksos rulers once and for
all. The Israelites would now become the focal point of nearly 2 centuries of bitterness built up by
the Egyptian people that no doubt began with the Hebrew Joseph accepting their servitude in
exchange for food during that famous 7 year period of extreme famine.
The first job of the new King of Egypt was to dismantle any foreign influence that could threaten
Egypt. And, that meant gaining control over the Israelites whose numbers had grown into menacing
proportions. Undoubtedly the Israelites were the majority people in the Nile delta areas. But, they
had spread out and established themselves in other areas of Egypt as well. So, the solution was a
straightforward and simple one: subjugate them; make the Israelites into forced laborers.
For all practical purposes, we could say there was a complete, and nearly overnight, reversal of
fortunes. The Israelites, who had become wealthy, numerous, and attained political clout in Egypt,
were dispossessed and became the lower class. The Egyptians, who had been relegated to a
lesser status than the Israelites for so long, were now in charge.
While the idea of slavery is detestable to us that does not necessarily mean (other than for a
complete loss of freedom) that the slaves were poorly treated. In fact, most evidence is that, except
for their last few years in Egypt, the Hebrews were treated decently. We should not think of the
Egyptians as inherently cruel and uncouth. They were a high-minded people, with deeply ingrained
and refined morals and ethics; educated, intelligent, and forward-looking. Besides, what use was a
maimed or a dead slave?
Despite what Cecil B. DeMille told the world in his famous remake of the 10 Commandments, the
Israelites did NOT build pyramids. In fact, by the time of Jacob’s arrival in Egypt, the Pyramid
building era was over. The Hebrews were not used as human lubricant under the rollers of 30-ton
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stone building blocks. Their work was as makers of mud brick, digging and restoration of
waterways and canals, and as builders of great cities. The Israelites are most identified as the
builders of the two great “stores –cities” Pithom and Raamses, up in the area of Goshen. And, that
of course, is where the great Hebrew enclave of Avaris had been in existence beginning from a few
years after the time of Joseph. A “stores-city” simply meant it was a regional supply depot and
distribution center. In this case, these cities served both the civilian population and the Egyptian
military, and were strategically located in Goshen because it was nearest their eastern border and
because that was a food-growing region.
Thanks to the brilliance of Egyptian science, culture and art, and the tremendous skill and work
ethic of the Israelites (even though it was forced work), Egypt became a world-class society. We
could talk for days on end, and examine the amazing civil engineering accomplishments of Egypt,
but that doesn’t really fit the purpose of this class. Suffice it to say that the grandeur of Egypt at its
peak has not been surpassed to this very day, in my estimation. The backward and poor society
that is Egypt, today, bears no resemblance to the Egypt in the time of Moses.
It is also good as a foundation for our study to understand that Egypt was the breadbasket of the
world. And, what an irony that is, considering their annual rainfall is almost non-existent. Rather, it
is the function of the Nile that made Egypt such an incredible food machine. The Nile would
overflow annually, and deposit rich, fertile silt on the fields surrounding its banks. Irrigation systems
were built since time immemorial to water these fields. Later, yet even before the time of the
Israelites, canals were built, such that THEIR banks would overflow along with the Niles. It was a
way to expand the fields well beyond the Nile River, and still take advantage of all of its benefits.
Sometime late in Joseph’s career as Vizier of Egypt, several artificial lakes were built for water
storage…..for use in agriculture, the watering of the growing herds of cattle (which Egyptians much
preferred over sheep), and for household use for the expanding population. In fact, there are
waterways named after Joseph, still in use today, and still with Joseph’s name attached.
Let me end this introduction to Exodus by saying that at the time of the Israelites in Egypt, it was a
land of plenty and of beauty and art. It was a land to be envied. When, in Exodus, we will find the
Israelites complaining of their discomfort out in the Wilderness of Sinai, we will also hear them
longing for their life back in Egypt. Not the forced labor part, of course, but the certainty of food,
shelter, and being part of a magnificent and familiar culture.
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Category: Exodus
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Lesson 2 Chapter 1
Last week we discussed that the noted Hebrew Bible scholar, Everett Fox, chose a method to look
at Exodus that involved dividing it into 6 divisions.
Today, we enter the first of the divisions that he calls the “Deliverance Narrative”. It starts at 1:1,
and continues through Chapter 15. So, for the next month or so we’ll be looking at all that God did
to gain His chosen people’s release from Pharaoh; beginning with rescue of the infant Moses from
the Nile, and ending just after the parting of the Red Sea which completes their escape from the
hand of Pharaoh.
Just for you note takers, the second division “Wilderness” starts at the end of 15 and continues
through 18. Part 3, Covenant and Law, starts at 19 and goes through 24. Part 4, The Plan of the
Wilderness Tabernacle, begins at 25 and continues through 31; the 5th division, Infidelity and
Reconciliation, starts in Chapter 32 and concludes with Chapter 34, and finally, The Building of the
Tabernacle starts with 35 and runs to the end of Exodus.
Let’s read Exodus 1.
READ EXODUS 1 all

Time gets gobbled up, here. Between the last verse of Genesis, and the opening verse of Exodus,
a period of about 350years has passed. The first few verses of Exodus are kind of a bridge
between Genesis and Exodus. The thing is, Genesis is not the end of one story and Exodus the
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start of a new one……they are linked….. one flows into the next…. Exodus is a continuation and
progression of what had begun in Genesis. So, we are reminded that Jacob and all 11 of his sons
that lived with him in Canaan, along with all their family members, came to live in Egypt, but Joseph
was already there. The total, were 70.
Here’s the thing: we’re going to get many symbolic numbers in the Torah, and the Bible as a
whole. 70 is a symbolic number. Now, on the one hand, Genesis 46, which lists all the MALE
descendants of Jacob by means of both his legal wives and concubines, gives us the count of 70.
However, as we discussed back when we studied that chapter, the number presents problems
because it includes 2 of Judah’s sons who died at the hand of God, in Canaan, as well as Joseph
and his 2 sons who were born in Egypt. So, 70 males of Jacob’s family could well be accurate.
But, on the other hand, 70 is such a round number, and such a symbolic number that indicates
totality, or something that is fully comprehensive, that we have to likely view this number of 70 as
symbolic that ALL of Israel went to Egypt, with no one left behind.
Consider this: we know from Genesis 34 that when the sons of Jacob killed all the males of
Shechem in retribution for the rape of their sister Dinah, they took all the women and children as
slaves and concubines. Understand that from an ancient Middle Eastern perspective, these women
and children became part of Israel.
Further, this number of 70 counts ONLY males. There were at least as many females, and usually
there were significantly more females than males in ancient populations because the men were
killed in battle or injured in their jobs.
Therefore, the actual total number of people who went down to Egypt…..those who would be
reasonably labeled as Israelites……was probably around 200 or so. In later studies I’ll show you
why it’s important to recognize that.
The bulk of the Israelites still lived now, some 350 years after their arrival, in the same general area
that they did when Joseph called for them: Goshen, in the Nile delta area. The central city they
lived in was called Avaris, and Joseph appears to have had a palace there for he and his
immediate family. This city has been found, and there can be no doubt as to its identity. In
archaeological terms, this place is now called Tel ed-da’aba. It is huge and it would have
supported hundreds of thousands of people. And, it was Hebrew and Canaanite in architecture.
Further, more archaeological finds have confirmed that it was in the land of Goshen…..also called
Lower Egypt….where the Hyksos rulers of Egypt set up their capital city……and not surprisingly, it
was this same Avaris.
A common refrain from non-Christians and University professors is that the Bible is simply a book
full of legends and myths. And, that the people and places in the scriptures, for the most part, never
existed. We are told that they’ve never found a place in Egypt where all those Hebrews might have
lived. We’re told they’ve never found record of Solomon or King David, nor of most of the Biblical
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cities. Nonsense. They have found these sites, and they have these records, and when push
comes to shove, it’s admitted. The only reason that many archaeologists and Egyptologists will
argue against the conclusion that Tel ed-da’aba is the city of the Exodus, is because they date
Avaris to an earlier time than when Bible chronology says the Hebrews should have lived there.
And, it’s the matter of placing these archeological sites in relation to time that is the issue.
The current system of dating ancient places and people and events, established in the 1800’s, is
called the Regnal Dating System, and it is based on the supposed times of the reigns of certain
Egyptian Pharaohs. It is a system that is full of huge time gaps, pure speculation, and educated
guesses. But, more, some of the foundational pillars of Regnal Dating have, through modern
research, proven to be false. A new dating system, called the New Chronology, is gaining
mainstream academic support slowly but surely. And, when the New Chronology is applied to the
finds at Avaris and to hundreds and hundreds of other Biblical sites, the Biblical timeline falls
almost perfectly into place.
As anyone that has spent any time in our advanced Educational system knows, the Bible is
anathema to these folks. So, any system of dating that seems to verify Biblical truth (even though
the system was NOT devised with that goal) is very difficult to establish. By the way, Christian or
Biblical scholars did NOT devise this New Chronology. It was begun by a fellow named David Rohl,
an Oxford academic, who is an agnostic. Since the academic world of archaeology had some time
ago determined a better dating system was needed, he took the tact that while he doesn’t
acknowledge the spiritual element of the Bible, that there is no reason to assume that the historical
accounts written in the Bible are inherently false or inaccurate (and this assumption HAS, and
continues, to be the foundational principle among these scholars and scientists).
I detour a little to tell you this, because I want you to know that when we’re reading Exodus, these
people and places actually existed, and the events happened. Many proofs have been found, and
more are constantly being unearthed.
We’re told in V6 that Joseph died, and along with him all that generation; that is, all his brothers
and sisters; we need to picture that generation as the immigrant generation. Think for a moment
just what that means: practically every one of us in this room are natural born Americans. However,
our parents or grandparents were probably immigrants. They came here from someplace else to
start a new life. And, their experience in America as immigrants who just got off of the boat was
quite different than for those of us whom they produced. We knew nothing of the foreign country
our immigrant ancestors knew. We have only known America, and American culture. That 2nd and
3rd generation of Israelites was quite different from those who had journeyed down from Canaan.
Those who had come to survive the great famine thought of their stay as “just for a while”. The
next generation had little to no thought of going to Canaan…… after all, Egypt was the only home
they ever knew, and so were quite comfortable in Egypt.
What God, through Joseph, had begun, Joseph’s death did not end. V7 says that even after
Joseph died, the Israelites continued to prosper, and grow in number, and spread out…..
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EXCEEDINGLY. Yet, it was this very purpose of God, this amazing fruitfulness, that was going to
lead Israel into a confrontation with a future Pharaoh….an increasingly paranoid Pharaoh.
The Hyksos rulers, those Semites from somewhere in the Middle East, who were the rulers of
Egypt during the time a little before, contemporary with, and then for about a century after Joseph,
continued to favor the Israelites. After all, they were cousins. While this enviable status of the
Hebrews allowed them to grow and prosper, it was also creating a festering jealousy and hatred of
them by the Egyptians. The end of V7 marks the end of life in Egypt, as the Israelites had known it.
The end of V7 is the end Israel’s Golden era in Egypt.
Now, before we move on into the next era of the Hebrews’ time in Egypt, this might be a good time
to take out our magnifying glass and look at how Israel was currently structured from a human
society standpoint. Because, beginning now, in Exodus, and running throughout the remainder of
the O.T., it is assumed that we understand ancient Hebrew societal structure. If we don’t we’re
going to get lost. So, with apologies to you that may already know, for everyone else we’re going
to take a few minutes to learn about the titles for leadership positions, and names for the various
subdivisions of Hebrew people that came from this population explosion. And, if we can learn what
they are each referring to, we’ll glean some extra understanding each time these terms are used in
our studies.
Let us remember that the nation of Israel was founded by and named after, Jacob, who God
renamed Israel. In those days, the name of a new nation (which is nothing more than a new people
group) was taken from its founder. Jacob went on to have 12 sons, who formed the first subdivision
of Israel. Each of these sons would eventually establish their own tribe, their own branch, of Israel;
and, of course, each son would be the ruler of that branch….that tribe. These 12 tribes then each
produced children who were the next subdivision; and that next subdivision is what the Bible
generally refers to as “clans” or “families”. And, as each of these clans or families went on to
produce children, those children would mature and produce the next generation, or subdivision,
that the Bible calls “households”.
In more familiar Western terminology, Jacob was the father, the 12 sons the children, their children
the grandchildren, and THEIR children the great grandchildren. But, the Bible uses different terms
for each of these generations. So, Israel was the “nation”, the 12 sons were the 12 tribes that
formed that nation. The sons of the 12 tribal leaders each formed their own clan or family. While
the Bible translators tend to use clan and family interchangeably, most accurately for our 21st
century Western way of thinking, it would be best to think of these clans and families, as just clans,
and use the word “family” for another category I’ll show you in just a moment. In any case, the
offspring of these clans then formed separate households.
Out of these “households”, which we could best equate in our traditional thinking as EXTENDED
FAMILIES, came what the Bible sometimes calls “Man-by-man”. This is not talking about eligible
bachelors. Rather, this would be the equivalent of our modern day nuclear family…..the smallest
family unit. That is, mother, father, and young children as a unit. Often the Bible translators will call
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the Man-by-man subdivision a “family”. But, this must not be confused with when these SAME
Bible translators will also call a “clan” a “family”.
So, the structure of Israel is: Nation (all of Israel), Tribe (12 of them), Clan, Household, Man-by-
man (family).
The Bible calls the leader of a household the “head” (though sometimes he’s referred to as chief).
The leader of each clan is the “chief”. The leader of a Tribe is called a “prince”. So, each of the
12 tribes of Israel had a “prince”….. as long as there still existed 12 tribes, there were 12 princes.
Now, these princes were the rulers over ALL the people of their tribe, every subdivision. Every clan,
household, and family was ultimately beholden to the tribal prince. His word was law. Let’s keep in
mind a trait of these tribal princes that, though obvious on the surface, is nonetheless important:
these princes INHERITED their positions. Their heredity was what counted. While an outsider
(whether from another of the Israelite tribes OR a foreigner, a non-Hebrew) could, at times, be
accepted as a member of a tribe, this outsider would NEVER be allowed to be a prince, because
absolute proper genealogy, traceable not just back to Jacob, but to the proper original son of
Jacob…..that is, the proper tribe…. was required.
So, the order of prince, chief, head, formed a hereditary aristocracy, if you would. That is, when it
came to authority, it was as that old TV series was called…..its ALL IN THE FAMILY. Now,
interestingly, operating in parallel was another class or category of leadership and authority…. a sort
of elected or appointed class of leaders. And, this class of leaders were representatives of the
COMMON PEOPLE of the clans and families and households…and, they were called “elders” and
“officers”. Often, a word substituted for “officer” is “Scribe”.
Now, this class of appointed or elected leaders operated under the authority of the tribal leaders.
There is absolutely no way, for instance, that you would ever remove a prince or a chief from his
position, except, perhaps, through assassination…. Because HIS position was given to him as a
birthright, and therefore it was unchangeable and permanent. But, elders and officers, or scribes,
COULD be removed legitimately from their position if there was enough displeasure on the part of
the people for whom they were selected to serve, or if they upset the tribal leadership sufficiently.
And, of course, elders and officers and scribes, developed their own pecking order; they were
further subdivided by their exact duties and a simple management hierarchy like we’re all used to
seeing at wherever it is we work…you know….little fish reporting to big fish, and big fish reporting to
BIGGER fish.
Keep this handy as we go forward. These titles and understanding structure and pecking order was
important to the decisions that went on in Israelite culture. When the Bible uses terms like “prince”
or “chief”, tribe or clan, these represent something specific. They are not just interchangeable
words or synonymous.
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Anyway, let’s continue in Exodus.
As I mentioned earlier, V7 ends and V8 begins a new and far less happy era for the Israelites in
Egypt. We’re told that a new king……that is, a new Pharaoh…… arose over Egypt who did not know
Joseph. Simply, this meant that the new king had no intentions of honoring the deals that the
previous kings, Pharaohs, had with the Israelites……and this for one very good reason: this new king
was an Egyptian; the first Egyptian ruler of Egypt in a VERY long time.
This new Egyptian Pharaoh promptly announces that the Israelites, who had been honorable and
worthy citizens of Egypt for nearing 200 years, are suddenly a danger to Egypt. And, they’re a
danger because “they are many more than we”. In other words, the Pharaoh played the “race”
card. Since those hated Hyksos rulers were Middle Eastern Semites……and seen as cousins of
essentially the same stock as the Hebrews…..they were all lumped together in one big pot. Now that
the Hyksos rulers were defeated, those who supported those rulers, and probably looked a lot like
those rulers……the Israelites……became persona non grata. And, they would bear the brunt of
Egypt’s newfound nationalism and paranoia.
So, are we to take it that the Hebrews at this point actually outnumbered the Egyptians, which the
Pharaoh says they did in V9? Or, was Pharaoh exaggerating? Well…. Yes and yes. While the
Israelites were numerous, and lived throughout Egypt, they were highly concentrated in Goshen,
and would have well outnumbered the Egyptian nationals there. But, when considering Egypt
overall, best estimates are that the Israelites would not have represented more than about 25% of
the entire population of Egypt….but that’s still pretty substantial.
Is it not ironic, and completely indicative of the ongoing battle between God and Satan, that what
God counted as blessing……the incredible fruitfulness of Israel……Pharaoh counted as a curse.
And, so the confrontation between good and evil begins. Pharaoh’s in a bind; he hates the
Israelites, and he fears the Israelites, but he NEEDS the Israelites. He needs them as a
workforce….. they are the key to the Egyptian economy, and the hoped return of Egypt to a position
of being a regional power. The solution? Subjugation. Control them, use them for what they’re
good at, keep their population in check, and don’t let them leave.
Now, don’t get the idea that the Egyptian population began taking Hebrews as house slaves.
Rather, it was that the Egyptian government conscripted the Israelite males as work gangs for their
building projects. It was rather like being drafted into the Army, except there was no pay. And, in
fact, what Egypt did was to conscript Egyptian males in order to create a loyal, nationalist military to
protect the nation from invasion; at the same time it was conscripting the bothersome Hebrew
males as the nation’s civilian labor force. Interestingly, there is no evidence that Israelite women
were included in this slave labor scheme. Because, the work that was required was male work;
making mud bricks, then constructing houses and buildings; also constructing and maintaining a
vast network of canals and water reservoirs. Building new roads and military fortresses. The
Hebrews became the primary group of construction labor in Egypt, and their lives became
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miserable as a result.
And, to a degree, the new King of Egypt’s plan worked. The construction projects brought the
country back to glory, and the enslavement of the Israelites controlled their movement. But, another
aspect of his plan failed; rather than reducing the Israelite population, the more the Egyptians
oppressed the Israelites, the more children these Hebrews produced. And, the more children the
Israelites produced, the more paranoid it made Pharaoh and his cohorts. And, here we see one of
the God-patterns emerge that will continue until Jesus comes again: the more you persecute
God’s people, the more fruitful they will become. Israel never grew more and faster, and the
Church never grew more and faster, than when under the worst persecutions. If Israel had just
given up and decided to fully assimilate into the Egyptian society, they may have avoided
persecution, but they would have forgone fruitfulness. As long as the Church continues to take the
easy road, to look more and more like the world so we avoid persecution for our identity with
Yeshua, the less fruitful we will be. So it has been, and so it will forever be. It’s simply the way
God’s economy works, and we have no ability to alter it.
So worried and frustrated was this unnamed Pharaoh that he did something desperate; something
that in some ways would be counter to his grand purposes: he ordered those who the Bible calls
“the midwives of the Hebrews”, to cull the Israelite stock. The plan was that if the infant they
assisted into the world was a boy, they were to immediately kill it. Yet, had Pharaoh actually
succeeded in this infanticide, he would only have reduced the available work force available for his
aggressive construction aspirations.
His plan didn’t work; these midwives who knew and feared the Hebrew God didn’t obey the
Pharaoh. What we essentially have here is the first recorded instance in the Bible of civil
disobedience in order to obey God’s morals and ethics, which often are in opposition to men’s
morals and ethics. And, this rather brave defiance was conducted by women. Now, two women are
named here as the midwives: Shifra and Pu’a. Without doubt, they must have been something like
the senior midwives, in charge of many more midwives, because two would have never been
enough to handle the hundreds of daily births taking place among the Israelites, all over Egypt.
Being a midwife was one of the few professions open to women in that era. It was respected and
valued, as much as it was needed. A midwife primarily was there to assist the woman in her labor,
to cut the umbilical cord, to wash the newborn and rub it down with salt, and in the case of twins it
was the midwife who would testify as to which one was born first. Naturally, which of a set of male
twins came out first was most important, because that one would usually receive the Firstborn
Blessing, while the second to arrive did not. So, midwives were held in high esteem and their
function was vital. Midwifery was also quite organized and the midwives were paid by those whom
they served; there was a midwife guild, and probably Shifra and Pu’a were the head of the guild
(which is why Pharaoh specifically summoned those two).
As an interesting aside, many Bible scholars doubt that these midwives were Hebrews. The
Hebrew wording of the sentence is a little ambiguous in that regard, because the words can be
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taken to mean “Hebrew midwives”, or “midwives of the Hebrews”. But, this conclusion is drawn
for a couple of reasons: first, it is unimaginable that the Pharaoh would have been so dumb as to
honestly expect Hebrew midwives to kill their fellow Hebrew newborns. Second, these women, in
V19, obviously know something about how Egyptian women experience the birthing process, as
they comment that Hebrew women give birth faster than Egyptian women. Since Egyptians, at this
time, wanted nothing to do with these Hebrews, it’s hard to imagine a Hebrew woman being the
midwives employed to help an Egyptian mother give birth. Very probably Shifra and Pu’a were
Semite women, but not Hebrews. In fact, their names are of obvious Semite origin, but they were
not Hebrew names.
We should also take note here that in spite of the distinctly male-oriented world of tribal society
(and I’m sure many of you ladies would say not much has changed in 3000 years!), the Torah
makes these 2 women into honored heroines; we will see OFTEN in the Bible how women are
painted as “used of God”, and venerated by the people. In fact, as we approach the story of
Moses, women will become some of the main characters.
Well, having failed, still unable to stem the Hebrew population increase, Pharaoh turns to the
Egyptian populace and tells them to monitor the situation. That is, when they see a Hebrew woman
about to give birth, it is THEIR responsibility to do something about it. For sure the average
Egyptian didn’t take this infant from its mother and destroy it, any more than the average German
in WWII would have wandered around killing Jews. Rather, they would have reported it to
government authorities that had people assigned to come and take the newborn, if a male, and
throw it to its death into the waters of the Great Nile River. This is irrational fear at its worst; for
there is no record of Israel ever trying to take over the government of Egypt, or rebelling, or even
conniving with a state enemy. Actually, Pharaoh’s actions could do nothing but harm Egypt’s
ability to carry through with its ambitions. But, it won’t be the last time Israel is, in some bizarre
way, blamed for a nation’s problems and pays an enormous price in blood for that paranoia. In
fact, this behavior toward the Jewish people will become a pattern throughout history, and right up
to our day.
Now, one more thing and we’ll end the 1st chapter of Exodus. Remember I told you about Hebrew
word patterns, and I named 4 words that recurred in various forms throughout Exodus. Well, we
run into one of them right here in Exodus 1; and that word is “serve”. However, our English
translations mask this recurrence by translating the same basic Hebrew word several different
ways. Look at Vs 13 & 14. Most of our Bibles will say something to the effect of “making the
Israelites do hard labor…work imposed on them…..rigorous labors.” Usually, the English word
chosen in this section of Exodus is “labor”. Well, the original Hebrew root-word is “abad”. Various
forms of “abad” are used 5 times in Vs 13 and 14. So, if we took these verses in their most literal
HEBREW sense, bringing with it the Hebrew word style and intent to make a point by the
repetitive us of the Hebrew word “abad”, it would read like this:
“So they, Egypt, made the Children of Israel subSERVient with crushing labor; they embittered
their lives with hard SERVitude in brick and mortar and with all kinds of SERVitude in the field……all
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their SERVice in which they made them subSERVient with crushing labor.”
When this Hebrew word pattern is uncovered we can see an important Spiritual principle emerge
that is otherwise obscured, and it is this: WHOM you serve determines the nature of that service.
Did you catch that?
When we serve God, all of our SERVice is voluntary to Him; it is positive, good, lovely, and has an
eternal quality of truth and light. When we serve Satan…in this case through Pharaoh, but more
often it’s serving ourselves and our own desires….. what we are participating in is
SERVitude……forced….., negative, evil, unfruitful, and whatever is produced from it will burn-up right
along with everything else about this world at the end of days.
At this point, Vs 13 & 14, in Exodus we only see the NEGATIVE side of SERVE. A little later we will
see the POSITIVE side of SERVE. But, it’s much harder to even pick up this much intentional
word play with the English translations, isn’t it?
Next week, we’ll begin Chapter 2.
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Audio Files MP3

Illustrations
Lesson 3 Chapters 2 and 3
Last week, the stage was set for us, and the actors were introduced. We were given the condition
of the Israelites in Egypt…..as oppressed slave laborers……..and why they were in that
condition…..because the NEWEST King of Egypt didn’t honor Joseph’s memory or promises.
Further, we learned that this new king was an Egyptian, and not part of the line of now defeated
Semite kings that had ruled beginning a short time before Joseph came to Egypt, and for about 150
years after he arrived.
This new Pharaoh was quite concerned, naturally, that foreigners……meaning those of non-Egyptian
heritage……would never again have an opportunity to rule over Egypt causing such great
humiliation. And, as Egyptians were of the line of Ham, as opposed to Hebrews who were of the
line of Shem, there were very visible and obvious racial differences between the two groups. And,
the evidence is that while a few Hebrews assimilated into everyday traditional Egyptian culture, the
bulk of them hung on to, and further developed, a somewhat different looking Israelite culture.
What with the recent bitter taste of subjugation that natural-born Egyptians suffered at the hand of
Semite Kings, the prosperity that these Hebrews had enjoyed, and the desire of the Egyptian rulers
to put Egypt back onto the world stage as a powerful nation, Pharaoh decided that the Hebrew
population had to be controlled. And, this he tried to accomplish by both keeping their numbers
from growing further, and by enslaving them for purposes of being the nation’s construction
workers.
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READ EXODUS 2 all

Verse 1 gives us some important information; it is that a man from the house of Levi married a
woman from the same “house”. In other words, both the husband and wife were of the same tribe,
Levi. But, don’t get too concerned about this. By this time, there were probably around 100,000
Levites living in Egypt, so the gene pool was large. That said, we’ll find out that Moses parents
were apparently closely related. For now, the future parents of Moses will be anonymous. Later we
will find out that her name is Jochobed, and his Amram. Before Moses was born, his parents had
produced two other children: Miriam and Aaron. Keep in your minds throughout the remainder of
our study of Torah, that Moses was of the tribe of Levi. It will help to explain much of what happens
concerning Moses. And, by the way, as of this moment, the Bible has not yet indicated that Levi
was going to be a tribe divided away and set apart for God……a tribe of priests. So, at this moment,
by any way the Israelites would have viewed themselves, there were 13 tribes of Israel because
Joseph had received the double-portion by having his two sons included as full-fledged Israelite
tribes. Just a reminder that when we speak of the “12 tribes of Israel”, it is a rather sloppy
statement, because the number of tribes, and WHO was included among that number, varied over
hundreds and hundreds of years.
So, we see that Moses is born under Pharaoh’s decree of instant death to all male Hebrew
newborns, and that his parents were able to hide him for about 3 months; but then it seemed, to
them, impossible to keep his existence secret any further. Did they think that they needed to go to
some extraordinary measure to try and save him because they somehow KNEW that this infant
would, one day, become the deliverer of Israel? There is NO indication of that at all. When they put
Moses into that waterproofed basket and set it in the Nile, it was with a faith that had not come
about because of special revelation; it was, but simple, daily trust in God that this child’s fate…..no
matter what it be, death or life…..was in HIS Holy hands.
Hidden within the Hebrew language of the original text are several ironies and connections
between the circumstances surrounding Moses’ birth, and some earlier benchmark Biblical events.
Naturally, the early Sages and Rabbis didn’t miss these connections. The first is that in verse 2, it
says that Moses’ mother saw “how beautiful” he was and so she hid him for 3 months. Actually,
what the original Hebrew says was that she saw how “tov” Moses was. Tov, as anyone who
knows the slightest Hebrew understands, means “good”. Saying “beautiful” isn’t necessarily
wrong, but it masks the association that starts to be made between Moses and these earlier
Biblical acts of God.
Remember, in Genesis 1, that after each part of the Creation effort, God pronounced it to be
“good”……tov. And, right off, it is being made clear that Moses’ very birth was under divine
influence, and would have a great purpose.
Moses’ mother built a floating cradle out of the same exact material that the typical Nile River
Boats were made: papyrus reed. She seals it with a natural tar…..again the same way the Nile River
Boats were waterproofed….. then places Moses within it. Some Bibles call this little lifeboat a
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basket, others an ark. The Hebrew word used here is “Tevah”, and it is used in only two contexts
in the entire Bible: the first refers to the enormous vessel Noah built, and the second is this tiny one
here in Exodus. The correct English translation of “Tevah” is “ark”. Basket or any other word
misses the mark because we are meant to see the connection between Noah’s Ark, and Moses’
Ark.
Notice the parallel purposes of these two arks: In Genesis, mankind was to be done in by a
worldwide flood of water, and God saw to it that Noah and his family would be the saviors of
mankind by placing them safely in a “Tevah” to ride atop the flood waters. In Egypt, all Israelite
male babies were to be done in by drowning in the Nile, but God saw to it that Moses would be the
deliverer of Israel by placing him in a “Tevah”, to ride atop the water. No allegory here. Rather, a
pattern, and a type, is set down by God. Here we have God using water and an ark as the main
elements of early types of salvation; the first kind used for saving mankind in general, the second
kind for saving the Hebrews.
Now, a good question at this point is, what about yet another ark that is shortly going to become
prominent in Exodus; the Ark of the Covenant? Shouldn’t that be connected to the Ark of Moses
and the Ark of Noah? Decidedly NO! Indeed THAT would be allegory and but a nice story. First of
all, the Hebrew word used for ark in Ark of the Covenant, is ‘aron. And, it means a chest, a place to
store something valuable. Interestingly, the word ‘aron is used in only one other way, and only
one other time in the Bible: it is used to mean, “coffin”. And, it refers ONLY to when Joseph died,
was embalmed, and put into an ‘aron……a coffin. Somehow, I think we are supposed to see
something symbolic, here, that the same exact term, ‘aron, is used to describe BOTH the
container into which Joseph was laid to rest, as well as the container built specially to hold the
original stone tablets (written on by the finger of God) of the Ten Commandments. Frankly, I’m not
sure if the symbolism has something to do with, perhaps, the immense value of Joseph to God
being equated with the immense value of the 10 Commandments; or, if it is symbolizes something
of a prophetic nature……something that will become apparent in a time still future. It is interesting to
note that in Revelation, at about the same time the Ark of the Covenant is found and placed into
the new Temple, the tribe of Joseph also suddenly reappears. Could it be that these two future
events are connected, and we’re given a hint of that by use of the word ‘aron in both contexts?
Time will tell.
No doubt, the location where the little Tevah, the ark, that held the infant Moses was deposited
amongst the tall reeds along the bank of the Nile, was carefully chosen so that the Egyptian
Princess, who bathed regularly at that same spot, would likely discover it. Upon finding and
inspecting the vessel, and discovering the crying infant within, the Princess’s womanly instincts
took over….and she determined to save this baby from his otherwise certain fate. She knew
instantly that this was a Hebrew child, but it made no difference to her, apparently.
We have quite an irony building here, don’t we? The daughter of the very man who ordered that
these Hebrew male babies were to be destroyed is the one to save this Hebrew who had been
selected by God to liberate Israel. Even more, Israel’s savior would be raised in the Pharaoh’s
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own house.
Now, Miriam, Moses’ older sister who had watched this scene unfold, rushed to the Pharaoh’s
daughter to offer her a Hebrew woman to be a wet-nurse for the baby; the princess did the only
practical thing she could have done, she accepted.
Now, in another irony that only God could have worked out, the infant Moses is RETURNED to his
own mother, carried in the arms of his own sister……and now Mom is PAID by the princess to do
nothing more than suckle and raise this child who was her own, in the first place. And, the money
to pay this Hebrew mother is coming from the treasury of the Pharaoh who has ordered the death
of this selfsame infant……and thousands more like him. Oh how I love the way the Lord works!
Now, V10 explains that “the child grew”, and then was returned to the Princess as her child. That
had to be a bittersweet moment for Jochobed, as she was giving up her child; but with her, his lot
would have been slavery. With the princess, it would be a life of royalty.
The Bible doesn’t give us an age, but, in general it is thought that in those days an infant was
nursed until at LEAST 3 years of age, though probably 5 years is more realistic……and there is
ample proof it was significantly more. In fact, in tribal societies today, the average age of weaning
is closer to 6 or 7! So, Moses was in the childhood development stage of a Kindergartener when he
went to the Royal Palace to live; this means he knew his family well, and undoubtedly had a fair
grasp of his native Hebrew language by the time he was returned to the Princess. Being taken from
his family and given to the Princess must have been a traumatic event for little Moses. He would
have become bonded not only with his mother, but also to the Hebrew way of life. One can only
imagine the psychological tension that was caused as this young child was torn from a life now fully
imprinted on his soul, and taken into a new one that was altogether different…really, in direct
OPPOSITION, to what he came from. It would eventually overflow into frustration and rage.
As it turns out, Moses received his name AFTER his return to the princess; and that name was not
at first a Hebrew name, but Egyptian. But, as happens in mixed populations, the Egyptian name
Mose was eventually co-opted by the Hebrews and made a part of their Hebrew vocabulary; in
Hebrew it means “drawn out”. However in Egyptian it is a common word with a different meaning:
“child” or “son”. So, while in English we say Moses, in Hebrew the word is Mosheh, and in
Egyptian it is Mose. Therefore, we’ll see many Pharaohs’ names incorporating the same word,
Mose, along with the long held ancient world tradition of adding a god’s name to the name of a son
as a form of gratitude to one god or another. When we look at the reigns of Pharaohs we’ll see
ones like Ra-mose (which is more typically written Rameses)…..meaning "son of the god Ra”, or
Thot-mose…..meaning “son of the god Thot” (which we’ll often see written Tutmose, or as we
know it better, King Tut)…..or Ptah-mose…..meaning “son of the god Ptah”.
Between Vs 10 and 11, as happens a lot in Scripture, we take another sudden leap forward in
time….in this case about 35 years. Nothing is said about Moses’ upbringing, but it’s fairly easy to
extrapolate from the vast amount of Egyptian records that have been discovered concerning royal
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life. While he would have been given all the finest in education, military training, the best food and
drink, and made familiar with royal court protocol, it would have been given to him grudgingly.
Because, unlike for Charlton Heston there would have been no way whatsoever for Moses to have
his Hebrew beginnings kept secret. The Egyptians knew he was a lowly Hebrew just by looking at
him; and more importantly, HE knew he was Hebrew. Just as critical, the general Israelite
population knew who Moses was….. and to them, regardless of his Hebrew blood, he was now an
Egyptian…… a HATED Egyptian. Moses would not have been fully welcomed in either camp.
Rejected by Israelite and Egyptian alike, trapped and frustrated, Moses finally strikes out in
violence.
One day, he sees what must have been an altogether familiar sight: an Egyptian striking a Hebrew
slave. This is an event Moses must surely have witnessed hundreds of times by now. But, this
time, he erupts. Taking matters into his own hands he kills the Egyptian and buries him. A little time
later, he spots two Hebrews quarreling, and again takes matters into his own hands as he tries to
separate them and play referee. The aggressor turns to Moses and asks him what businesses it is
of his to interfere…and, oh, BTW, are you going to kill me like you did that Egyptian?
Uh-oh. Moses blanched. His murderous act had witnesses, and it was only a matter of time before
the Egyptian authorities found out. Murder of an Egyptian by anyone, Egyptian or foreigner, carried
with it a death sentence. And, Moses knew he had no choice but to run. And, run he did…..across
the Egyptian border frontier of Goshen, into and across the Sinai; then across the Gulf of Aqaba,
and into the land of Midian. Why Midian? Probably because they had no political ties to Egypt. The
Sinai was primarily Egyptian controlled territory; they had built military outposts all along the normal
trade routes that criss-crossed that vast desert peninsula, and had established treaties with several
nations that bordered the Sinai area. Moses’ choices of refuge were actually quite limited.
What a seemingly lonely, dreadful place Moses’ life had come to: pursued by the Pharaoh,
rejected by the Hebrews. His royal palace life exchanged for that of a desert dweller…..a FUGITIVE
desert dweller. Moses would have a wilderness experience long before the one he would lead
Israel to have. Like his forefathers, Moses…..divided away and separated from his own
people……Moses would now be molded and prepared by the divine, unseen hand of God, in a
foreign land, on God’s timetable.
The inhabitants of his new home, Midian, were the descendants of Abraham’s concubine
Keturah…..so Moses and the Midianites were relatives. As we’ll run into the Midianites at several
points in the Bible, let me briefly explain that the Midianites were not actually a nation of people, but
a confederation of 5 tribes. They lived not in a sovereign state called Midian, but it was simply a
region that identified the general whereabouts of these 5 tribes; and therefore, all of the 5 tribes
were on the one hand called Midianites…..meaning they were from the region of Median; but on the
other hand, each would have had their own tribal name, some of which we’ll eventually stumble
across in the Bible, and others that appear to have been lost to antiquity. So, like so many places
and people in the Word, we get different names for the same place or person, which makes
following it all a little confusing.
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Upon arrival in the region of Midian Moses immediately has an encounter at a water well with these
Midianites.
If we watch closely in the Bible, many meetings of importance, particularly between men and
women, happen at desert water wells. The number of places it was considered proper and
acceptable for a woman to be seen apart from her father or husband, alone or with other women,
were few; a well was one such place. And, here, at this well in Midian, some women shepherds
show up, and begin to draw water for their sheep, only to have some local bullies show up and
drive the women’s sheep away, presumably to water their own flocks. Moses witnesses the
altercation, and driven by his underlying anger and a crusader mentality that we have seen
develop, utilizes the fighting skills he would have learned as a standard part of his royal training,
and shoos the men away. Impressed by the skill and courage of this “Egyptian” (as they call
Moses), Moses suddenly finds himself with 7 girlfriends, who promptly take him home to daddy.
Why would they think this Semitic man, Moses, was an Egyptian? It would have been his lack of a
beard, which characterized Egyptians (but a beard was required of Hebrew males), and his dress.
Daddy is introduced as a fellow named Reu’el. He’ll also, later, be called Yitro…..Jethro. Reu’el,
this “priest of Midian” as the Bible calls him, has spawned a lot of discussion among Bible scholars
as to just who he was and what role he might have played in Moses life. First, understand that the
land of Midian held a lot of Midianites. Reu’el is called “the priest” of Midian. We’ll see this same
kind of designation (THE priest) in the Bible when it means to indicate the HIGH priest of Israel. So,
Reu’el was the chief priest, or high priest, of the Midianites.
The name, Reu’el, is thought to mean “friend of El”…..El being the name God is called before He
announced His actual name. So, in one form or another, Reu’el knew the true God…..the one
generally known as El. Now, remembering that it was MOSES himself that wrote down Exodus and
all the other books of the Torah, it must have seemed unimportant to him to give much in the way
of detail about Reu’el or his own life in Midian. Because, about all we know for sure is that Reu’el
invited Moses to live with the family, gave Moses his daughter Tzippora for a wife, and then
Tzippora gave Moses two children, the first one named Gershom. Tzippora is a traditional Bedouin
name to this day; it means “bird”, as Bedouins tend to give their children animal names. As we’ll
soon discover, though, “bird” hardly fit Tzippora’s demeanor. Tiger, or maybe Tasmanian Devil
was more like it. But, we’ll save that for a later lesson.
Interestingly, take note of the name of Moses’ first child, Gershom. Back when we studied what
the Hebrews’ meant by the term “foreigner” or “stranger”, we learned that the Hebrew word was
Ger. So, this child of Moses, named Ger-shom, means literally “a stranger there”.
In V23 we’re informed that during Moses’ long stay in Midian, the Pharaoh that was in power
when Moses fled, had died. But, back in Egypt, if the Israelites who had lived for so many years
under the thumb of that Pharaoh who hated them so, had any thoughts of the new Pharaoh
perhaps being more favorable towards them, it was wiped out immediately. But, now, as the time
was ripe, the cake that was Israel was ready to be pulled from the oven; for, the groan of the
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Israelites had reached the ear of God, and it says that God “remembered” Israel. The Hebrew
used here for “remember” is zakar. And, zakar doesn’t mean remember like we think of it today. In
our era, remember is an act of our minds calling something up from memory; it’s no more than a
passive thought process. But, the Hebrew zakar is a much more active term; it adds the element of
involvement. So, while we think of “remember” as a kind of intellectual exercises, that may or may
not lead to some kind of action on our part, in Hebrew it is an action word that means paying very
close attention to someone or something and being involved in the outcome.
And, what is key is to catch just what it was that God’s action and reaction would revolve around: it
was the covenant that He had made to Abraham, then transferred to Isaac, and then transferred
yet again to Jacob, called Israel. And, that covenant was that Abraham’s descendants…..in time,
refined to mean Jacob and his sons and all their descendants…..would be given a land of their own,
that El Shaddai would be their God, that God would protect them and consider them His very own
set-apart people; and that through this, eventually the entire world would be blessed. The process
that had begun more than half a millennia earlier, and that had seemed dormant for nearly 400
years as Israel languished away in Egypt, is about to burst into visible action.
Let’s move on to Exodus chapter 3.
READ EXODUS 3 all

Let me warn you that we’re going to be in Exodus 3 for a while. This chapter is just brimming with
things we need to know and understand as preparation for what comes later.
Verse one tells us that Moses had settled into the life of a Shepherd. Since there is no indication
that Moses EVER had any training in BEING a Shepherd before he fled to Midian, one has to
assume that he received on-the-job-training from his wife and her sisters over a substantial period
of time after he arrived in Midian. Interestingly, Moses apparently did NOT own animals of his own.
These were his father-in-law’s sheep he was tending. Unlike the Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, it does not appear that Moses became prosperous.
He moved the flock to another pasture, at a place identified as Mt. Horeb. Now, its kind of important
to ascertain the best we can just WHERE this flock was moved to, because it was this location
where Moses had the Burning Bush Experience, and later he would receive the Torah. In other
words, wherever it was that he moved those sheep to was where the Mountain of God was located.
But, it’s also important to understand WHY he moved the flocks: it was to find fresh pasturelands.
Flocks were not moved just because the Shepherd got itchy feet. Nor were they moved any farther
than absolutely necessary. They were moved as short a distance as possible, to KNOWN and
established places.
Let me explain once again where Midian is: it is on the Arabian Peninsula, with its western border
being the Gulf of Aqaba. Now, I did some research on the location of ancient Midian, and
nowhere….not a textbook, not a map, not a reference book from ANY source… could I find anything
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that put the region of Midian ANYWHERE except on the Arabian Peninsula. Some have tried to
locate a mythical part of western Midian in the eastern part of the Sinai Peninsula. But, there is
absolutely nothing to indicate that, and it flies in the face of logic and simple geography. In fact,
Sinai at almost all times was Egyptian territory, which is why Moses fled through the Sinai, then
across the Gulf of Aqaba, and into Midian….he was not about to flee Pharaoh and REMAIN in
Egyptian territory, near Egyptian military outposts, where he could be easily apprehended. Many
archeological finds have confirmed the unique Midianite culture and everything of Midianite origin
ever found was found ONLY on the Arabian Peninsula. There is not one shred of evidence that
Midianites ever inhabited the Sinai.
Now without intent on trashing anyone, it’s pretty obvious from my study that the people who
argue that Midian spilled over into the Sinai Peninsula have an agenda: to prove that it was in the
Sinai where Moses drove his sheep. And, this is for no other reason than to try and establish the
Christian Mt. Sinai tradition as reality. As we’ll soon see, the Bible itself doesn’t confirm the
standard Christian traditional site of Mt. Sinai either.
But, it gets all the more unlikely that Moses drove his sheep to a mountain on the tip of the Sinai
Peninsula, because it would have required him to drive his sheep some 50 or more miles
northwards along the eastern shore of the Gulf of Aqaba, then do a U-turn and drive the sheep
another 75 miles or more down the OTHER side of the Gulf of Aqaba to get to the site that has
been designated as the place of the receiving of the Law, Mt. Sinai. Not only that, this route would
have taken Moses and his flocks through barren desert, with little or no pasture, and even fewer
available watering holes. No Shepherd in his right mind would drive sheep, which are very delicate
creatures, through 125 miles of parched land, just to move them along to new pasture.
No, Moses remained on the Arabian Peninsula and drove them to the “far side”, or “behind” the
desert wilderness of MIDIAN, just as the Bible says. You see Vs 1 has some translators saying that
Moses drove the sheep west. Others say only “behind”, or “far side” or some other undefined,
general direction. Well, the only way to come up with west is if someone works backwards; that is,
IF you begin with the idea that Mt. Horeb is on the Sinai Peninsula, then from where Moses actually
started out (in Midian) he would have to go west to get there. Right? The problem is that of the 69
times the word “WEST” is used in the OT, 68 of those times the original Hebrew word is
“Yam”…….Yam is the traditional Hebrew word to indicate the direction of west. The 69th time
“west” is used, is right here in Exodus 1, and guess what, the word Yam is NOT the Hebrew word
used. Instead, we find the word “ACHAR” is used. And, of the 74 times that “ACHAR” is used in
the OT, 73 times it is translated as “behind”, or “at the rear”. ONLY here in Exodus 1 have some
translators chosen to make “Achar” become “west”. Get the picture? It is a gross mistranslation.
All we know about the direction Moses took the flocks is that it was somewhere behind the
wilderness…..behind the desert, which could have been just about any direction.
But, in V2, we do see that wherever it was they went, they went to where there were mountains
that rimmed the desert wilderness. And, it would not have been very far…..probably no more than
10-20 miles at the MOST. We’ll get back into this at a later date after the Israelites are released
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from Egypt. But, for now, just know that where Moses had the Burning Bush Experience was in
Midian, on the EAST side of the Gulf of Aqaba, on the Arabian Peninsula…..not in the Sinai desert.
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Category: Exodus
Audio Files MP3

Illustrations
Lesson 4 Chapter 3 continued
Last week we ended with Moses on his way to the backside, or the far side, of the wilderness of
Midian. And, I made the case for you that the mountain where Moses would encounter the Burning
Bush was NOT on the Sinai Peninsula, but on the Arabian Peninsula. And, this is because Midian
in on the Arabian Peninsula. At this point, the mountain where Moses will first encounter the great
God of his fathers, up to now known as Mt. Horeb, will be the same place Moses was instructed to
bring the Hebrew people when they are released from their bondage in Egypt.
Am I saying that the traditional location of Mt. Sinai, near the tip of the Sinai Peninsula, is not
correct? Yes, that’s what I’m saying. We need to grasp that Mt. Sinai’s location is a Christian
tradition, not a Jewish one. It was not until the time of Constantine (4th century A.D.) that his
mother, Helena, had a vision and it was in this supposed vision that she decided that the current
location of Mt. Sinai was the correct one. Until that time that place had NEVER held any religious
significance. Further, no type of shrine was built on it until the 6th century A.D., when the first
section of St. Catherine’s Monastery was completed there.
Due to the fairly recent work of archeologists like Bob Cornuke and Ron Wyatt, the subject has
taken on new life, and in their entirely independent investigations they can find no other solution for
the true location of the Mountain of God than in an area east of the Gulf of Aqaba. I say “new life”
because this subject goes back a long way. In 1893, in the Imperial and Asiatic Quarterly Review,
the most highly regarded archaeological journal for it’s time, Professor Sayce and his colleagues
concluded that to look in the Sinai Peninsula for the Mountain of God was wrong minded. That the
only evidence, both Biblically and extra-Biblically, was that it had to be located somewhere on the
western end of the Arabian Peninsula.
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An even earlier mention, outside the Bible, of the location of Mount Sinai/Mt. Horeb, was from
Josephus the Hebrew-Roman historian. In his work, Antiquities, Josephus says that the location
was towards Arabia, and actually named the region: Arabia Petraea.
Without doubt, the earliest name of this mountain was Mt. Horeb. We don’t find it called Mt. Sinai
until after the Jews returned from Babylon. Coincidentally……but not enough to call it absolute
proof……one the Assyrian-Babylonian gods the Jews encountered was named “Sin” and many
scholars believe that is how both Mountain and the desert got its name. Sin was the moon-god. So
the belief is that the region….Sinai….was named for this moon-god that the Jews were now so
familiar with. The Jews began to incorporate many Babylonian names and traditions into their own
culture after their 70-year stay in Babylon. However, what is also interesting is that it was the
Arabian culture …..characterized by its Sabean religion….that worshipped the moon-god at the top of
its god hierarchy. So, it’s not hard to see how all of this could have become mixed-up and
absorbed and incorporated over the centuries into Jewish tradition, and then borrowed and
changed again in Christian tradition.
I am convinced, at the least, that the real Mt. Sinai is not the current one, and therefore won’t even
take people there on tours any more. In any case, we’ll talk about his subject a little more as we
get further into Exodus, not because it has any major theological impact, but because it is simply
interesting.
Let’s re-read part of Exodus chapter 3 to refresh our memories.
READ EXODUS 3:1 - 12

Moses led his father-in-law’s sheep to new pastureland.
Suddenly Moses sees the angel of the Lord, appearing as a burning bush, on one those
mountains. But, what really attracted Moses to this fire, was that is was burning without consuming
the bush. Now, back in Genesis, we tackled what the “angel of the Lord” meant. But, we’ll review
it quickly.
This statement “angel of the Lord” is composed to two Hebrew words: malach is the first word,
and it simply means, “messenger”. In Hebrew, ???? (mem-lamed-aleph-chaf sofit). It could be
ANY kind of messenger…..human or otherwise, and it could denote anything from telling your child,
as a messenger, to run next door and ask your neighbor for some milk, to a heavenly
messenger…..an angel. But, when it is used to indicate a heavenly messenger, there is a second
word added to Malach, and it is usually either Adonai, or Yehoveh. There is a world of difference
between these two words: Adonai means “lord” or “master”; it is a rather generic term. It is only
within the context of its use that one can determine whether the Bible is referring to a heavenly
“lord” or simply an earthly authority figure that is being shown respect. It was customary and
complimentary in those days to call someone you respect “lord”, “master”, Adonai.
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But, using the Hebrew word Yehoveh is a whole other matter. Yehoveh, or Yahweh depending on
which Hebrew scholar you believe is correct as to this name’s pronunciation, is the completely
unique word that God says is His personal name. In Hebrew, yud-heh-vav-heh. '???
The original Hebrew of this verse, translated typically as “angel of the lord” is actually, in Hebrew,
“malach Yehoveh”…….angel of Yehoveh. When we see the term “angel of the lord”, it CAN mean,
and most often refers to, just an “angel”…..a heavenly angel as we typically think of one. But, when
we see “angel of Yahweh”, it seems to mean a manifestation of God Almighty, Himself. This was
not a run-of-the-mill angel in the burning bush, bringing a message FROM God……it was God
Himself that was about to speak to Moses; of that there is no scriptural doubt. So, what we need to
take of this is that, just like it is for us today, sometimes there is no word or phrase to adequately
describe an attribute or manifestation of the Father. God could have just spoken to Moses with no
visible aspect to the communication at all. But, usually God does do something visual because of
our rational senses sight is the most powerful and impacting upon us.
Now, I think I can say with some confidence that Moses was unprepared for what was about to
happen: a voice coming from the bush that calls out his name! Typically one would think that
Moses’ “fight or flight” reflex would have kicked in right about then….. (FEET DON’T FAIL ME
NOW!). Moses didn’t do either one…….he fell to the ground and lay there like a slug; scared out of
his wits.
God instructs him to remove his sandals, for he is now on Holy Ground. Why is the ground Holy?
Because if God is there, its holy. We’ll see this fleshed out a little more as God instructs the
building of the Wilderness Tabernacle. The removing of one’s sandals was, and remains, a
standard Middle Eastern sign of respect when entering the presence of a king or a god. However,
the Lord didn’t say “since you’re in the presence of God, your must remove your sandals”.
Rather, the reason is that the ground, the dirt surrounding the bush had taken on a holy condition.
As we’ll find out in later parts of the Torah, holiness was something that could be transmitted from
person to person, or person to object, or object to object. I know that sound pretty odd; this is
because the Biblical definition of holiness and its qualities is something that modern Christianity
tends to shy away from because it’s pretty dicey to deal with. But, from a Biblical principle aspect,
at least part of the matter with the removal of the sandals was that, as the Lord says, the very dirt
Moses was standing on was holy because God was near. How come the dirt was holy? Because
holiness was transmitted to it from a holy God…..it was physically unavoidable. It would have been
tragic had the holiness of the dirt surrounding the Burning Bush been transferred to Moses’
sandals, and then wherever he walked those sandals would have possibly transmitted holiness to
whatever they touched. We can’t see it in this account, but this whole incident is one that is quite
dangerous as it involves God’s holiness.
And, now, God introduces Himself to Moses. He explains that He is the God of Moses’
fathers….the Patriarchs. Why is that important? Because it instantly connects what is happening
here with the Abrahamic Covenant…..the COVENANT of Moses’ fathers Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob. And, Abba says that He sees the terrible condition of the people, down in Egypt, the people
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that He has set apart for Himself……the Israelites. In V8, God says, “I have come down” to rescue
Israel from the hand of Egypt. “I have come down” does NOT mean God changed location.
Rather, it is an everyday Hebrew idiom that indicates someone, in this case God, is intervening in
this particular human affair; just as in the Hebrew word zakar, translated “remember”, which
inherently includes involvement.
God next says that He is going to do what He promised to do so long ago; “I shall surely bring you
back up again” from the place you have sojourned to a land I have given to you. And, the place He
had prepared for them was Canaan. A good land, with plenty of room for them……..a land flowing
with milk and honey. We will hear this phrase “flowing with milk and honey” many times in the
Scriptures, and it has nothing to do with milk OR honey…. it simply is another of the scores of
Hebrew idioms we find in the Word, and this one indicates great fruitfulness and fertility and
blessing.
Of course, this land, Canaan, is already occupied with many peoples, primarily the Canaanites; that
is, the descendants of Canaan, son of Ham, and grandson of Noah; this was a cursed line of
people. V8 also mentions 4 other people groups who were in the land of Canaan. The Hittites at
one time, well before the Assyrian Empire, formed a substantial empire of their own. Starting at
about the time of Moses, they occupied an area that encompassed modern day Turkey, Syria and
Lebanon. They also had influenced on other areas, including Canaan. They were a very advanced
civilization, and here we see mention of them in the Bible, with some of them living in Canaan.
Interestingly, it was not long ago that scientists and scholars regarded the Biblical mention of
Hittites as just another of the many so-called mythical peoples enumerated throughout the OT.
Imagine their surprise when recent archaeological digs confirmed that this civilization not only
existed, it was a heretofore-unknown dominant regional power. Now, museums are flooded with
confirmed Hittite artifacts.
It is believed that the Amorites were of Mesopotamian origin; in fact, it is pretty well agreed among
Biblical anthropologists that Abraham was likely an Amorite. They dominated the area of modern
day Iraq, and were very aggressive in pursuit of power and territory. The great Conqueror
Hammurabi was an Amorite. Their heyday was BEFORE that of the Hittites, but their culture
survived for centuries after its peak.
It has been concluded that the Perrizites were not a tribe, but rather a name for a group of people
or tribes that populated the hill country of Canaan. So, it’s thought that Perrizites was a kind of
generic term that simply meant “hill dwellers”, and therefore indicated more of a location than any
particular tribe. It’s like referring to people as Floridians, or Californians, or New Yorkers.
Very little is known of the Hivites. However, we do know that the people who occupied and ruled
the ancient city of Shechem, at least when Jacob lived there for a time, were Hivites. And, it
appears they were concentrated in the northern part of Canaan, though some of their tribe likely
lived in other parts of Canaan as well. They are thought to even possibly be the ancestors of the
Huns.
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The Jebusites were the people who occupied and likely even built the city that would eventually be
called Jerusalem.
God makes it very clear to Moses that He has not been asleep at the switch. He has seen, He has
heard, and He has KNOWN of His people’s plight. We should NEVER assume that what we
perceive as a long period of God’s silence in our lives means that He has forgotten His promises
to us, or isn’t aware of us, or has lost interest in us. For, as daunting as it can be it seems that an
extended period of heavenly silence is invariably a major ingredient of God’s preparation process;
His preparation of us…..for whatever His divine purposes for us might be…WILL include periods of
divine silence.
And, now begins an incredible dialogue between Moses and God. There has never been one like it
before, and there has never been one like it since. It is no wonder that the Jewish people venerate
Moses……holds him in such high esteem. Church, it’s really sad that we don’t, too. Because, as we
progress through the Torah, we’re going to see just how highly God thought of Moses.
After God makes it clear WHO He is, and of His great compassion for His people, and His intention
to do something about their condition, in V10, He calls Moses to be His instrument of deliverance.
And, the way this call occurs is really a pattern for the way God will commission all of His
prophets……not just in Biblical times, but for all time. And, it is almost opposite of the way a human
would expect such a thing to occur.
First and foremost it is that it is God who approaches the one He has chosen to be His prophet. It is
God that initiates the contact. Sometimes it’s in a vision, or a dream. In this case, with Moses, it is
a direct confrontation……the flame in the bush is about the closest thing we’re going to see in the
Bible that approaches “face-to-face” conversation with God. Second, the one chosen is always
either reluctant or outright refuses the call at first. Jonah is often called the Reluctant Prophet. In
point of fact, ALL prophets are reluctant prophets. Being reluctant seems to be a pre-condition to
being chosen to be a prophet God. Are you anxious and determined to be a Prophet for God?
Then from everything I’ve read in the Bible you are not a candidate.
Third, we see that the prophet candidate (male or female) is to return to society, or wherever God
sends him, without concern for the opposition he will receive, undeterred by the skeptical nature of
the many who will scoff at him, ready to tell men of great power and authority things that will, shall
we say, disturb them. It may well be that the prophet will never, in his lifetime, achieve an even
modest amount of respect from his former friends and family, nor might he ever see come to pass
what it is he has been told by God to prophesy.
But, if we look at this from a little different perspective, we can also see what it is that God is
looking for in the character of the person He chooses to be His prophet. Utmost, God wants
someone who doesn’t consider himself worthy to be a prophet of God. Someone who does NOT
think, “pick me, I have what it takes!” No personal ambition must be present. Because, the person
chosen must understand better than most that, of himself, it is impossible to carry out the task
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about to be given him; that what will come next he won’t know, and that there is no way for him to
prepare for it. That if God doesn’t do it all, it simply can’t happen.
So, we see God’s patience with Moses; because God well understands that the very attributes of
the man He will use to bring His people out of Egypt runs counter to what this man THINKS he is
capable of doing.
Folks, if you have ever WANTED to be a prophet of God…… you are not a candidate. If you think
you might make a good prophet…… you are disqualified. If any man’s ambition is to gain personal
benefit from speaking for God, that man will not be chosen. I tell you this not just so we can all look
in the mirror and make some honest judgments about ourselves concerning this; but also that we
might look closely at the men and women who profess to speak for God. Do they have the
attributes that God seeks for His spokespersons? Those characteristics so clearly laid out in the
Word? Or, is it that they have attributes that appeal to themselves and to worldly human nature?
Do they have a desire to be popular and successful, or do they have a desire to tell the truth that
God has given them to tell, no matter the cost? Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you have no
right to make such a determination. It’s our duty, to our families, and us to carefully examine those
who profess to speak for God. Otherwise, we will have no idea who it is we are hearing from:
God….. or man….. or worse.
After Moses displays the FIRST quality God looks for in a Prophet, by saying, “Who am I that I
should go Pharaoh?” God tells Moses that He will be present with him in the task just assigned.
And, then God says something we need to remember for some future chapters in Exodus: He says,
as a sign of His direct hand in bringing the people out of Egypt, Moses is to lead the people to THIS
mountain where they will all serve God. What mountain is THIS mountain? The exact same one on
which Moses is now encountering God in the burning bush. And, WHERE is this mountain? Where
Moses drove his sheep to; behind the desert of Midian.
Let’s re-read a little more of Exodus 3.
Re-READ Exodus 3:13 - END

Even though God reassures Moses that He will be with him, Moses now says, in V13, that the
people will want to know God’s name…obviously, Moses does NOT know the God of Israel’s
name. Does anyone else find this a curious question? What’s the big deal about knowing God’s
name that Moses is just so sure the Israelites will demand? What’s wrong with just saying, “ the
God of our fathers sent me”? Has Moses forgotten that all of his forefathers called God El
Shaddai? The sad reality is that the Israelites had succumbed to nearly 4 centuries of living
amongst the pagan worship practices of the Egyptians. And, one of the main tenets of the Egyptian
religion was that if you knew a particular god’s name (and they had MANY gods) you could
manipulate that god to do YOUR will by invoking his name. You see, just like in Hebrew, in the
Egyptian language personal names held meanings. So, the name of a god denoted that god’s
characteristics, and that characteristic was directly associated to some specific part of the natural
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or spiritual world that he, or she, had control or influence over. So, if one was clever enough to
match up the particular matter that was of concern to you with the right god, and then knew that
god’s name, you could call out “oh great Electro, god of the TV, please make my picture come in
clearer”, and that god had no choice but to do your bidding.
Moses well knew this from living in Egypt for his first 40 years of life. And, of course, God well knew
it. So, God obliged and gave Moses a name: a name that denoted God’s characteristics, and that
name was ehyeh asher ehyeh. Let’s take a few minutes with this. First off, understand that God
gave Moses what he knew Moses was looking for: a name that indicated God’s characteristics.
Because, this is NOT the same thing as God’s personal name which He will soon tell Moses.
Ehyeh asher ehyeh is most typically translated “I am that I am” or “I will be What I will be”.
Nothing wrong about that. This has been the source of much mystery that has caused
disagreement among reasonable Bible scholars as to its precise meaning. And, I have absolutely
no doubt that God gave us that “name” for just that reason. His name is not to be compared with
anything, or anyone, else.
Some translators make it “ What I will be, I will be”; others “I am WHO I am”. Still others “ I am
THAT which I am”, and another intriguing interpretation “ I will be-there howsoever I will be-there”.
I have no trouble with any of these definitions because I think we are attempting to define God’s
sublime characteristics, His unique essence, in the only way we have: human words developed
from human thoughts. And words just can’t quite capture it, but it’s all we have. I also think that,
as is our human propensity, we want to come to an easily digestible consensus of a SINGLE
characteristic that we can assign God. You know, our desire for a “bottom line”, black or white,
answer. Rather, I believe God is giving us, in ehyeh asher ehyeh, just a glimpse of the nearly
impossible to envision reality that He is self-existent ( I am that I am), that He is eternal (I will be as
I will be), and that He is one of a kind ( I am THAT which I am). He is not a being that He should be
even remotely compared to man. He is always present and He is with us and around us in ways
which would be futile for Him to try and explain as in a translation that I like, “I will be-there
howsoever I will be-there”. He was, and is, and will always be. No Egyptian god had such a name
as this; no known pagan god claimed such a thing.
Now, in V15, God gives Moses His FORMAL personal name. What we will find out at a later point
is that THIS is the first time God has given out His personal name. And, that name is YHVH; '???
And, YHVH says that this name is his name for all generations. In other words, as long as their
exists mankind, this is the name God wishes to be known by.
Now, a quick explanation: if we go back to Genesis, we will see several places where the name
“YHVH” is used when referring to God. So, if only here at the burning bush does Moses, and
mankind, FIRST receive God’s formal eternal name, how is it that this same name is present in the
records of events, in Genesis, that took place hundreds of years earlier? It is because Moses wrote
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down Genesis, and portions of the other books of the Torah, after the fact. That is, he wrote a
history, not a diary. And, as is normal in human literature, when we look back at a person, or event,
or place, we usually refer to it by the most common CURRENT name that people would
understand. For instance, today I might refer to my 2-year-old granddaughter, Hannah, by name,
even when concerning a time she was still in her mother’s womb….. a time before she was even
named! Or, if I was going to tell you the history of an area of Southern California that we are all
familiar with, I would say that 500 years ago in the Los Angeles area there lived a huge population
of Chumash Indians. Now, the name “Los Angeles” is not very old. And, certainly, there was no
place called “Los Angeles” 500 years ago. But, what better way to refer to a particular area than
by the name it is CURRENTLY known? That’s all that was happening when Moses used God’s
name earlier in Genesis……it was done in retrospect.
In Vs 16, God tells Moses to go to a certain group of authority figures in Israel, in order that they
are informed what is about to happen. Notice what these people are called: “elders”. If you refer to
your charts from an earlier lesson, you’ll see that elders are the people’s representatives, an
elected or appointed class of leadership. Elders are not a part of the hereditary hierarchy that forms
the ruling class of Prince, Chief, and Head. Kind of interesting, to me, that God sent Moses NOT to
the rulers of Israel, but to the common peoples’ representatives. Jesus would do exactly the same
thing: he went to the people, not the institutional religious authorities. And, I don’t think that, when
it comes to God wanting to communicate with His people that it is any different now than it was
then. Do you? Pastors, teachers, and other church leaders are simply managers necessary to
organize, and people God uses to carry out tasks and needed functions; we, they, are NOT
Mediators. There is NO one between Abba and you, except Jesus.
God gave Moses a short list of things he was to say to the elders of Israel, who were to pass it on
to those they represent: the general population of Israel. Moses is to tell them that he has
personally SEEN the God of their fathers (hence the Burning Bush), and it is YHVH who has sent
him. Further, YHVH wants the people to know that He knows of their affliction, and He has
determined to remedy it by bringing Israel out of Egypt and up to Canaan, a fertile and fruitful
place.
God tells Moses that the elders and the people WILL listen to what Moses tells them, and
then…….and here it comes……..Moses and the elders are to confront the king of Egypt. But, unlike
what we typically think, Pharaoh was not first hit with a demand to release the people of Israel to
permanently migrate. No, all that was asked was that Israel be allowed to take a 3-day journey into
the wilderness where they can worship God. Implied in all this is that this journey was simply akin
to us going on a retreat. But, God goes on to say that He knows in advance that the Pharaoh will
deny Israel permission to do this, and therefore after Pharaoh refuses this request God is going to
smite Egypt and only after that will Pharaoh comply.
Why this Kabuki dance? Why the need to try for a 3-day pass instead of an honorable discharge?
Well, with the benefit of hindsight, we can see that God needed to show Israel some things that
they were currently blind to. Like all of us, Israel didn’t want to change they just wanted their
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circumstances to be different. They didn’t so much mind being in Egypt and being associated
with (and polluted by) Egyptian culture and Egyptian religion. They just didn’t like the slavery part.
So, God began by telling Moses that Israel had to separate itself from Egypt, so that He could have
them all to Himself that He might show them what proper worship is.
The dividing and separating of God’s people from the world is crucial. And, the elders need to see
that Pharaoh has a far deeper hold over them than they realized; the king of Egypt doesn’t just
want their labor, he wants them mind, body, and spirit. Pharaoh wants what Satan wants.
Pharaoh’s refusal to allow them to separate for but 72 hours that they might worship God will show
the elders that the only path before them is to permanently separate from Egypt. And, this is going
to be a very difficult and arduous path for the people and their leaders, so they have to buy into it
wholeheartedly. Remember, what we are talking about here is REDEMPTION.
There is probably not one of us in this room who has not been faced with this same reality. If you
are one of God’s people, then God is going to use whatever means necessary to divide and
separate you from the things of the world; things that are not good for you. But, it is not our human
instinct to follow God and leave behind everything that is not OF God. Rather, we try to keep one
foot in the world, and the other in God’s Kingdom. But, it won’t work. I’m not sure there is any
greater misery experienced than for a child of God who keeps resisting the Lord’s will that we
separate ourselves from all that is unholy. And, the grueling part of it all is that it is a process that is
never ending for the entire duration of our lives, as long as we stay in the faith. It seems that once
we FINALLY sever ties to some worldly thing that we are enslaved to, God will show us yet another
area of our lives that must be dealt with in the same manner……and on and on the process goes all
of our days. Israel would have preferred to keep one foot in Egypt, and the other in the promises of
God. That would prove to not only be impossible, but deadly.
At the end of chapter 3, God gives Moses a prophecy integrated with a command: STRIP EGYPT!!
When God was through punishing Egypt, Israel was to ask, or better demand of the Egyptian
citizens their valuables. And, God said Egypt would gladly give Israel anything they wanted just to
be rid of them. In reality, Egypt would come to fear the presence of Israel….or better yet, the
presence of Israel’s God. Here we have another God produced irony: the slaves plunder their
masters. It was the tradition of that time, as it is today in most non-Western societies, that to the
victor goes the spoils. But, Israel was not the victor; they had done NOTHING to overcome Egypt.
God did it all and Israel benefited from it. Another God-pattern that the Church most recognizes as
a New Testament principle created in Yeshua, yet actually originated right here: it was that God
redeemed us from our servitude to our flesh and to Satan. All we did was to benefit from what HE
did.
Next week, we’ll begin chapter 4.
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Category: Exodus
Audio Files MP3

Illustrations
Lesson 5 Chapter 4
Let’s continue our study of Exodus as we move, today, into chapter 4. Last time we met, we were
in the midst of the Burning Bush theophany. I say theophany because indeed that kind of direct
interaction between God and a man by which God manifests Himself in some visible or audible way
is rare in the Bible. In fact, the last recorded Biblical theophany happened with Jacob, some 500
years before this time with Moses.
Although our modern Bibles are structured in such a way that we just ended one chapter (Exodus
3) and are about to begin the next that is NOT actually the way the scriptures were written. The first
verse of chapter 4 is just a continuation of the last verse of chapter 3. And, so, we are still in the
midst of the conversation between God and Moses, in the land of Midian, at the site of the Burning
Bush.
READ CHAPTER 4 all

And, in V1, we see Moses’ reluctance…..the usual mode of a potential prophet of God….. or,
perhaps downright fear, start to really push to the fore. If we look closely, we see that Moses flat-
out didn’t believe God. Because in chapter 3 Vs 18, God told Moses, unequivocally, that the elders
and people would listen and pay attention to Moses. Now, Moses turns right around and says to
God, in essence, “no they won’t”. So, in His great mercy, God begins to give Moses a series of
proofs……. The Bible typically calls them signs……of God’s ability to carry out whatever it is that He
ordains.
Now, what we are about to witness in Chapter 4 is something never before done: God gives Moses
the power to bring about miracles. This ability to wield such extraordinary, heavenly power had not
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been given to any man before it was given to Moses at this moment in history. And, yet, we must
understand that this power is NOT Moses it is God working through Moses. Moses did NOT
become a godly magician. Rather, this is the same mysterious stuff that we struggle to understand
about the faithful Believer today: whatever power we do have is NOT our power, nor is it of
ourselves, nor does it come by our minds or our flesh, it is God in us. As such, whatever we do with
such power must FIRST be done strictly by His will, and second by means of the power of HIS
spirit…..that thing we call the Holy Spirit.
The first sign God put forth for Moses dealt with Moses’ staff; it was but a stick, a Shepherd’s
staff, used in his vocation as a tender of flocks. But, God was going to transform the purpose of
both Moses and his staff: instead of shepherding sheep, Moses was about to lead Israel.
What are we to make of God turning Moses’ staff from a piece of dead and dried-up wood, into a
snake, and then back again? Well, there have been many analogies and allegories put forth to
explain this meaning, and it’s hard to know for sure which is right……if any. But, what we can know
with assurance is that it is no coincidence that the serpent the staff was turned in to was the official
Egyptian symbol for royal power and authority, both religious and civil. Pharaohs usually wore a
golden serpent symbol on their heads; the snake represented the patron cobra-goddess of Lower
Egypt. So, somewhere in the midst of God showing Moses the tremendous supernatural ability to
turn a dead, dried-out piece of wood vegetation into a live animal, and back again, at His
command, Moses as a former prince of Egypt, must have instantly recognized the symbolism of the
serpent. For Moses was indeed going to, with God’s power, overcome Egypt, whose very symbol
was a serpent…….and that Old Serpent, Satan himself, who guided Egypt. A simple Shepherd was
going grab the serpent, Egypt, by its tail and shake it.
The second sign is a little more straightforward, to my way of thinking. The clean hand was inserted
into Moses’ garment and it became diseased…..defiled. Then the defiled hand was inserted back
into the garment and became clean. This sign was as much directly related to Israel, as was the
first sign with the staff directly related to Egypt. God’s chosen people began pure, and then God
allowed them to become impure. But, God can redeem. He can take the most defiled person, or
nation, and purify them.
When Moses removed his hand the first time, the skin disease that had instantaneously consumed
his hand was NOT Leprosy. The Hebrew word for this affliction is Tzara’at: and it is nowhere as
serious as Leprosy. We’re not precisely sure what the disease was in medical terms, but the
Hebrews considered it not only ugly and contagious but as an outward sign of the infected
person’s inward spiritual condition. In other words, a person with Tzara’at was seen as under a
condition of discipline or curse from God. Therefore, anyone defiled with Tzara’at was removed
from the presence of the other people. Moses’ diseased hand represented Israel’s inward spiritual
condition in God’s eyes. And, just as important, God then removed the Tzara’at from Moses’
hand; that is, He was able to, and going to, purify Israel from all their defilement.
The 3rd and last sign, as seen in Vs 9, was God showing His power over the worthless Egyptian
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gods. The Nile was life to Egypt, in a very real way; in fact the Nile, itself, was also a god in the
Egyptian religion. And, when Moses would later take water from the Nile and pour it on the desert
sand, it would turn into blood. Since Adam and Eve, God had made it clear that blood was all-
important in His divine plan…. This is why blood is the basis of God’s sacrificial system. The
Hebrews well understood this. By turning the water of the Nile into blood, God was showing His
complete mastery over the Mystery religion system of Egypt.
This coming battle of the God of Israel against the non-gods of Egypt is quite interesting and
thought provoking. Now, we have the benefit of knowing that there is but One God, and He is God
of everything. But, in those ancient times, it was considered common knowledge that not only was
there many gods, but they were regional and national gods, and they operated within certain
territories. When they went to war, they took with them god-idols and their priests in hope that in
this way their gods could have influence in a foreign territory. So, Egypt had their gods; and their
gods’ realm, their sphere of authority, was usually LIMITED to Egypt, the Egyptian people, and
matters that concerned the land and affairs of Egypt. That was a principle of all the Mystery
Babylon religions that existed then, and every society ever unearthed and studied generally
believed the same way. So, for instance, up in Canaan, the various Canaanite cities and nations
would each have had their own set of gods that generally only dealt with those particular cities’
and nations’ people, territory, and issues. From time to time, as one nation or people would come
up against another, then the gods that represented those nations would also battle amongst
themselves. And, it was believed that, according to whichever nation won the battle, the gods of
that nation were therefore more powerful and clever than the gods of the vanquished nation.
Sometimes, the defeated nation would, naturally, adopt the gods of the victorious nation because it
was believed that those gods MUST be stronger than their own gods, so why have not have better
gods?
Now, this idea of multiple gods did not get immediately cleansed from the thinking of the Israelites.
We’ll talk about this more from time to time as the situation arises; but for now, its important to
understand that when we see references in the earlier parts of the O.T. referring to Yahweh as the
“god above all gods”……that’s exactly what it meant to the people of that day. To us, we just kind
of take that Biblical statement, “god above all gods”, and see it as a statement of grandeur. Or we
allegorize a bit, and say that it means that God Almighty is more important than anything else in our
lives……..our money, our family, our job…….and that anything we might make as equally necessary in
our lives as God, in itself becomes a god. And, while that is all true, that was NOT what it meant to
the early Hebrews. To them this was all quite literal.
In a few chapters, in Exodus 20, we’ll get into the 10 Commandments. And, of course, the first
thing God instructs in those commandments is that “you shall have no other gods before Me”.
That was not a quaint statement with a symbolic meaning. The Hebrews, Israel, absolutely
believed there were other gods. The whole world had other gods……hundreds of them. Shoot,
everybody knew that from the time they were children! For Israel, it was bad enough that their chief
god, the El (from which we get El Shaddai, El Elyon, Beth’el, Dani’el, Immanu’el, and scores and
scores of Biblical names incorporating the title “El”) did not allow Israel any other gods; because
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the sheer number of gods a nation possessed indicated wealth and power. So, Israel, with but
Yahweh, was considered by other nations, and early in their development by their own estimation,
god-poor since they only had ONE god. Frankly, the idea that a people would have only one god
was preposterous; so don’t think Israel was thrilled with the notion.
I tell you this so that you can put yourself into the minds of the ancient Israelites, as well as the
Egyptians, in the upcoming battle between Moses and Pharaoh. And, this so that you can
understand the context of Exodus, and the Torah, as concerns the matter of identifying God and
his attributes. Also that we don’t allegorize, but understand that when Scriptural wording speaks in
any way of God Almighty being above “other gods”, that is exactly what the writer thought and
meant. Not because there were really other gods, but because the demons that posed as deity to
humans, and the polluted and corrupted human thought that believed there were many gods, had
to be shown as what they are……false, frauds, deceivers.
But, before we kind of giggle at that notion, or snicker and think how ignorant and primitive it was
for the world and early Israel to think such absurd thoughts……. also understand, that our personal
walk with God is one that began right where we were when He found us …….mentally, physically,
emotionally, and spiritually. And, we were a mess. We didn’t get cleaned up and THEN accept
Christ. We didn’t believe upon Jesus and become instantly perfected. We Americans are very
fortunate that 1000’s of years of God working with mankind has allowed us to live a society that at
least doesn’t practice multiple god worship, so that we had that to overcome. It took a long time,
and many hard lessons, for Israel to fully comprehend even the basic concept that there is but ONE
god. Not just one god for Israel, and other gods for other peoples. One Universal God for everyone
and everything. This went against all their human nature. They saw God, any god, on purely
nationalistic and cultural terms and Moses saw it all that way, too. And, his first meeting with God,
in the burning bush, didn’t change his thinking on the matter right away. It only changed it
sufficiently for Moses to be God’s instrument in securing Israel’s release from Egypt.
In V10, when it seems that Moses’ arguments to God have all been answered, he throws out one
last ditch effort to avoid this calling: he says he is “no man of words”, and, oh yeah, one more
thing, “ my words come slowly, and my tongue moves slowly”. Or, most literally, “I am heavy of
mouth and heavy of tongue”. What the exact nature of Moses’ speech difficulty isn’t clear;
tradition is that he had forgotten how to speak Hebrew well. Others think that perhaps he was
concerned that he no longer spoke Egyptian well enough to approach the King of Egypt.
Be that as it may, we see then that God shows anger with Moses. And, we need to take from this
that Moses really had little idea who God was, what He was about, what His purposes were, just
HOW omnipotent God is. And, so, God begins at the beginning. And, He says to Moses “ Who
gives a person a mouth?” God knows way more about Moses’ mouth than Moses’ ever will. Even
more, God says He will be-there with Moses and tell him what to say. This is interesting. At this
time is history the Holy Spirit had not yet dwelt within man; that spiritual mystery was still 1400
years into the future. So, what did it mean when God said, “I will be-there with you”? HOW was
God going to be there with Moses? In what form? And, just like you or I would wonder about how it
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was that God would be with us, so did Moses. Well, remember back in Exodus 3:14, God
answered Moses’ question about His name by saying “ehyeh asher ehyeh”, which is most
typically translated “I am that I am”? But, equally as correct, would be “I will be-there howsoever I
will be-there”. In fact, this is MUCH more literal than the “I am that I am” translation.
Several times now in Exodus we’re going to encounter “ehyeh” and “asher” when God is telling
Moses that He will be-there with him in some situation or another. And, here in 4:12, we encounter
those same Hebrew words. God is going to “ehyeh” with Moses, be-there with Moses, in some
way that is not explained. Whatever way He is there, however, we can be sure it is EXTERNAL to
Moses…….its not like God being present with us, in the Church Age, in the form of the Holy Spirit
living literally within us. Many times in the OT we will see that when the Holy Spirit is talked about in
relationship to men, it is that the Holy Spirit is “upon” that man…..not “within” that man, like it is
now. “Upon” is an “external” condition; “within” is an internal condition. So, let’s not get too
confident that we can completely sum up through our rather simplistic doctrinal views God’s full
range of manifestations as being limited to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; at the least, we know there
is another manifestation called “the Angel of Yahweh”, who is the One now talking to Moses. And,
in a few chapters, we’ll be introduced to God’s Shekinah, which doesn’t fit too well with any of the
other categories we’ve devised, either. As God has told Moses, “I will be-there HOWSOEVER I
will be-there”. In other words, we couldn’t comprehend it even if He explained it.
And, Moses replies, “send somebody else”. Wrong answer. God makes short work of this
conversation by telling Moses that his older brother Aaron will speak for him….that Aaron will be
Moses’ mouth. And, in fact, God has visited Aaron, and he’s on his way to meet Moses, as they
speak. It should not go unnoticed that God referred to Aaron as the “Levite”. I mean, after all,
since this was Moses’ own brother, Moses rather well knew that Aaron was of the tribe of Levi. I
think the thing to take from this, is that right here we see God’s intention that the tribe of Levi is
going to be set apart as special. And, in Vs 15, the pecking order is established: God speaks to
Moses, and Moses speaks to Aaron, and Aaron speaks to Pharaoh and to the people.
Now lets also not overlook those few little words in Vs 16 in which God tells Moses, “and for him
(Aaron) you shall be a (or as a) god”. Whoa. God, for His own divine purposes, has decided that
whatever Moses speaks shall carry with it the same authority as if God Himself spoke it. Does that
sound just a little bit like Yeshua the Messiah? I mentioned sometime earlier that while the Jews
venerate Moses above all except God, the Church sees him as pretty much just another Bible
character. God sure seemed to see Moses as very special, as he was given the power to work
miracles, and the position of speaking AS God. What an incredible responsibility. NO wonder he
didn’t want the job.
Well, that’s the end of the dialogue……for now……between God and Moses. And, apparently, it’s
become a settled matter with Moses; he has determined he will obey God. So, he heads for home,
and obtains approval from his father-in-law to leave Midian and go to Egypt to fulfill God’s
command to confront Pharaoh. This procedure of Moses asking permission of Jethro was simply
Middle Eastern courtesy, as Jethro was the head of the house in which Moses lived.
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Then, Yahweh again speaks to Moses, days or weeks after the Burning Bush manifestation; and
He tells Moses that all the men who sought to kill him, as justice for Moses’ murder of an Egyptian
so many years ago, were now dead. In other words, it was safe for Moses to go back without fear
of arrest. This tells us a couple of things: first, even though in a previous chapter we read that the
Pharaoh who was in power when Moses committed the murder, had died, that in Moses’ mind
Egypt was still a danger to him. God, who knows our thoughts, decided He needed to comfort
Moses in this regard. Second, this experience with God in the Burning Bush was not the end of
either God’s communication or presence with Moses. God is step-by-step showing Moses this
Truth, and in the process, Moses’ faith in God is going to grow.
Moses loads up his family, his wife and two sons, and they depart for Egypt. Again God speaks to
Moses, presumably early in the journey. He is preparing Moses, telling Him what to expect. How he
is to respond. And, here in Vs21, we get a word from God that has troubled the Believer to no end:
that God is going to harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he will not let Israel go.
At one point or another many of us have wondered whether this was fair. If God was going to
harden Pharaoh’s heart then what chance did Pharaoh ever have to do right? I mean, did
God actually decide beforehand that He was going to intervene and make Pharaoh incapable of
obeying God? Does this mean that God hardens the hearts of certain people, at His choice, so that
they will do evil things……and so that they will never be allowed to know God and be saved?
Now, there is no way we’re going to solve this mystery here, today, because there are ways of
God that are so beyond us to contemplate that it is a hopeless, if not faithless, endeavor to pursue.
Yet, the Scriptures themselves do give us some clues. The first time we hear of God declaring His
own power in the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart, is right here in Vs. 21. The next time we hear of it
is in Exodus 7:3 (just before the 10 plagues). Both times, it is prophetic. That is, it is something that
is future, and for whatever reason, God thinks Moses needs to know it. Apparently, God wanted
Moses to not be perplexed or discouraged when the miracles using his staff failed to sway
Pharaoh, and later during the first 9 of the plagues, Pharaoh still didn’t fully give in. God was going
to use this rebellious Pharaoh for His purposes, much of which involved showing BOTH Israel AND
Egypt the worthlessness of their gods and Yahweh’s own limitless power.
Now, if we dissect the Deliverance Narrative, we’ll find that 20 times the word “harden” is used to
describe the condition of Pharaoh’s heart. It is no coincidence that 10 times it refers to God being
the author of the hardening, and the other 10 as Pharaoh HIMSELF hardening his own heart.
As I prayed and studied about this, it occurred to me that I could not possibly explain the Divine
reasoning for why this interaction with Pharaoh went the way it did. For one reason, I don’t have
the words, and the other is, I don’t know why. But, we can draw some practical lessons from this to
apply to our lives. First, God will not always strive with man. There is a time when we have
hardened our own hearts sufficiently, that our path is locked in, and our destruction at the time of
Judgment is assured. That was Pharaoh’s situation. Second, it appears that for the already
rebellious man (which Pharaoh was), God will, sometimes, intervene and do a FURTHER
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hardening Himself upon that heart. At times it is to use that rebellious individual, who God pre-
knows has determined to die resisting God’s will and mercy, for a purpose that will showcase
God’s Glory and achieve a goal that furthers God’s Kingdom. At other times, a temporary
hardening, at God’s hand may occur to actually bring that person to a point of repentance. As
most of us have learned the hard way, change usually only occurs within us when the pain of our
condition is finally so great that we become truly open to listen to God. So, it may be that God will
actually harden a man’s heart, for a time, for that man’s own, eventual, good…….so well does God
know us as to know at exactly what point of pain and discomfort, if there is such a point for us, that
we will finally submit to God and be saved from eternal destruction.
And, third, it is our continuing rebelliousness that contributes to our hearts hardening. It is not
God’s will that any should perish. But, that doesn’t mean that the vast majority of humans will not
perish. We know from the Bible that only what is described as a “remnant” will stay steadfast to
the faith, and thereby have our eternal lives preserved. So, step-by-tiny-step, each time we dismiss
God’s admonition to us, each time we say “not yet” to His Lordship, our minds become
increasingly resistant to God’s Spirit. Until, little by little, almost unnoticed by us, our rejection of
God’s Spirit becomes complete; and for this there is no remedy, no hope and no redemption. As it
says in Proverbs 29, “….he that hardens himself shall suddenly be destroyed, and for that
there is no remedy”.
Moses is now given further instructions on exactly what he is to say to Pharaoh. Clearly, Moses is
to make it perfectly understood that he stands before Pharaoh not as a rebellious leader of Israel,
but as a prophet for God. And, God tells Moses to advise Pharaoh that Israel is so important to
God, that God sees Israel as His firstborn. And, that He wants His firstborn set free to serve Him.
Now, this custom of “firstborn” varied a little from society to society in ancient times, but in general,
it had the same meaning. The firstborn, always speaking of the MALE firstborn, was considered a
child of special significance. Pharaoh would most certainly have understood what Moses was
saying to him. All through Genesis we have seen the place of honor that goes to the firstborn. But,
there is something else to take note of: being labeled the firstborn, indicated that there is to be a
second-born…..and perhaps a 3rd, 4th, 5th, and more. In other words, the implication is that after
the firstborn, others will follow. Remember that when Jacob passed over his firstborn son, Reuben,
as the one who should have received the double-portion blessing AND the right to rule to Israel
upon Jacob’s death, that the next in line was Simeon, who Jacob also passed over with an
explanation, and then Levi, the 3rd born, who was also passed over with an explanation…..until
Jacob came to Judah, the 4th born, and gave to him the “firstborn” rights of tribal leadership. The
order of birth, starting with the firstborn, was critical. So, who was to be the second born? Who
would, some time later, become the new members in the family of God? It’s what we now call the
Church……but in more detailed terms, it is really referring to gentiles.
So, in Vs 23 where Yahweh goes on to say to Pharaoh “but you have refused to send him
(meaning the firstborn of God, which is Israel) free, so then I will kill YOUR firstborn: Understand,
that we have two things running together here. That is, Moses is to first explain that Israel is the
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firstborn of God, and only AFTER Pharaoh refuses, at some point, Moses is to threaten him with
the death of Pharaoh’s firstborn……the heir to the throne of Egypt.
The journey from Midian to Egypt begins, and we immediately encounter this strange story of Vs
24-26. Here we see Moses’ wife, Tzippora, in a rather nasty mood. But, just before THAT we find
that God is none too pleased, either. Now, until fairly recently, I took this meaning to be that God
was threatening Moses. But, why would God threaten to kill the man he has just appointed to be
His Mediator, before Moses even got to first base in his assignment? Bottom line: I don’t think the
threat was aimed at Moses; it was aimed at his son.
Apparently, Moses’ son (he had 2 sons at this time and most scholars feel this concerned the 2nd
son) had not yet been circumcised. And, the Tradition of the early Israelite sages is that Moses
knew full well he was to circumcise his son, but Tzipporah wouldn’t let him. It was the man’s, the
father’s duty to perform the circumcision on his own son.
Even more, how could the great Mediator, Moses NOT follow God’s instructions to circumcise his
own sons? Anyway, we see that Moses was anything but a strong man. He was no born leader!
Not even of his own family. So, how in the world was God going to use HIM to lead 3 million stiff-
necked Israelites out of bondage? More evidence that it is never by our might, but by the Lord’s,
that all things are accomplished for good.
Who was Tzipporah mad at? Moses, because he had “chosen” this God that demanded such a
thing. See, that was the thinking in those days because men were not chosen by the gods, gods
were picked, and sometimes dumped in favor of another, by men. Don’t like your gods?……get a
whole new batch! Here we have a good lesson that ancient man, perverted by the Mystery Babylon
religious system, thought HE was in control when it came to choosing whom and what to worship.
Now, I won’t dwell on this next point, but neither do I want you to miss it. There is an organic
connection between circumcision and the Passover. And, between circumcision and Passover and
the death of Christ. In every case, something has to die, there is an element of separation from
God, and blood is central to the entire event. So, with that in mind let me point out a strange use of
Hebrew word in verse 25 that has always had the Rabbis scratching their heads. Yet, I think it has
Messianic overtones, and it occurs where it says that Tzipporah “….cut off her son’s
foreskin…” First, notice that it was Tzipporah who did the circumcision. But, more importantly, in
Hebrew the word used for “cut off” is karet. Now, we’ve discussed this important Hebrew word
before, because it’s meaning is that a person is to be separated from God’s people, but also to be
separated (permanently) from God. When an action of simple cutting….like cutting your finger, or
cutting a rope, or cutting up some meat is discussed in the Torah, there are several standard
Hebrew words employed such as natach, or gazith, or batar, or milah. In fact, the act of
circumcision is called a B’rit milah, because it literally means, “cut a covenant”, and circumcision
is part of required entry into the community of Hebrews. So, why would the term karet be employed
here…..seemingly a complete misuse of the term….. when this is but referring to rather usual action
of cutting something….in this case, the cutting of a foreskin?
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There is wonderful and prophetic symbolism employed here. The idea of removing the foreskin is
that a piece of flesh, part of the corrupted body, must be removed, separated, and die. In fact, the
usual Hebrew procedure is that the foreskin must literally be buried in the ground because it is
dead.
When the NT speaks of dying to the flesh…..a phrase we’ve all heard….. it is with the symbolism of
circumcision in mind. What dies of the flesh…..in the case of circumcision the male foreskin, in the
case of the Passover every person in Egypt who did not bow to the will and offer of redemption of
God, and in the case of Christ his physical body…..all are karet; cut off from God. Even Christ
shouted out from the Cross, My God, My God, why have you forsaken (left) me? There was a
moment when Jesus, the man, in his flesh, was karet…..spiritually cut-off, karet, from the Father.
As time goes on we’ll continue to discuss the principle of karet, but we’ll leave this for now.
One other thing: we’ll see in a later chapter of Exodus (18), Jethro bringing his daughter Tzipporah
and her 2 sons out to meet Moses on his return trip from Egypt. One could speculate, fairly easily I
think, that just as Moses was hardly of great character at this point in his life, Tzipporah was not
much of a helpmate either. Moses probably sent her home…..either as a direct result of this
circumcision episode, or something else.
Vs 27 takes us back, a few days or weeks, to BEFORE Moses began his journey to Egypt. Like we
were told earlier, Aaron, Moses’ brother, was to play a key role in the coming showdown with
Pharaoh. So, God dispatched Aaron to go to Midian to meet Moses, and interestingly, WHERE
they met was the Mountain of God, Mt. Sinai/Horeb in Midian. And, there Aaron was filled in on the
encounter Moses had with God, and what their mission was to be.
So, the sequence is that Moses and his family leave for their journey to Egypt. The journey takes
them back towards the mountain of God. At the mountain of God, Moses runs into Aaron. Aaron
then accompanies Moses on the remainder of the trip from Midian to Egypt….about a 175 – 200
mile journey. When they arrived, they immediately gathered the elders, the Hebrew common
people’s representatives, and Aaron spoke to the elders, and presented all the signs God had
given Moses, and just as God had told Moses would happen, the people heard and saw and
believed. And, they praised God for it.
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Category: Exodus
Audio Files MP3

Illustrations
Lesson 6 Chapter 5, 6
This week we begin Exodus chapter 5; and I’m going to change up on you a bit. Usually I read
from the Complete Jewish Bible, but this time I’ll read from a version called “The Scriptures”. And,
it is for one reason only: everywhere that the original Hebrew text included the name of
God….YHVH….Yehoveh……so does this translation. The point of my doing this will, I think, become
self-evident. So, please follow along with me in whichever version is your favorite.
READ EXODUS CHAPTER 5 all

Does it surprise you a bit that God’s name appears so many times in this chapter? Bible
translations, over the years, have tended to obliterate the use of God’s name by replacing it with
more generic terms like God and Lord. But, by reinserting God’s formal personal name we get a
clearer picture of just what was transpiring here between Moses and Pharaoh. As I have discussed
with you on several occasions, every ancient culture believed in multiple gods and a spirit world.
And, every culture had a fairly similar set of gods; it’s just that their names varied, and the territory
where each god ruled had to be defined. But knowing each god’s name was all-important to the
ancient mind. For knowing a god’s name was key to communicating with that god, and getting that
god to do what you wanted.
So, here we see Pharaoh not wondering if there is such a thing as “God”, or if there was a “God
of the Hebrews”, but it was only that he had obviously never heard of Yehoveh. Further, since
gods were territorial, and the Hebrews lived in Egypt, Pharaoh was incredulous that there could
have existed a god that had some undefined kind of influence within Egypt, and he didn’t know
about that god. Where did this God, Yehoveh, fit within the hierarchy of the gods? Why had no one
introduced Pharaoh to him before now? What was this new god’s sphere of influence? And,
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perhaps most important to Pharaoh, why would he need to be at all concerned with this Yehoveh
when he commanded the most powerful gods of Egypt? In fact, the Pharaoh himself was
considered to be the incarnation of a god and so was divine; for Pharaoh, Yehoveh was an
unwanted rival.
So, Pharaoh skeptical and downright offended. And, indeed, Pharaoh HAD never heard of
Yehoveh. After all, it was only recently that the Lord had revealed His name to mankind for the first
time; and He revealed it to Moses on Mt. Sinai, in Midian, just a few weeks earlier.
Moses and Aaron go in to Pharaoh and tell him what God demands of the King of Egypt; and it was
that Israel should be allowed to go free into the desert for a time (3 days journey), away from their
captors, to worship Yehoveh…. or, as it really should be taken in Vs 1: ‘to make a pilgrimage
festival to Me’. What Moses says is that the Lord wants Israel to make a chagag…..which is Hebrew
for pilgrimage festival. Pilgrimage festivals simply mean that the worshippers are required to make
a journey, if necessary, to a specified place….usually to where there was a Sanctuary or shrine….to
celebrate and pay homage to their God. When we get to later chapters of Exodus, and then
Leviticus, we’re going to find that of the 7 Biblical Festivals that God will ordain to Israel, 3 of them
are chagag….pilgrimages. And, in each case, they involve traveling to the Temple (which, by the
way, wasn’t always in Jerusalem).
The laughable idea that Pharaoh would allow the Israelites a few days to go worship their God in
the Wilderness merely amused Pharaoh; what really chaffed him was that the words Moses and
Aaron spoke established clearly to Pharaoh that Yehoveh considered the Israelites as belonging to
HIM! And, of course, this is the crux of the matter because as Pharaoh insists: au contraire, these
Hebrews do not belong to this supposed god of the Hebrews……they belong to ME!
For just a moment, let’s detour and zoom in on a small phrase in Vs 1, as it sets up an important
principle that helps us to understand key areas of the Bible in general. I would like to call your
attention to the use of two little words “my people”, which is what God often calls the Hebrews.
Interestingly, several hundred years into the future God would call SOME of the Hebrews “NOT my
people”. What’s important to understand is that in the Hebrew Scriptures, going back to a time just
after Isaac was born (perhaps 600 years earlier from the time we’re at in Exodus), God began
referring to the Hebrews as His “ammi”……Hebrew for my people. Now, the word ammi, “people”,
is not to be taken in the sense of random individuals; nor is it used to refer to an anonymous group
of individuals such as a crowd of people. For instance, from where you are sitting, turn around and
look at all the “people” around you. Ammi is not people in that sense……its not simply some number
of generic human beings gathered together. Rather, people, “ammi” is somewhat synonymous
with the word “nation”. Ammi is a group of humans with a common heritage, whether that heritage
is natural or adopted. That is, Israel is a separately identifiable “people”, a “nation”.
Yet, ammi is not precisely synonymous with “nation”. The word used for “nation” in the Bible is
“goyim”. But, you will NEVER see the word “goyim” used to refer to Hebrew people or to the
Hebrew nation. Because, as of about the time of Isaac, around 1900 BC, the word goyim came to
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SPECIFICALLY indicate gentile nations…..that is, everybody EXCEPT Hebrews. So, after about
Genesis 12, when God is referring to the nation of Israel, it is the word ammim that is generally
employed, while all other nations of the world are referred to as goyim. I point this out, because it
makes both Biblical history AND prophesy much easier to untangle if you know when the terms
“people” and “nation” are referring to gentile nations or people, or if it referring to the Hebrew
people or nation….. a rather significant difference. We first discovered the importance of
understanding the word “goyim” back in Genesis because it enabled us to unlock the significance
of Jacob’s blessing upon Joseph’s son Ephraim……that Ephraim would in some undefined way
become a fullness, or blessing, of goyim…….GENTILE nations, as opposed to the Hebrew nation. If
you attended my 10 Lost Tribes seminar then you know that Ephraim and the “fullness of
Gentiles” are central to understanding end times prophecy. That’s why I encourage you to have a
good concordance handy when studying the Torah. Just as God’s name is now totally obscured in
the Bible, so is there unnecessary confusion over the use of the word nation as to whether it’s
speaking of gentiles, Hebrews, or everybody in general.
It’s kind of interesting how the Pharaoh responds to Moses and Aaron’s message from God;
Pharaoh doesn’t deny that a) there IS a god called Yehoveh, nor b) that this Yehoveh is Israel’s
god. He simply doesn’t see what all that has to do with him. I mean, we’re in Egypt…..right?
Therefore, by all understanding of the people of that day about how gods are supposed to operate,
this is the realm of the Egyptian gods. And, Pharaoh thinks, the Egyptian gods are powerful and
many so why worry about one measly god, and on top of that, one who is god to a bunch of slaves!
After all, if this Yehoveh was so powerful, how could his people be slaves to Egypt? This was de
facto evidence to Pharaoh that the Egyptian gods were more powerful than the Hebrew god and
that he had no reason to pay attention to Yehoveh.
I wonder about what it was that Aaron told Pharaoh because what we read here in Chapter 5 isn’t
entirely what we have been told that God instructed Moses to say. Notice that it seems to have
been embellished just a tad, as in the last part of Vs 3, the words are “otherwise He (God) might
strike us with a plague or a sword!” Where did THAT come from? Did God tell Moses that if
Pharaoh didn’t let them go into the desert to worship Him, that God would strike down the
Israelites? Not that we’re aware of. Notice what ordinary men we are dealing with here in Moses
and Aaron. So far they’re not doing too good. Just about like you or I would do in such
circumstances, standing before such a great and imposing man as the King of Egypt, we decide to
jazz it up a bit…..I mean, God has such an economy of words, that are so to the point, maybe we
can assist Him a little.
Pharaoh responds; and he tells Moses and Aaron to get back to work, that he has NO intentions of
letting that enormous group of Israelites, who ARE the laborers of Egypt, the craftsmen who do the
bulk of the building, go on a 3 day holiday. And, then Pharaoh sets a precedent that will be
repeated ad nauseum in the centuries ahead: he takes the irrational tact of making the Israelites’
work, that is so vital to Egypt’s well being, almost impossible to achieve! He tells them that they
have to go gather their own straw for making the millions upon millions of mud bricks necessary for
building more cities. This was disruptive in every way, and would have had the result of fewer
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bricks, than more.

And, this is attested to in Vs 12 where it says the people had to stop their brick making, and scatter
throughout the land of Egypt to fetch the straw that added the necessary strength to the mud
bricks.
This is a good time to point out that the Israelites did NOT build pyramids in Egypt. The pyramid-
building era was long over, and now Pharaohs and nobles were being buried in hollowed out and
magnificently decorated shafts and caves. The primary construction projects of the Israelites were
roads, military forts, and storage facilities. And, the primary building material was mud brick, not
stone.
In Vs 14, the predictable end result is shown when the Egyptian taskmasters asked the “officers”
of Israel, “why haven’t you fulfilled your quota of bricks yesterday and today, as you did
formerly?” And, the officers of Israel, the foremen so to speak, were beaten for the lowered output.
These “officers” were NOT the elders; they were what are sometimes called “scribes”. This is the
2nd of the new types of elected or appointed leaders of Israel, who represent the people.
Of course, the real goal of Pharaoh was to harass and punish, and it was hatred gone wild. In
WWII Germany about the only thing the pre-war economy had going for it was the Jews who were
the industrialists, bankers, and scientists. And, after the start of the war as the Nazis suddenly
turned a demonic rage inward and started exterminating Jews by the millions, all it accomplished
was to damage their economy, destroy their best source of technology advancement, and
eventually limit their ability to make war. Just as Satan used Hitler as a puppet, so it was with
Pharaoh. He had just taken the first step towards Egypt’s devastation…..the thing that would be
necessary for the release of Yehoveh’s firstborn, Israel.
Now, it’s interesting to note that in one of the great stores-cities that the Israelites are given credit
for building, Pithom, an archeological find confirmed this story of the bricks and straw. In 1883, and
later in 1908, two Egyptologists made a startling discovery; they unearthed some mud brick
structures in Pithom in which the bottom courses of bricks were made with the normal content of
cut straw, the middle courses were made with straw that had been pulled up by the roots, and the
final few courses contained little to NO straw at all; just another of the many proofs of the Exodus
account.
The scribes, the Hebrew foremen, beaten and now irate, turn on Moses and Aaron. In fact, they go
around Moses (and God) and go directly to Pharaoh. He, of course, has no interest in their
problems. How quickly faith can disappear, huh? Just a few days earlier they were fully persuaded
and prepared to follow Moses, as God’s deliverer of His people. Today, with Pharaoh’s decree
that they will have to gather their own straw, and with the physical punishment upon the foremen
for failure to make their quota of bricks, they call on this same God to “judge” Moses…… to punish
him. We are told earlier that Moses told them in advance all that God had told him on the Mountain
of God…….and included in that would have been that Pharaoh would reject the demands. No doubt
they hadn’t counted on the consequences. Following God ALWAYS has consequences.
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Moses does exactly the right thing, though: he goes to God with the complaint of the people.
Moses completely understands the Hebrews’ upset at this turn of events and feels terribly
responsible. Now, let’s be sure we get the correct tone of Moses’ inquiry of God in Vs 23: he was
humble and he was concerned for the people. Had he done something he was not supposed to
do? Was there something he DIDN’T do that he SHOULD have done? Oh, how many times I have
asked God this question when a direction I was so sure God had ordained for my life suddenly met
with (what seemed to me) a major bump in the road. Moses demanded NOTHING of God. He was
NOT angry with God. Really, Moses was seeking reassurance……confirmation that he was, indeed,
obeying. Moses was learning.
Let’s continue the story in chapter 6.
READ EXODUS 6 all

Permit me to remind you that the 1st verse of chapter 6 is a direct continuation of the last verse of
chapter 5. As Moses prayed to Yehoveh for an explanation, God immediately gives him the
answer: I’ve got it all under control. No, of course that’s not the words of the scripture, but it is the
essence of God’s response.
God tells Moses that he is to familiarize the Hebrew people with His formal name, YHVH; and that
even though He was and is the God of the Patriarchs, He didn’t make everything known to them;
and one thing that He didn’t tell them was His personal name Yehoveh. Instead, V3 says that
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (and really, all Hebrews up until now) knew God as El Shaddai;
typically, this is translated as “God Almighty”. This was NEVER a true translation….it was just a
guess at what the term meant. So, to be most accurate, one would have to say that the first part of
that name means “the highest God” (which is the meaning of El). And, as I’ve shared with you, it
has recently been discovered that the word Shaddai, which is not in it’s strictest sense a Hebrew
word, is but a language cognate of the Akkadian word shaddu, which means mountain. So, the
Lord is saying that Moses ancestors knew him as the Highest God of the Mountain.
Let me share something with you; something that I am becoming more and more aware of…….and
more and more unsure as to why it is; in Vs 2, when God says to Moses “I am (blank)”…….most
versions will say either Lord or Adonai; I am “the Lord”. And, since Lord is simply the English
translation of the Hebrew Adonai, Lord and Adonai mean the same thing. But, the original Hebrew
is NOT either of those two words: instead, it is YHWH…….Yehoveh. God’s personal name. Now,
there is no Bible scholar that I’m aware of that would even argue that point. The Hebrew letters
Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh are there, and in 6000 other places in the OT. The question is: why is it that the
MAJORITY of the time that the original Hebrew uses God’s personal name, YHWH that our
translations elect to use “Lord” or “God”? I can understand why Jews, even Messianic Jews, do
this; it’s because they’ve had a tradition for over 2300 years against uttering, or even writing, the
word “God”, let alone using his name. But, why do gentile Christians follow suit? Sorry, this is just
a pet peeve. Somehow, I think that when God gave us His personal name to use when referring to
Him, we ought to use it, even IF we may not know precisely how to pronounce. And, when the
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Bible uses His personal name, instead of something more generic like “Lord” (which, admittedly,
does appear from time to time), we need to know it and read it that way, because in it we see the
personal and endearing nature of the Lord and not just a generic title. The reality is that most of the
pagan gods were called “Lord”, because lord is just a rather ancient and outdated term that is
synonymous with “master” and it is but a sign of respect, not an actual name.
We also need know and use YHVH’s name particularly in our era because the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob has a challenger named Allah. And, Islam and many within the Church want you
to believe that Allah and Yehoveh are but two names for the same God. After all, Muslims will tell
you that Allah means “God”; and, most are aware that our Bibles invariably call the God of the
Bible “God”. I’ve got news for you: the Egyptians also referred to many of THEIR gods simply as
“god”, particularly when one their gods was the family god. We, Jews and Christians, have
brought about this problem ourselves. If we had NOT replaced YHVH with the generic word “God”
or Adonai (which is simply Hebrew for lord) so long ago, we’d have little trouble in recognizing that
Allah (which is the formal name of the god of Islam), can not possibly be the same god as Yehoveh
(which is the formal name of the God of the Bible), because they are two entirely different names.
God, like the word President, is the title of an office: it’s not the name of the person who HOLDS
that office. Our current president is named “Bush”; his name is not “president”. God’s name is
YHVH, not “God”……and certainly not Allah.
Now, we also need to understand what is actually being communicated to Moses at this point. God
says that Moses’ forefathers “saw” God as “El Shaddai”. Most versions say, “appeared” to
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The original Hebrew word used here is “ra’ah”; and it means “see”
or “saw” more in the sense of perceiving or revealing. That is, we might say to someone in a
debate, “Oh, I finally SEE what you’re getting at”. That is, I finally comprehend, I finally perceive, I
finally got it. It doesn’t mean, “see” or “saw” like in “Wow, did you just see that great looking
car”. It’s not about our optic nerves operating correctly as much as it is to behold the essence of
something.
So, God is saying that He revealed Himself…..that is, made His essence known…. to the Patriarchs
in a little different way than He is now revealing Himself to Moses. What’s the difference? Well,
one difference is in the level of intimacy…… it’s like the difference between addressing me as the
less personal “Mr. Bradford”, than the more personal “Tom”. Over time, God was making Himself
more known, and more personal, and more accessible. Progressively, God is revealing Himself to
mankind. And, this really is what we see throughout the Word. While we get but an OUTLINE of
God in Genesis, by the time we reach the end of Torah we have more information on God than we
can humanly comprehend. The next to the last revealed manifestation of God that we read about in
the Bible, is Yeshua. And, Jesus made the relationship between God and man almost as personal
as it gets: He became one of us, walked among us, and shared the woes of fleshly human
existence with us. I say “almost”, because when Jesus left, we received the Holy Spirit: God no
longer walked among us, external to us, He took the next step, and has now set up living WITHIN
us. In the most literal possible sense, God dwells with us. Internal to us. In Vs 3 & 4, Moses would
have understood that the point God was making was that He was giving more of Himself to Moses
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than He did to Moses’ ancestors…… Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Yehoveh was also going to give more of Himself to Israel. And, we see in Vs 4 and 5 God once
more establish His universal reign over all. He reminds Moses that He was the Hebrew’s God up
in Canaan in V4, just as He is their God down in Egypt; and, He has heard their cry for help. He
also makes it quite clear that now, some 600 years after it was established, His covenant with
Abraham……every last detail of it…..still stands.
He gives Moses a message to take back to the people of Israel, who were so discouraged at
having their workload increased, when what they thought was about to come was relief from their
oppression; a message full of love and hope. And it is this: I , Yehoveh, WILL bring you out of
Egypt; I, Yehoveh, WILL rescue you from your servitude to all that is Egypt, and I, Yehoveh, I WILL
redeem you. Further, I WILL take you as MY people, I WILL be your God, and I WILL bring you to
the land of promise. I WILL give it you, Israel, as YOUR possession. I, Yehoveh, will do it all; Israel
only has to receive.
You see, as much as the Egypt of Exodus is real and tangible, it is also a type. Egypt, itself, will be
used throughout the rest of the Bible to represent servitude, and a foreign place……a way of life that
was NOT meant for God’s people. But, Egypt is representative of the place where we ALL resided
BEFORE we cried out to God to rescue us. When Christ came, and made it possible for gentiles to
be joined to God’s covenants with Israel, this list of promises we just read in verses 6-8….this list of
“I wills” became applicable to all mankind who will trust in God’s provision. God will bring
EVERYONE who trusts the Lord Yeshua out of servitude and out of a foreign place. He will redeem
us, He will take US as His people, He will be our God, He will bring us to the eternal land of
promise. Every promise of the new and abundant life that we receive through Christ, originates
right here in the Torah. And, here’s the thing: it is God who does it all.
Moses took the message God gave him to the people but they wouldn’t receive it. And, the reason
they wouldn’t receive the message of their deliverance, their salvation, is contained in Vs 9.
Depending on your version, it is generally that their spirits were crushed and they were physically
exhausted from their hard labors. It’s near impossible to hear God when we are living life
constantly out of breath due to hyper activity, and when we are consumed and defeated by our
ever-demanding fleshly necessities and the bitterness of our souls. The Hebrews were in servitude
to Egypt because they were forced to be. We were in servitude because we were born into that
condition. Just as God wanted to rescue Israel, He wants to rescue us. But, the Hebrews couldn’t
then, and only a few of mankind can now, hear and accept the message of redemption.
So, you say you want to be a Prophet of God, huh? Well, here’s Moses, the Pharaoh just laughs at
him, and Moses’ Hebrew brothers want to skin him. And, God tells him, time to go see Pharaoh
again. And, what appeared to be a settled matter with Moses not long ago, once again is in doubt
as Moses says to God: “ If the people of Israel won’t listen to me, why would Pharaoh”? Actually,
what Vs 11 literally quotes Moses saying is “ I am of foreskinned (uncircumcised) lips!” This is an
idiom…..it means that his speech is poor….poor in the sense of inadequate. What Moses is saying is
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‘God, my ability to speak the words you want spoken is terrible”. God would have none of it: in Vs
12, God speaks to Moses AND Aaron, and makes it clear to them that it is their duty before God to
speak to Pharaoh and to the people of Israel, the end result being the deliverance of the Hebrews
from Egypt.
You see, Moses thinks its his words, how he phrases them, how he pronounces them, whether or
not he appears confident and well prepared as he speaks to people, that is the key for them getting
the message of deliverance. God tried, early on, to convince him that Moses own abilities didn’t
matter a whit. Out of mercy, for a man who could not yet understand nor fully accept God’s ways,
God gave Moses Aaron to speak for him…..even though it was not needed. Moses’ adequacy was
never the issue.
Several years ago, when Becky and I lived in the Florida Keys, I went out on a Church visitation
with the assistant pastor of the church we attended. We visited a young couple that had come to
church off and on for a few years, and now asked that a pastor come to visit them.
Now, this assistant pastor was one of the most wonderful, decent, and real Believers I have ever
known. But, when he began to speak to this couple about their need for Christ, explaining the
Gospel message, I listened in absolute horror as he fouled it up so badly that I couldn’t made
heads or tails out of what he was saying…….and I already KNEW the points he came there to make.
This went on for a solid hour…..one of the longest, most uncomfortable hours of my life…. and I sat
there as silently as that young couple did, embarrassed, and wondering if these people would ever
come to church again.
Well, after he finished, the assistant pastor said, OK, would you like to pray to receive Jesus as
your Lord? And, I’m thinking, yeah, right; let’s just get out of here. And, they both leaned forward
and said YES!! We prayed with them, and then I watched their lives change and grow over the next
several months, as the Holy Spirit became their guide.
Here’s the thing: I went home and told Becky this story, and told her I had learned a great lesson
that night. It’s not our words or abilities that brings anyone to accept deliverance; it’s God
changing their hearts. Yes, we are indeed commanded to go and speak the message of salvation
to the unsaved. But, when we are in God’s will, and He has prepared the hearts of those He has
chosen for us to speak to, our words cannot fail, because our words were never the key, anyway.
Conversely, the most eloquent speech, or perfectly prepared presentation, cannot bring anyone to
the Throne; it’s a 100% work of God.
This great principle of the Christian life is laid down right here in Exodus. Moses was absolutely
inadequate for the job God gave him……and Moses knew it. You and I are absolutely inadequate for
ANY of the tasks, including spreading the Gospel that God gives us. But, it doesn’t matter.
Because our job is to trust and obey God. If He says, “go”, we go; He’ll do the rest. Moses didn’t
understand or believe that, yet.
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Beginning in Vs 14, we get a genealogy of the first 3 sons of Israel: Reuven, Shimon, and Levi. But,
all the attention is really paid to the Levites. Now, pull out your “Structure of Israel” charts. We
talked about the various names for the different levels of the societal structure of Israel, and in
these verses, these names and titles are used. Now, I know that various versions use different
names, so if your version doesn’t use the names and titles I’m about to give you, I encourage you
to write them in the margins in your Bibles for future reference.
In vs. 14, it says, “these are the heads of their Father’s Houses”. Where it says “heads”, the
Hebrew word is “rosh”……and it indeed means “head”. And, if we look a little further in the same
verse it says, “these are the families…” The Hebrew word used here is “mishpachah” and should
NOT be translated family, but rather, clan. And, because mishpachah is “clan”, the title assigned
to the “head”, the rosh, of each of these clans is Chief.
So, this verse is talking about the Chiefs who are the head of the clans. This is the next tier of
Israel societal structure after the Prince who is the head, the rosh, of the tribe. In time, as the
current Prince dies, one of these Chiefs (usually the firstborn) will become the new Prince.
The main point of the verses in Chapter 6, beginning at 14 and going to the end of the chapter, is
to establish the all-important fact that Moses and Aaron were of the Levite tribe. Further, they were
of a specific clan that began with Kohath. Two other clans of Levites are also named: Gershon and
Merari. We’re not going to examine all these clan lines, at least for now. What’s important to
understand is that while the overall tribe of Levi was the tribe of priests, only one clan among the
Levites could produce the line of High Priests (the first High Priest will be Aaron)……and that is the
line, the clan, of Kohath, which will further subdivide into the line of Aaron. The other Levite clans
would be restricted to other specific duties of lesser priests and temple officials. While the Bible
hasn’t informed us, yet, of which clans will get which duties, the genealogical record is being
established, here, so there can be no doubt, later, as to who belongs to each clan.
Next week we’ll begin chapter 7.
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Category: Exodus
Audio Files MP3

Illustrations
Lesson 7 Chapter 7
Last week Exodus chapters 5 and 6 began the preparation for the Lord to force Pharaoh to give up
the Israelites and allow them to leave. Moses and Aaron were in Egypt, they had confronted
Pharaoh with the mildest demand that would be put on him: let My people go out to the desert for 3
days to worship Yehoveh. But, we were also told that God had pre-determined that Pharaoh’s
heart would be hard, that Yehoveh would (Himself) harden Pharaoh’s heart further, and then
Pharaoh would harden his own heart even more, and then the Lord would harden the King of
Egypt’s heart to an even greater level and so on until the plagues that were poured out on Egypt
were so devastating that the Pharaoh would not only let Israel go, but DEMAND that they go!
The Pharaoh reacted to Moses’ demand by stopping the shipment of straw….a standard ingredient
for mud bricks…….that the Israelites counted on to manufacture the countless millions of mud bricks
for the cities and fortresses they were building for Egypt. Rather, they were told that they would
have to go and obtain straw on their own, but that their quota of bricks could not decrease.
Such a demand was utterly impossible to meet; and Pharaoh, whose irrational and paranoid hatred
of the Hebrews was behind this nonsensical demand, orders that the foremen of the Israelites be
beaten for not producing as much as before. The foremen in turn go to Pharaoh personally, asking
exactly how it is that he thinks they can possibly accomplish what it is he is insisting on. His answer
is: “it’s not my problem”.
So, the foremen go to Moses and Aaron, blame them for what has happened, causing Moses to
question whether a) he is adequate to even do what the Lord has told him to do, or b) whether or
not he’s going about doing what it is that Yehoveh instructed him to do in the right way.
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The Lord’s response to Moses is what begins Exodus chapter 7.
READ CHAPTER 7 all

One of the great challenges we Believers have is trying to understand just who Yeshua is, and
where He fits into the Godhead, and how it is that He is a man, and yet He is God. Even more,
while the Lord pronounces at every turn that He is echad, one, completely unified, that we have
these multiple essences or entities of Him, the 3 chief ones being named Yehoveh, another named
Yeshua, and the third one that we simply call the Holy Spirit. I promise you if you understand how
all this works, and then you need to write a book because you’ll be the first.
That said, nothing helps to understand this amazing mystery more than understanding Moses and
Aaron’s relationship with each other, and with God. There are precisely TWO Mediators in all
Scripture, and in all history: Moses, and later Jesus the Christ. And, generally speaking, the
relationship between Jesus and the Lord is patterned AFTER the relationship between Moses and
the Lord. The obvious difference, of course, is that Moses was NOT God, but Yeshua was.
Therefore, let the impact of the words of Exodus 7 verses 1 and 2 sink in a bit. Allow me to point
out that in the original Hebrew the words of verses 1 and 2 are this: “ Yehoveh said to Moses, see I
place you in the role of Elohim to Pharaoh, with your brother Aaron as your navi.” That is the
Father places Moses, the Mediator, in the role of a divine being (a god), with Aaron being the
earthly spokesman for the divine. Navi is the typical Hebrew word that we translate as prophet.
Do we not see that same pattern with Christ? The Father puts Yeshua in the role of the divine god,
and there will also be a prophet as a spokesman to pave the way for Yeshua, John the Baptist.
God, Mediator, prophet; this was Moses’ situation, and this was Our Savior’s situation.
This was perfectly understandable to Pharaoh. After all, Pharaoh was considered divine, and now
Moses would be the divine negotiator for Yehoveh. Of course, in reality Pharaoh was no more a
god than was Moses; the difference is that Pharaoh was delusional while Moses was indeed
imbued with the power of God. Can you say, mismatch?
So, as we move along, pay close attention to how Moses behaves, and what he does, and what
the Lord expects of Him: because it is a shadow of Yeshua’s ministry.
Chapter 7 begins the series of plagues that God will use to strike Egypt and eventually result in the
king of Egypt letting the Israelites leave. It’s important to understand the great cost it would have
been to Pharaoh and Egypt to allow these Hebrews to immigrate, en masse, out of Egypt. And,
Pharaoh was indeed paranoid about that happening; remember, up to this point, the only demand
made on Pharaoh was to let the Hebrews go 3 days journey into the desert to worship God. The
implication was that they would return. But, Pharaoh didn’t trust this; he figured that if he gave his
permission, they would just keep on going and never return. In fact, in later verses we’ll see
Pharaoh cave in a couple of times, and then demand that Israel leave their flocks behind to ensure
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their return. Egypt had a population of around 10-12 million people at this time. Israel made up
something between 2 ½ and 3 million of that number. Which means that Egypt stood to lose 25%
of its population, and almost its entire work force, if Israel was to go.
Imagine if the US, which now stands at 300 million population, were, in a matter of a few days, to
suddenly lose 75 million people…….and that these people were our construction workers, factory
workers, automobile assemblers, field workers, food preparers, steel makers, electricians,
plumbers, heavy equipment operators, cargo handlers, truck drivers……the effects would be
devastating. Our entire economy would collapse. Food distribution, construction, automobile repair,
utilities…..all the most basic services we take for granted would be interrupted. And, unlike that
24-hour power failure not too long ago in the Northeast, this event would last for years, perhaps
decades. The US would, overnight, become a 2nd rate power and a bankrupt nation unlikely to
ever again attain its former greatness.
This is what faced Pharaoh if he released the Hebrews, permanently. Is it any wonder that he
refused? Yet, what we will see is that the end result was that God crushed Egypt for refusing His
instruction and THEN was devastated even more by losing Israel anyway. It was a double
whammy. Whatever difficulties we may face in obediently submitting to the will of God, no matter
how hard it may seem at the time, the consequences will be less than when, in our refusal, God
moves to enforce His will.
Now, before we get to all the plagues, I would like to set the stage. First, the Hebrew word typically
translated as “plague”, is nega. Nega is a generic word indicating being stricken, as in some type
of blow upon something or someone, usually with the idea that it is a punishment for an offense. So
this strike, this blow, can take many forms: it could be a sickness, it could be a pestilence, it could
be an earthquake, it could be the loss of a loved-one to death, or the loss of wealth and prosperity.
It could, of course, also be a plague. So, calling all ten “strokes” against Egypt plagues (in our
more modern sense) is a little off course, although a couple of those strokes were most certainly
“plague-like”.
Next, properly speaking, there were only 9 “strokes” or “plagues”, with the tenth actually being
“Judgment”. The first nine were to convince Pharaoh to avoid the judgment Yehoveh had said
would occur if the great king would not release Israel: God, by His own hand, would kill the firstborn
of Egypt.
These “strokes” inflicted upon Egypt were, therefore, actually not 10, but 3 sets of 3, all
progressive in nature. The first set of three involved the whole land of Egypt and everybody in it:
Egyptians, Hebrews, visitors, all were affected. And, they were generally mild in nature, causing
little more than discomfort. The next 2 sets of 3, that is, the next 6 “strokes” were visited only upon
the Egyptians; God in this way divided and separated His people from the others in the land of
Egypt; He made a distinction between Israel and all others. While Pharaoh had been personally
informed in his palace by Moses and Aaron that Israel had been set apart for God, the people of
Egypt would only find this out by experiencing that God made a distinction between Israel, and
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everybody else. One can only imagine how quickly the news spread, even beyond Egypt, that
these terrible blows suffered by the Egyptian people, including the god-man Pharaoh himself: but it
left the Hebrews unaffected.
Now, indeed, these “plagues” were of supernatural origin. They were miracles from the power of
God. However, in reality, what occurred in each of them also occurred in nature from time to
time……though not to the extent now happening. It is completely normal, according to the Scriptures,
that God would use ordinary events and circumstances and nature’s various elements in an
extraordinary way to achieve His purposes. What separated these 9 devastations from the same
types of occurrences which appeared naturally, occasionally, was that they occurred at Moses’
commands, they came at an abnormal time of year, they were greatly more severe than had ever
occurred before, and they happened one right after the other. It left no doubt to the Hebrews or the
Egyptians that the God of Israel controlled every natural process known to them.
We know, from the scripture we read in chapter 7, that the first stroke lasted 7 days. We also know
that the judgment upon Egypt (usually called the 10th plague), when God killed all of Egypt’s
firstborn and which marks the first Passover, happened on the night of the 14th of Nisan, late
winter, early spring. The 7th plague struck Egypt’s agriculture, and the Bible tells us the state of
development of certain of the field crops, which gives us a good idea of the season it occurred
(around the end of January or beginning of February). Various Bible scholars have used this, and
other data, to speculate that from the 1st plague to the final judgment (killing of the firstborns) was
approximately 10 months; that is, the event began in May-June and ended the following March-
April. Some see it as slightly less, perhaps 8 months. Either way, we see that this series of blows
against Egypt played out over an extended period of time, and that Pharaoh and his advisors had
ample time to consider what was happening, and what their response should have been:
repentance and compliance. And, in between each plague the government and the people likely
gained some amount of false hope when the effects seemed to subside and life at least moved a
bit back towards normal.
Yet, what actually happened was that as each day passed after a calamity, Pharaoh grew
hardened and less concerned that there might be another. He just returned to his normal day-to-
day activities, addressing his ongoing agenda and affairs of state. What could be a better picture of
our human nature? A few days after 9-11, a great part of our nation filled their pantries with extra
food and water, plastic and duct tape, and kept their gas tanks filled and their senses heightened
for any sign of something abnormal occurring. Our churches overflowed and volunteerism
skyrocketed. Now, barely 5 years later, our churches are as empty as before and our blood banks
run dry. For a time this nation’s Believer’s wondered out loud how we might have displeased the
Lord, and why His hand of protection had been lifted from us; and now we’re back to hearing
Pastors say once again: God doesn’t punish His people, it was simply evil doing what evil does.
We are more concerned with the inconvenience the extra security at our airports and office
buildings cause us, than with what might happen if it wasn’t there. People haven’t changed much
in 3500 years, have they?
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One final peculiarity about these 9 strokes against Egypt, and we’ll move on: the 3 rd stroke of
each group of 3 always came unannounced to Pharaoh. That is, 2 calamities would occur, but each
time Moses would FIRST warn Pharaoh and explain the nature of these punishments. Then, a 3rd
(more terrible one) would happen, but Pharaoh would NOT be forewarned. So, plagues 1&2, then
4&5, then 7&8 occurred with advance notice to the king of Egypt. Plagues 3,6, and 9 happened
with NO prior notice to Pharaoh. To Pharaoh and his brain trust it appeared that Aaron and Moses
were responsible for this series of calamities……just as the Kings magicians were given credit for
their own sorcery. Yet, it was hard to pin plagues 3, 6, and 9 on Moses and Aaron, since they were
not present before Pharaoh to tell him what was about to happen. God used the 3rd of each series
of 3 plagues to show Pharaoh and his cronies that Yehoveh was the author of these things, not His
Mediator or His prophet. And, that Yahweh, God of Israel, was supreme over all things,
everywhere, including Egypt.
Understanding this helps us as we look at the very first verse of chapter 7, where God sends Aaron
and Moses BACK to Pharaoh with another demand, and Yahweh says to Moses “I will make you
as a god to Pharaoh…..” Indeed, this first stroke Moses was about to announce, through Aaron,
would appear to Pharaoh as though it was Moses’ doing. So, by Pharaoh’s thinking, indeed
Moses’ was “as a god” to make such supernatural things occur at his command. And, by the way,
Pharaoh knew full well that he could not do such things.
Now, in verse 3, God tells Moses that HE will harden Pharaoh’s already rebellious and defiant
heart for the purposes of showing Egypt “my signs and wonders”, that Egypt will know that “I am
Yahweh”. So, what we see here is that it is not just a matter of convincing Pharaoh……..God wanted
Egypt, the millions of common people, to be made acutely aware of His power and glory. Certainly,
it would take Pharaoh’s permission for Israel to go; but God wanted all the people of Egypt to learn
whom He is. Why? Undoubtedly so they would give up their false gods and worship Yehoveh.
Pharaoh was never going to worship Yehoveh; he was only going to be defeated and then comply
grudgingly. Pharaoh’s heart had long ago passed the point of no return.
This brings us to a question that is less difficult when applying it to Pharaoh, but much MORE
difficult when we apply it to our own lives, and it is this: what do we gain from 1) believing that God,
Yehoveh, exists and is powerful; and 2) by complying with God’s instruction? Pharaoh most
certainly believed, even before the final plague, that Yehoveh was a real god, and very powerful.
He also, in the end, complied by letting Israel go, knowing it would mean the end of Egypt as a
power. Does that mean that Pharaoh was now righteous before God Almighty? We could pretty
easily answer, no. But, how about us….you and I….what if we believe that God exists, and we
comply with most of the instructions He has given us, are we righteous before God? Depending on
which Christian denomination you adhere to, the answer could differ. We have here, in the Exodus
story of Pharaoh the frightening and perfectly clear answer to my question: simply performing
whatever act that God has commanded of you, legalistically or from fear of punishment, does not
bring righteousness. Believing that God exists and is real also does not bring righteousness. One
of the worst words ever chosen to explain a righteous relationship with God is the word “belief” or
“believe”. How often I have heard an evangelist call unbelievers to belief in God that they might be
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saved. Well, Pharaoh believed, didn’t he?
No, righteousness is not acquired by adherence to God’s commands, nor to the doubtless belief
that He is. Righteousness is acquired by trusting God, and then Yehoveh in turn declaring one to
be righteous. Pharaoh believed, but he didn’t trust God. What is trust? Theologians have argued
over the precise definition of that one for centuries. What all do agree on, though, is that the basis
of trust is faith and commitment that God is who is says He is, is able to do what He says He will,
and that our responses to Him come from a type of love that can’t even exist within us unless He
puts it there Himself. The principles we find in the OT are surprising aren’t they? Genesis 15 said
that Abraham was seen as righteous ONLY because he trusted God, so God credited that trust as
righteousness. And, now we see here in Exodus that acknowledging that God exists, and
legalistically or fearfully following His commands, does not bring righteousness. Principles that we
typically always thought only came into existence during NT times.
So, these two elderly men, Moses 80 and Aaron 83, trudge back into Pharaoh and do all that God
commanded of them. And, in verse 10, we see the last warning shot fired over Pharaoh’s bow,
before God plays rough: Moses handed Aaron his staff, and gave Pharaoh the sign that the Angel
of Yehoveh had given Moses at the Burning Bush: Moses’ staff became a serpent. Why a
serpent? Because Pharaoh literally WORE a serpent on his regal headdress; the serpent being the
Egyptian symbol of kingly authority and healing. This was a direct insult and questioning of
Pharaoh’s authority. And, through Satan’s power to counterfeit, Pharaoh’s sorcerer’s imitated
the miracle and turned their staffs into snakes. But, God’s power overwhelmed that of the
magicians’ and Moses’ staff swallowed up their snakes. As predicted, Pharaoh scoffed at the
demonstration of divine power.
The last warning ignored, the battle begins in earnest. In Vs 15 God instructs Moses to go out to
the Nile the following morning and meet Pharaoh there. Now, how Moses knew WHERE to meet
Pharaoh is the subject of much conjecture. Some believe that there was a regular religious rite that
occurred at the same spot each day in which Pharaoh was involved. Others believe it could have
been part of Pharaoh’s normal morning routine to go out to the Nile and bathe. In any case, there
is no chance he would have been alone; his royal court would have been with him.
Moses pronounces to Pharaoh the coming of the first stroke…..the first nega (more correctly,
negeph). Moses smites the water of the Nile with his Shepherd’s staff, and the Nile turns blood
red. Not just the great river itself, but all of the canals and ponds and reservoirs that the Egyptians
had built, as well as all the many branches of the Nile. And, this miracle happened over the full
length and breadth of Egypt, affecting every one…..no one was spared from its effects including the
Hebrews: for they counted on the Nile for water just like everyone else. Even water that was not
currently in contact with the Nile, but that had come from it, turned to blood…..in the cooking pots, in
the storage containers, everything that held water taken from the Nile.
Interestingly, Egypt’s sorcerers were able to imitate this just as they were able to counterfeit the
turning of staffs into snakes. Of course, what would have been better is if Pharaoh’s magicians
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could have overcome, and restored, the Nile to its freshness. But, they didn’t, undoubtedly
because they couldn’t. One would have thought this awesome spectacle of the Nile turning blood
red, and then the royals receiving reports that it had occurred everywhere in Egypt, might have
swayed Pharaoh. But, it didn’t. Why? Well, in addition to the hardened condition of Pharaoh’s
heart, many Bible scholars believe that what occurred here was something that the Egyptians had
seen before, but in smaller measure. Every year at the time of the rise of the Nile, silt would color
the water a characteristic red, and the rich nutrients contained in the silt spurred the growth of
micro-organisms to create an effect that most of us who live near the ocean are familiar with: a Red
Tide. This eats up necessary oxygen, thereby killing millions of fish, and causing a terrible stench.
This fits very well not only with the scriptural description of what occurred, but also with the God-
pattern of using nature in extraordinary ways. Of course, the miracle was that Moses caused it to
happen upon his command, it happened when the Nile was NOT in the rising season, and it even
contaminated already drawn water in the vessels in which the water was being stored. Now, could
this have actually been blood, real blood, as most versions say? Maybe. The Hebrew word used
here is “dam”, which means blood. But, “dam” also means, bloody, bloodlike, and it is even used
when referring to wine as the ‘blood of the grape’…..the “dam” of the grape. So, the use of the
word “dam” can, and often does in the Bible, refer to a color….so it doesn’t necessitate our
assuming that the Nile became literal blood. I’m not dogmatic about this at all; yet, when you take
this plague in context with all the others, literal blood seems out of place as all the other plagues
used obvious elements of nature…….except of course the 10th, when blood is used in the way we
would expect.
Add to that, we’re told in Vs24 that everyone had to “ dig around the Nile” for water to drink. In
other words, just like at the beach, if you get near the water line and dig a little hole in the sand, the
hole quickly fills with water as it seeps in through the sand. Just as used in reverse here in Florida
and other places where storm water runoff is channeled into ponds, so the solids and pollutants
can be filtered out as the water returns to the aquifer, the people of Egypt were able to have the
sand filter the red silt and micro-organisms out of the tainted water sufficiently that they could drink
it. No amount of filtering would have solved the problem if the water was no longer water, but actual
blood. Besides, 7 days with no drinkable water in Egypt would have been a death sentence to
hundreds of thousands. And, that most certainly was not the aim in this, especially since the
Hebrews were subject to it as well.
Yahweh now sends Moses back to the so-far unimpressed and unmoved King of Egypt. In Vs 26,
Yahweh says to Moses to tell Pharaoh to “set my people free”. And, if he will not do it, then God
will send a hoard of frogs. First off, if you do not have a Bible that reflects the original Hebrew
structure, you don’t HAVE a Vs 26; instead, this shows up as Chapter 8, Vs 1. No big deal. It
changes nothing. But, for the sake of everyone who doesn’t have the older Hebrew structure, let’s
stop now and read Chapter 8.
READ EXODUS 8 all
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Why frogs? Well, a frog was the animal symbol of fertility in Egypt; and Hecket was the frog/fertility
goddess. So, here we have a further assault on the Egyptian false religion. But, this inundation of
frogs is also a naturally occurring phenomenon along the Nile, only in much smaller numbers than
we have here. This typically occurs along the Nile in the October/November time frame, so we
have a sort of mile marker to watch the progression of the strokes upon Egypt that had begun in
summer, and now the latest one, the frogs, was occurring in the Fall.
The supernatural nature of this happening was, again, that Moses directed it, that the number of
frogs was enormously beyond imagination, and rather than simply hanging around the banks of the
Nile for a short time, near the puddles of water, as usually happened, these frogs wound up in
people’s homes, their bedrooms, even in the bread ovens.
Typically when these frogs emerged from the mud they became a feast for the Ibis that inhabit the
shores of the Great River. It’s not unlike in Africa when, after the rainy season, summer comes,
water holes dry up, and millions of birds feast on fish that have been trapped in tiny ponds,
overcrowded and with no means of escape. These Nile frogs are a unique variety that is quite
small, and they can barely leap or hop at all. They are also known for generating the most
obnoxious, never ending croaking. Thankfully they have a very short life cycle; living just long
enough to lay eggs for the next generation, and staying around for 3 weeks perhaps, in the moist
sands all the length of the Nile. So, one of the miraculous elements of the frog infestation was that
they found their way into the driest of places, the bread ovens; a place where, likely, they had
never ever been found before. Actually, the fact that they flooded the dry landscape that began just
yards beyond the Nile’s banks was also unheard of.
Now, once again, Pharaoh summons his sorcerers, and they imitate what Moses and Aaron had
done. I guess it was important to the Pharaoh to play down any power that Moses and his god
seemed to have, because it was certainly irrational to the max to simply ADD to the already out-of-
control frog plague. As in the first plague, with the Nile waters becoming blood red and undrinkable,
Pharaoh’s magicians could imitate to a degree what Moses had commanded, but they
couldn’t overturn what God had done.
Let us learn from this an important attribute of Satan, who is the source of all power that is not from
God. What we are commonly aware of is that Satan can, to a degree, imitate, counterfeit,
supernatural occurrences brought about by God….this is attested to all throughout the Scriptures
and is demonstrated for us here in Exodus. But, what Satan cannot do, is Undo what God has
decided will be. Satan cannot defeat acts of God. Some elements of the plagues, the strokes, could
be mimicked to a degree……but they could NEVER be stopped or reversed. This is a truth that we
can be very thankful for, and comforted by, and we should remember as we find ourselves dealing
with matters, from time to time, that seem to have demonic sources. And, as you read end-times
prophecies about the coming Anti-Christ, the beast filled with Satan’s power, notice how he can
never stop, reverse, or undo what God has done…….God has only allowed Satan enough power to
mimic, and that only to a point that really but serves to bring about Yehoveh’s plan.
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Well, the frogs apparently got to Pharaoh. Because, here, in only the 2nd of what would prove to be
9 strokes, Pharaoh tells Moses to plead with Yahweh to call off the attack of the frogs, and in return
he will let Israel go into the wilderness to offer sacrifices. And, as if to underscore God’s power,
Moses asks Pharaoh exactly WHEN he’d like the frogs to disappear. Talk about rubbing it in. But,
there was a very important point to all this: the act of Moses letting PHARAOH determine the time
and place for the frog removal activities……something that neither the Pharaoh nor his magicians
could do…..served to emphasize the God of the Hebrews’ enormous sway and power.
Moses says, OK, it will be as you say; and proceeds to go to God with Pharaoh’s request. Just a
little note here: while Moses was most certainly right to immediately proceed to God, Moses
already HAD the authority to call off the frogs. Remember, Yahweh told Moses “you will be as
God”. If Moses spoke it, it would be as if God spoke it. And, Moses had agreed to Pharaoh’s
request that it be “tomorrow” that the frogs were removed. So, it was a done-deal right at that
moment……nothing further was required.
Well, the next day, as Moses promised Pharaoh, the frogs suddenly died. The people had little
choice but to gather up the millions upon millions of little frog carcasses, and put them in piles in
order to get them out of their houses, their pathways, even their cooking utensils. And, what a
stench went up all over Egypt as these tiny croakers decayed. The Pharaoh, as he would do a
number of times, changed his mind and wouldn’t release Israel to go worship God. Or, as our
Bibles correctly say, hardened his heart. Notice, that opposed to it being God who hardened
Pharaoh this time, it was Pharaoh who hardened his own heart this time.
A little footnote: associated with Pharaoh changing his mind, there is some humor that our English
Bible translations tend to mask, so we don’t get to enjoy it. In Vs 11, if your Bible had the extended
chapter 7, or in the more traditional Bibles Vs 15, it says that “when Pharaoh saw there was relief”
from the frogs, he hardened his heart. Well, the Hebrew word that is translated “relief” or “respite”
is revacha. And, it literally means breathing room. So, here we are told the whole land stunk from
the piles of dead frogs but, when the Pharaoh finally got some breathing-room, when the stench
died down, he changed his mind. In the Hebrew original it was intended that the words stench vs.
breathing-room were to play off of one another. Cute, huh?
This is a good place to end our lesson this week.
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Category: Exodus
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Illustrations
Last week we saw the plagues, or better “strokes” against Egypt, begin. The opening volley was
that the Nile River was turned to blood. And, as we discussed, the Hebrew term for blood, dam,
also denoted the color red, and meant blood-like; so the water in the Nile was almost certainly NOT
real blood, but rather it was a blood-red color. It could have been something like a very severe Red
Tide. And, the reason for us to conclude it was NOT actual blood is that it affected the Hebrews just
as it did the Egyptians. The water stayed “bloody-red” for a full week. Even stored water turned
red and rancid. A good portion of the Egyptians and Hebrews would have died if they had no water
whatsoever to drink for a week. This event is pictured as a great wonder, not as an event of
destruction and death. So, apparently by filtering the Nile water, most of the silt or red algae could
be removed, making it drinkable.
However, the condition of the Nile also had the effect of killing off fish. Which undoubtedly had
something to do with the form of the next stroke: frogs. It’s not that frogs were unusual for the Nile,
its that there were so many, and that they moved quickly away from their normal habitat, the pools
and puddles next to the great river, and into peoples homes. The putrid water was at least part of
the cause of the frog infestation. And, we’ll find as we move along that each of these plagues
occurred as a natural progression that we might normally find in nature as cause and effect. In
other words, just as the water of the Nile became ill and resulted in killing off much of the life that
the Nile supported, so the effect was to drive the frogs OUT of the Nile. And, when at Moses’
command the frogs died, we read of the Egyptians collecting them in great heaps, which decayed
and sent a stench up all over the land.
Well, what usually happens in nature when we have decay? Insects come to feed on it. And, that’s
what we’ll see next.
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Now, just to be clear: I don’t want to paint a picture that what we have here is totally natural
phenomenon and coincidence working together, with a nice Bible story wrapped around it. Rather,
it’s that God used natural phenomenon, taken to an extreme level, and brought about at Moses’
command. This is typically the way the Lord seems to work. Even at the end of days when we read
of “mountains” coming blazing out of the skies, and of the sun burning 10 times hotter, we’re
undoubtedly reading of enormous meteors and comets striking the earth……as has happened
before……and probably of high sun-spot activity (which is currently on the increase)…..all natural
things but at a level never before known so as to upset nature’s delicate balance and cause
catastrophic destruction.
Now we see God speak to Moses again, and He tells Moses to tell Aaron, Moses’ prophet, to use
Moses’ shepherd’s staff, and strike the dust of the land with it. This is the 3rd plague. And, it is
also the last plague of the 1st set of plagues. That is, previously we talked about the structure of
the plagues as consisting of 3 sets, each set consisting of 3 plagues (3 times 3 = 9), with the 10th
plague actually being the judgment for not giving in to all the other demands to free Israel. And,
notice, that as with all 3 sets of plagues, the 3rd and last plague of each set comes unannounced
to Pharaoh. That is, we don’t see here that Yehoveh tells Moses to go to Pharaoh. Rather, He
simply instructs Moses to inflict the plague without any warning. It’s almost as though, in each of
the 3 sets of plagues, that Pharaoh refusing to give in to the 2nd plague of each set, brought 2
punishments…..two plagues. Do you see this? With the 1st plague, Pharaoh’s warned, and the
punishment occurs. With the 2nd plague, Pharaoh’s warned, and the punishment occurs……and
then ANOTHER punishment follows. Two warnings, 3 plagues. Why? Don’t know. But, it is food
for thought.
Anyway, upon striking the dust of the land, gazillions of gnats, sometimes its rendered “lice”,
swarmed the land. Some say they may have been mosquitoes. These insects were apparently not
unknown to the Egyptians, and although I can’t verify it, I suspect by their description that they
were a variety of super-tiny insect that were very much like what we in the South call NoSeeUms.
Having been to Egypt I can tell you that they most definitely have them there. It seems these little
blood-suckers aren’t much bigger than a grain of dust, but they must be all teeth; because they
can get inside anything and bite you in places I don’t EVEN want to talk about.
The insects also attacked the animals. Now, there is nothing here that says the attack of the
Egyptian NoSeeUms was deadly…….it must have been just irritating beyond their wildest nightmare.
And, I remind you; it affected the Hebrews as well. So, we can set aside any thought that these
insects were deadly. And, Pharaoh again turns to his magicians to discredit Moses and his god; but
this time they couldn’t reproduce what God had done (the extent of their demonic abilities were
now exhausted); and thankfully so, because, remember, all the magicians had been able to do was
to mimic what God had done… and that meant ADD TO the plague and make it even worse. So,
they acknowledge to Pharaoh that this is the work of God……quite an admission, because it tells
Pharaoh that this is a god that he cannot order around, and who is very powerful and can do things
they can’t. But, the Magicians are also saying that this was not the work of Moses and Aaron…. In
other words, by the Egyptian way of thinking, Moses and Aaron were Hebrew magicians, and up to
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now, it seemed to be a battle of Egypt’s sorcerers against the Israelite sorcerers; and the
Pharaoh’s sorcerers basically said, “it’s not our fault”; “it wasn’t a fair fight”….. that they didn’t
lose to Moses and Aaron; they were defeated DIRECTLY by the Hebrew God. This is the sense of
their statement “this is the finger of God”.
Further, the Hebrew word translated god, here, is Elohim; that is, the magicians said, “surely this
is the work of elohim”. And, elohim is a somewhat generic word that means god or goddess, a
divine ruler of some kind, etc. Now, when a Hebrew speaks of “elohim” usually he is specifically
referring to God Almighty, Yehoveh. But, in this case, when it’s the words of the Egyptian
sorcerers being quoted, it’s not like they understood or knew the Hebrew God, Yehoveh, nor were
they giving Him His due honor… they just knew that this unknown “god”, this “elohim” of the
Hebrews, was the one who caused the insects to come and swarm and that they and their
Egyptian elohims, Egyptian gods, seemed to have no power to either imitate the miracle nor to stop
it. And, amazingly, even this frightening admission of their powerlessness in the face of the Hebrew
God failed to sway Pharaoh. This leader cared not for his people or his nation’s well being; he
cared only for his own personal pride and power. And, even more, Pharaoh now thoroughly
understood, had there been any doubt at all, that he was doing battle more with God than Moses.
Had there been even the slightest ignorance of this reality up to this point, it was now gone.
Pharaoh was fully accountable for his actions.
Yehoveh again speaks to Moses, as he sends the demand once more to Pharaoh to free the
Hebrews. Interestingly, it seems that we have seen some of the circumstances surrounding this
coming 4th plague, before. God tells Moses to go confront Pharaoh where he “goes to the
water”…..meaning where he goes to the Nile. This must certainly have been the same place Moses
waited for Pharaoh before the first stroke, when the Nile was turned blood red. And, the
consequences for NOT freeing Israel will be another attack of insects. But, there is a very important
difference, now. This stroke, the 4th, is also the FIRST stroke of the second set of strokes. And,
this begins a time when only the people of Egypt will feel its effects…….not the Hebrews. God says
“But I will set apart the land of Goshen, where My people live”…….and…… “Yes, I will distinguish
between My people and your people”.
Now, these insects were a known and dreaded species of fly, called by the locals “dog-flies”. They
were a real problem, particularly as concerned the livestock. They tended to fasten themselves to
moist areas on the animals, in the corners of their eyes, on the eyelids, and around the nostrils.
There, they would deposit their eggs, and severe inflammation, up to and including blindness, even
death, was the result. And, of course, as we are all too familiar with, flies bring diseases with them
that affect humans. We are told that these flies simply took over the land. So, as with the other
plagues, this was not a new phenomena…… these flies showed up from time to time. But, what was
different was the intensity of their attack, and their number. And, they came at Moses’ command.
But, by far the most perplexing matter for Pharaoh, his magicians, and the Egyptian people had to
be that these dog-flies only infested Egyptian homes, people, and livestock. The Israelites were left
unscathed.
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Now, while God had certainly made His point that He sees Israel as separate and apart from Egypt,
it couldn’t have made the relationship between the Hebrew and Egyptian people any easier. It’s
human nature that suffering should be equally shared, right? One can imagine that the Egyptian
citizens became pretty angry that the Israelites stood above this woe of flies that killed the
livestock, from which no Egyptian….not even Pharaoh, could seem to escape.
People just hate it that one group thinks they are special; especially if those people are not part of
that group. And, this is the situation for Believers today. Who among us have not been told that
we’re pretty arrogant to think that we have a special place with God, because of our belief in
Messiah, but they don’t? How often have we heard that Christians and Messianic Jews seem to
think that we have something available to us……wisdom, love, blessing, favor…..that others don’t?
And, it’s near impossible to explain to non-Believers that it’s not that we are somehow better than
them (because we’re not); it’s that because of our trust and faith in Yeshua, it is God who has
separated us FROM them. He distinguishes those who trust Him from everyone else; that principle
and pattern is the very essence of Salvation, and it is demonstrated right here in Exodus. It’s the
reason that the world has always hated Israel, and the reason that the world increasingly hates the
Church, and always will.
The Church has become so sensitive to this hatred, especially as of late with the ideological war
that has erupted with Islam, that many are going out of their way to say faith in pretty much any
spiritual being is a good and valid faith; essentially pronouncing that God makes NO distinction
among people or nations. The world’s reasoning is that you cannot simultaneously have distinction
with tolerance; and after all, isn’t the Church supposed to be all about unity? Distinction and
tolerance are mutually exclusive. Therefore, say a loud and growing body of Church leaders, it
must be that we ALL worship the same God…..whether we call him Allah, Buddha, Hindi or
Yehoveh…..its just that all these poor misguided persons don’t know that they’re actually
worshipping the Savior Jesus of Nazareth. Now, if you believe that, then I suppose you also believe
that poor Pharaoh was actually worshipping the God of the Hebrews, and not his own Egyptian
gods…..he was just ignorant.
Let me warn you as strongly as I can: God distinguishing one from another is all that separates you
and I from an eternity apart from Him. And, that distinction is based on one thing alone: trust in the
Savior He has provided, Yeshua of Nazareth. As nice and warm and fuzzy and peaceful and loving
as it sounds to embrace all gods as THE God, do NOT buy in to this New Age tolerance that is
rapidly being adopted by too many within the Church.
So, Pharaoh calls to Moses and Aaron, and says, go ahead and gather your people and have your
festival and make your sacrifices to your god. But……do it in the land…..that is, don’t leave Egypt.
Moses, all too aware that the Egyptian people, with their sick livestock and themselves covered
with dog-fly bites, aren’t very happy with the Hebrews right about now, tells Pharaoh that if they
hold their festival locally, the Egyptians will erupt. Instead, Moses says, let us go 3 days journey
into the wilderness, the desert, as God has instructed, and hold the festival out of the sight of the
Egyptian people. Pharaoh says, OK OK already, just don’t go too far!! But PLEASE go plead with
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your God to call off the attack of the dog-flies. Now, though it’s hard to discern from our English
translations, Pharaoh has actually taken a significant step, here. In Vs 28 of the more typical
Bibles, and Vs 24 of the older Hebrew Bible structure (like the blue bibles, the Complete Jewish
Bible), Pharaoh tells Moses that he may take the Israelites and sacrifice to God, or to the Lord, or
to Adonai, or something like that. Actually, the original Hebrew says “Yehoveh”, not Lord, not God,
not Adonai. Pharaoh calls the Hebrew God by His personal name. This is quite a concession.
There is actually some respect growing here, by Pharaoh, towards Yehoveh.
Further, understand that WHAT the Hebrews would be sacrificing…..oxen and cattle, among other
animals….were divine to the Egyptians. If the Hebrews were to kill and burn up a bull (which they
surely would have) in sight of the Egyptians (a bull is one of their MOST divine gods), it would have
been a grievous offense and indeed the Egyptians would have sought terrible retribution. Notice
that Moses didn’t mention to Pharaoh exactly what those sacrificial animals might be; he just said
that for sure the Egyptian people would stone them.
Unfortunately, that still didn’t stop Pharaoh from reacting just as he had previously; as soon as the
dog-flies left the next day, Pharaoh retracted his promise.
Let’s move on to chapter 9.
EXODUS Chapter 9
READ CHAPTER 9 all

Pharaoh’s heart has remained hard. Let’s recall that this hardening was a combination of
Pharaoh beginning with a rebellious and hardened heart, and God intervening to further harden
Pharaoh from time-to-time. For what purpose would God do this? He tells us directly why: that
Egypt AND Israel……the people, the common folk……would see ALL these signs and wonders. It was
important to God that every one of these 9 plagues come to pass…..Pharaoh was just God’s tool to
show the people of Egypt the power of Yehoveh and the worthlessness of their own false gods and
religion. Well, they ain’t seen nothin’ yet; we’re approaching the halfway point in the signs and
wonders being manifested, and they’re about to take a jump in intensity.
Yehoveh sends Moses back to Pharaoh with essentially the same message as before: free My
people. My people…….remember that we have learned that a particular Hebrew word is used when
God is referring to the nation of Hebrews and not to any other group of people? That word is AMMI,
or AMMIM. When the scriptures refer to non-Hebrews in the same context, it uses the Hebrew
word GOYIM. The word in Vs. 1, “send free My people”, is AMMI. The Lord is dividing and
separating the goyim, the gentiles, from the Hebrews.
The next plague, the next stroke, for Pharaoh once again refusing God’s demand, is a terrible
sickness upon the livestock of the field. This stroke is the 5th; but it is also the 2nd plague of the
2nd SET of plagues. This entire 2nd set of plagues is reserved ONLY for the Egyptians, as
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opposed to the first set which affected everyone, Hebrews included, who lived on Egyptian soil. So,
the livestock that will be struck down will ONLY be those animals belonging to Egyptians.
Depending on your version, Vs 3 says horses, donkeys, and camels will be among those affected;
and then your Bibles will say either herds and flocks, or oxen and sheep, will be struck as well. The
Hebrew here is BAQAR and TSO’N. Baqar CAN mean oxen, but here it is better taken to mean
cattle. For cattle were to the Egyptians what sheep were to the Israelites. It was their favorite, and
most farmed, source of meat. Tso’n CAN mean sheep, goats, pretty much any kind of SMALL
livestock. It can even mean small, or young, cattle. But, it refers specifically to animals eaten for
food (as distinct from beasts of burden like donkeys or camels). In fact, it likely means, in this
context “all of your small livestock”……every kind…….sheep, goats, pigs, young cattle. So, likely the
essence of the statement in Vs3 means “every kind of livestock used for food that the Egyptians
own, large and small”. What is NOT included in this are wild animals. They, apparently, were not
affected since they were not owned by anyone… except God.
Now, Vs 6 tells us that ALL the livestock that belonged to the Egyptians died. But, NONE of the
livestock of the Hebrews died. When Pharaoh heard rumors that the Israelite’s animals had
survived, in absolute disbelief he sent officials to see if this was true, and it was verified. Yet,
Pharaoh still would not relent.
As an aside: could it be that ALL, as the scriptures say, of the livestock of the Egyptians died? Well,
there is nothing in the wording to indicate otherwise. Sometimes we get good indications in certain
Scripture that “all” is just an expression; that “all” or “forever” or “every” doesn’t really mean
100%. It just indicates the sense of “the vast majority”, “almost all”. However, in this case, the
ALL seems to indicate ALL; as in every last one of the Egyptian’s livestock, large and small,
perished. Now, what would have happened is that the Egyptians probably confiscated some of the
Israelite’s livestock, and then purchased some additional stock from surrounding nations. The
world at that time was far more connected than most people today realize, and trade among
nations was an everyday affair. But, no matter, this was a humiliating and devastating blow to the
Egyptian people, and their food supply was greatly affected, as was their economy.
In Vs 8, we come to the unannounced 6th plague; this is the 3rd plague of the 2nd set of plagues.
That is, Pharaoh received no warning. It’s as if each time Pharaoh refuses the 2nd demand in
each set, there are TWO plagues as a response…..one announced, one not. I don’t want to
overdue this concept of 3 sets of 3 Plagues, and all that entails, and make it an intellectual
exercise. What I would like you to begin to really drink in, though, is that beginning with Genesis 1,
we see God establish patterns, and types, and principles. God is a God of order. He is not a God of
chaos or serendipity. The Scripture lays down many patterns and types for us, so that in our lives
we can reasonably know the general nature of how our God responds to us and to various
circumstances. If this was not so, then history, including the history being given to us in the Bible,
would be utterly useless except as a curiosity…..something to satisfy our love of knowledge. If
history did not show us God’s patterns and principles, and if we did not see them constantly
repeated, then we would have good reason to doubt an important pillar of our faith: God never
changes. There is not even a shadow of turning, of changing, in Him. These patterns are great
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proof and reassurance of Yehoveh’s unchanging nature, and it means we can be confident that
the way even the last days of the world play out, will be in the same patterns He has established
since the Creation. But, it also means that as we learn in our study of Torah, these principles and
governing dynamics, we are to take the N.T. in that same context. It is in the Torah that these
patterns and principles of God are established; it’s in the NT that they are brought to a fuller
meaning by Yeshua, Jesus of Nazareth.
This 6th plague that is brought upon Egypt without warning, are painful boils, blisters that affect
both man and beast. What kind of beast? That is not clear. The Hebrew word is behemah, and it
can mean livestock, or it can mean every type of animal. Vs 8 & 9 say that Moses and Aaron were
to be actively involved in making this plague occur. They were, by their own hands, to take soot
and throw it into the air, where it would disperse, and land on all living creatures, and it would
cause painful pustules to arise. Not only could Pharaoh’s magicians not imitate this miracle, THEY
also were afflicted with the boils. However, the HEBREW people were exempted.
Plagues of boils upon man and beast were a known happening, and they occurred for reasons
unknown from time to time. There are many known diseases that cause blisters to occur……many of
the “poxes” were are all familiar with, measles, but also terribly deadly things like Ebola. It does
not appear, though, that this was a deadly disease; rather, it brought great discomfort. But, a
plague of boils that affected ONLY the Egyptian people and animals, and NOT the Hebrews…..and
one that was so extensive and catastrophic…..was unheard of. It was not natural.
When I hear of this description of a fine dust, soot, being thrown into the air, dispersed by the wind,
and its contact with the skin of man and beast causing blistering……I cannot help but think of things
like Mustard Gas, and the gassing of the Kurdish people by Saddam Hussein, and other terrible
weapons developed by mankind. While I don’t think that this 6th plague is some veiled prophecy of
the chemical weapons of our day, I do think that one is a satanic counterfeit of the other. These
horrible 21st century weapons that can cause such agony and destruction have not been wrought
by God, but by the Evil One, for the indiscriminate killing of mankind. It was for the Salvation of
God’s people that God used this fine dust to cause pain only to those who held God’s people as
their slaves, that they might know God and repent, and let His people go.
Without going into detail, the scriptures in Vs 12 tell us that Pharaoh’s heart remained strong-
willed and hardened despite the pain even he was not exempted from, just as God had told Moshe
it would be.
Yehoveh had attacked the Egyptians’ wealth, their livelihoods, their animals, their pride, their own
bodies and laid low their gods and these god’s priests. As bad as the first 6 plagues had been,
they were little as compared to the ferocity of the next set of 3. And, God gives Pharaoh, in Vs 14,
a grave warning that “this time I will set my blows upon your heart…..”. The word used here for
heart is different from version to version…..some say person, some say self, the CJB says “you”.
The Hebrew word here is leb (labe) and it’s essence is that of the INNER self….a man’s soul
where our conscience and our emotions and our wills and our sense of self resides. In other words,
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what was about to come would not just effect Pharaoh’s anger and stubbornness…..it would finally
penetrate that thick head and skin of his…….attack his inner being……it would “hurt” far deeper than
anything prior.
This 7th plague, the 1st plague of the 3rd set, would be hail of a size and intensity never before
seen in Egypt. Hail, you say, in the desert? Sure. I was born and raised in the Mojave desert of
California, and in the middle of a 120 degree day, I have seen hail fall during a thunderstorm. It was
rare, it only happened every few years, but in an intense thunderstorm, wind causes rain droplets
to be carried upward, into the higher, colder reaches of the atmosphere where they freeze, and are
joined to other droplets, to form ice. And, they come down so fast that they hit the ground as blobs
of hardened ice. Of course, they melt almost immediately, but I have seen entire crops wiped out
from a hailstorm in mid-summer. Car windshields broken. Roof damage. But, vs. 18 says never in
the history of Egypt had such hail fallen, as was about to. It would occur even as intense lightening
was happening.
Back up in Vs 15 God wants Moses and Aaron to make clear to Pharaoh that God had actually
been holding Himself back. That He had ONLY sent plagues, strokes, up to now, that did not bring
wholesale destruction. Because, if He had, Egypt and the people of Egypt would have been no
more. And, in Vs 16, God says the reason He has done this is not only that Israel might know Him,
but that throughout the land of Egypt the people of Egypt would know Him and remember Him.
This was no idle throw-in phrase to add a little drama. It might surprise you to know that up until a
mere 35 years ago Egypt was a majority Christian nation. And, before that, from the time of the
Roman Empire (even before Jesus), and on into the Middle Ages, Egypt was a center of Jewish
religious authority and a center of Hebrew culture and learning. In fact, the city of Alexandria, Egypt
and its outskirts had Jewish colonies that numbered more than one million Jews. And, today, we
actually have had a lawsuit filed by some Egyptians demanding that Israel return, with interest, all
the gold and other stuff they received from the Egyptians at the time of the Exodus. Egypt has,
indeed, been impressed by those plagues, caused by Pharaoh’s hardened heart. And, they have
remembered, and millions of Egyptians have entered eternity, saved by Jesus Christ. And, it’s all
laid out, right here in Exodus.
In fact, look in Vs 20. Here we see that as a result of the first 6 plagues, some number of the
Egyptian people had, indeed, learned that this god of the Hebrews was not to be trifled with. They
now knew the power of Yehoveh, and many brought their livestock indoors, and into caves, and
other shelter, and brought their field workers in from the fields and into their homes to protect them
from the coming hail and lightening. Yet, as always, many more followed Pharaoh’s mindset and
ignored the warning…..even though about once a month over the past six months, these terrible
calamities had occurred, 4 of which came with prior warning.
And, we are reminded in Vs 26, that in the land of Goshen, that region of Egypt set apart for the
Hebrews, the hail did not fall nor did the lightening strike. The Hebrews did not experience this
devastation…..only the Egyptians. People were killed. Livestock were killed and damaged. Trees
were destroyed. The field crops were smashed, and most of them lost. This time, even Pharaoh
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was moved. He called for Moses and Aaron and admitted, “I have sinned”. He asked Moses to
plead with Yehoveh to stop this terrible catastrophe. He even said that he WANTED the Israelites
to go….to leave.
Of course, it was not that Pharaoh had taken God into his heart. It was only that he fully understood
that Yehoveh was real and powerful, and that he feared the consequences of disobedience. And,
Moses said as much in Vs 30. Oh, what a monumental error it is to think that believing that God
exists, and complying with His demands out of fear of consequences, is the basis for attaining
righteousness and salvation. We must trust God, Jesus Christ, and take Him into our hearts, and
respond in obedience to Him out of love and gratitude. As the Word says, even the demons believe
that God is, and they tremble before Him. Even the demons obey God, just as they did when Jesus
ordered them out of a man and into a herd of pigs. We are no different than Pharaoh, nor demons,
if all we do is believe God is, and follow His commands out of the fear of repercussions if we don’t.
In verses 31 and 32, we get a pretty good idea of the time of year this hailstorm occurred, because
were told that the barley was in ears, in the ripening stage, and the flax was in buds, just behind the
development of the barley. But, that the wheat and the spelt (some think spelt is what we call
buckwheat, others that it was rice) were not devastated because they were in the early stages of
development. So, this would have been about the end of January or the first of February.
Despite the death, damage, and economic disaster of this 7th stroke, Pharaoh went back on his
word to free Israel the minute he saw the lightening and hail stop. And, vs. 34 tells us that
Pharaoh’s servants……meaning his government officials AND the citizens-at-large of Egypt……also
hardened their hearts. But, how would this have manifested itself upon the Hebrews? What did this
general hardening of Egypt toward Israel mean for the Israelites? The same thing it does now,
3300 years later; irrational hatred aimed at the Israelis, even though it means terrible hardship and
calamity upon those who do the hating. Or, using the words the Bible uses, those who curse Israel
will be themselves cursed.
Look at these Middle Eastern nations, today, who hate Israel, and curse Israel, and try over and
over to do away with Israel. Iraq is now occupied territory. The Palestinians have 70%
unemployment and live in terrible squalor and without hope. Egypt is a horribly poor nation. Iran
sits on the edge of civil war and has the world lining up against it. Syria is police state. All these
nations can think of, day in and day out, is how to destroy the homeland of the Jews. A Palestinian
Arab friend of mine, Tass (who is currently living in the Gaza as a Christian missionary) told me
that killing Jews and eradicating Israel is the driving force, the goal, behind every decision made by
the Palestinians….it dominates their thoughts and their lives, even though it brings nothing but a life
of poverty and deprivation. And, why? Is it that the Israelis sit on some kind of wealth……oil,
minerals, precious metals? Israel has none of that. Do they have some enormous piece of land that
the Middle Eastern Muslims need? No. It is a Satan driven hatred that brings nothing but self-
destruction. But, it is also a God ordained consequence, inescapable, for those who hate
Israel…….whether it was Pharaoh and Egypt in Moses’ day…..or the Palestinians and Iraqis and
Arabs and most of the rest of the world, today. And, we Americans and those in the Church are not
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exempted from this either. You and I have a choice, just as Pharaoh had a choice: bless Israel or
curse Israel. There is no neutrality. It frightens me to my toes when I watch our President criticize
Israel for defending themselves. It turns my stomach when Jewish leaders forcefully dispossess
Jews from the very land Yehoveh gave to them. It angers me red-faced when I hear Church
leaders condemn Israel and side with the Arabs. Equating Israel hunting down terrorist leaders with
Palestinian homicide bombers that indiscriminately blow up crowded public buses and pizzerias. A
constant cry going out for even-handedness; to remove all distinctions. There is no even-
handedness when choosing between good and evil. For your own good, and the good of your
family and this nation, I ask you to bless Israel and do not be a curse to them. If you do NOT do
this, then you are just like Pharaoh: oh, you may well believe that God is, you just don’t believe
what He says. And, it WILL lead to destruction.
Next week we’ll get into chapter 10.
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Audio Files MP3

Illustrations
We’re nearing the end of the strokes, or plagues, against Egypt that Abba has ordained in order
that Pharaoh will agree to release the Hebrews from their bondage. So far, nothing’s worked.
Pharaoh’s heart has become progressively intransigent in proportion to the escalating severity of
the calamities the Lord has visited upon Egypt. Some of this hardening of Pharaoh’s heart has
been Yehoveh; some has been Pharaoh’s iron will.
Even more, it has become apparent to the Egyptian people, as well as the government, that the
Hebrews are being somehow miraculously spared from all but the first 2 of this series of disasters.
READ CHAPTER 10 all

You know, we might look at all these plagues against Egypt, the bloody water, the hail, skin
lesions, and now locusts, and see them as ancient-sounding or something we’d only find in
backward nations, and maybe even downright quaint. That is, if the Lord was doing this in our day,
in America or Europe, the plagues would be a lot zippier……they’d have a more modern and
technological source and appeal: nuclear bombs, bio-weapons, our electrical grid failing, computer
chips being neutralized, aliens attacking from outer space, etc. But, if we think about it every one of
these strokes we are reading about in Exodus would be just as devastating today anywhere in the
world as it was 3000 years ago in Egypt.
Imagine if our drinking water became polluted on a near universal scale; could we use filtration to
solve it? Probably, but at great expense and only the wealthiest nations would initially have it
available: hundreds of millions would die from little more than tainted water.
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Look at what a simple storm (Hurricane Katrina) did to New Orleans and the surrounding area, and
how it bludgeoned our economy and came near to toppling our current president. Nothing
particularly high-tech about a Hurricane, is there? Just a big wind and a lot of rain.
Recall the Mt. St. Helens disaster a few years ago: the devastation it caused, the loss of life, the
cost to Washington’s economy and thousands and thousands of acres of woodlands destroyed for
decades to come. All this from a million-year-old volcano that does little more than spew smoke
and molten rock.
How about the Tsunami of but a couple of years ago: the estimated 500,000 lives it took, the
countless billions of dollars in damage it caused…….and all this from an earthquake and a resultant
wave of seawater; you can’t get much more low-tech than that.
When we look ahead at the end-times scenarios of the Bible, and we are told of these cataclysmic
events that will eclipse all of human history, we typically want to convert the visions of God’s
prophets describing these events into high-tech and science-gone-made experiments; so, we hear
of Christian scholars and writers thinking this MUST be about a nuclear exchange or a horrible
chemical weapon unleashed. We think in terms of Star Wars type weapons. In fact, nothing man
has invented or is likely to invent has ever approached the power of a single Thunderstorm, or a
medium-sized meteor entering our atmosphere and striking our planet.
As a result, when people look back at these horrible upheavals of nature over the last few years,
we tend to completely dismiss the hand of God, and say…..hey, this is just nature doing its thing,
don’t make it one of these wacko religious judgment pronouncements. Perhaps we can say that it
was just nature doing its thing in Egypt, and perhaps it will be nature doing its thing at the end of
days; but make no mistake, it will be at God’s command, and it will be unstoppable, and it will NOT
likely be because men made it happen as the modern global-warming crowd thinks. As we should
be learning by now, we need to discover God’s pattern in how He deals with man; and when we
see how He’s done it up to now, it certainly has not been by means of technology advancements;
the coming cataclysms are not likely to be ordained by men.
Let me take a momentary detour, to connect some dots for those of you who have interest in
prophecy, particularly end-times prophecies. Very few Bible scholars, except for the most liberal
who view the Bible as nothing more than an example of ancient Hebrew literature and fanciful
tales, would say that the 9 plagues upon Egypt were symbolic or allegorical or metaphorical; that is,
they weren’t real, the words mean something else entirely. Mainstream scholars take the Exodus
plagues, generally, as literal, even if a few of them regard these miracles as nothing more than
natural occurrences with no more or less frequency or intensity than is normally seen……that ONLY
the wording of the Bible embellishes and exaggerates.
So, it is fascinating to me that these same scholars who take the Exodus account of the plagues as
literal, more often than not regard the Revelation accounts of the seal and bowl judgments as
symbolic and NOT literal. Most of the judgments of Revelation use the same natural elements, only
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greatly amplified and much wider spread, than the Exodus account of the plagues do. Hail, insects,
darkness, boils, oceans and rivers turn blood red and the sea life dies; these all occur in Exodus
just as they do in Revelation…..and then of course there are Revelation judgments that are not in
the Exodus plagues, but still they exist and occur naturally: earthquakes, stars exploding, and
meteors coming through our atmosphere.
I only bring this up to kind of close the loop on this concept that I’m teaching you; that God’s
patterns and principles repeat all through history, and will continue until the end of time. We see
these same God-patterns in Revelation, just as they were originally established in Torah, even with
the same characteristics of how judgments are meted out. I know many of you are interested in end-
times prophecy, so be aware that when you read of these incredibly destructive end-times
phenomena in Revelation, that they are of the exact same substance and design that we read in
the Exodus account. You CAN take them literally, and SHOULD take them literally, because these
things have happened before, literally; it is God’s way to deal in a very consistent fashion with
mankind at large, and with the world, and with His own people.
Chapter 10 begins with yet another instruction by God to Moses to go to Pharaoh. He reminds
Moses that He has worked within Pharaoh to keep his heart hardened for a divine purpose: that all
these miracles, signs, will occur and they will be seen and remembered among the Hebrews from
generation to generation. And, that He has used Egypt for Israel’s sake. Sometimes we have a
hard time with this concept; that God would favor one above the other, even allowing one to be
destroyed, or ransomed, to save the other. In this case, it’s that the Egyptians would pay a high
price for God’s purposes……and that God would keep a man’s, Pharaoh’s, heart hardened, to
achieve His purposes. I have heard, often, from Believer and un-believer alike, that this is just not
fair of God to do such things. Well, I suppose if we actually believe that we can sit in judgment of
God, and then we can debate about His fairness. I don’t feel I need to defend God’s decisions.
His Laws and Commands are what they are, and they are perfect, and all we need to know is what
they are……not necessarily why they are. Have you been brought up to believe that all of God’s
decisions are for your best benefit? Well, they’re not. God’s decisions are intended to achieve His
purposes, to the best benefit of His Kingdom, not our personal, individual, earthly well-being. Our
happiness, comfort, success, are all entirely secondary to God’s divine purpose of bringing in His
Kingdom.
In vs. 4, Moses announces to Pharaoh that if he does not free God’s people TODAY, that
tomorrow Egypt will be hit with a plague of Locusts. And, not only will the ground be so thick with
them that the ground will seem to disappear, but what was left of the crops in the fields from the
destructive hailstorm would be eaten up by these voracious insects. Even more, these insects will
find their way into people’s homes.
We can wonder as to whether Pharaoh believed Moses or not; but his sorcerers, advisors, and the
Egyptian people in general believed! They begged Pharaoh to let Israel go, so they could live in
peace. In fact, they said in vs. 7, ‘Pharaoh, don’t you understand that Egypt is already
devastated, the battle with Yahweh is lost, and we can’t take any more’. Apparently, Aaron and
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Moses left Pharaoh’s presence for a short time for Pharaoh to consider matters, but then returned
for his answer. The tide is turning. Pharaoh is getting more serious about letting Israel go, as he
says, ‘OK, go serve your God. But, who among you would go?’…..implying of course, the more
important question, who would stay. For this, however, there was no compromise as Moses
answers “our young ones, our old ones, our girls and our boys, and all of their livestock”. In other
words, not just ALL the people, but ALL of their possessions as well.
The matter is now crystal clear to Pharaoh. His paranoia that Israel would leave permanently has
been confirmed. Why would every last Hebrew, and every last one of their livestock, need to go for
a 3 day pilgrimage? No, Pharaoh thinks, they plan on leaving forever. So, in Vs 10 and 11 Pharaoh
says, no way Jose! I will allow ONLY the males among you to go…..but the women and children and
livestock must be left behind. That was his final answer, as Moses and Aaron were being thrown
out of the palace.
Of course, that wasn’t good enough for God, so He tells Moses to “stretch out his hand”…..that is,
Moses was to order……the locusts to come. The 8th plague is set into motion, as an east wind
begins to blow, and on the flow of that wind, in come the locusts. A horde of locusts as has never
been seen before, and they devour everything in their path. Here again, we see that God uses, as
in all the previous plagues, nature itself to strike the Egyptians.
Pharaoh took one look at this and called for Moses and Aaron. He brings them in and does as he
had done earlier: confesses that he has sinned against God. But, this time, in yet another step,
Pharaoh even asks for forgiveness. But, this was not true repentance, anymore than his belief that
Yahweh exists, is trust and love. It was just the use of whatever means necessary, even if it meant
groveling, to remove this deadly plague. Death. The locusts would drive Egypt into death… through
starvation. Pharaoh finally was sensing what this was all leading up to, and so begged for mercy.
Yet, the minute Yahweh reversed the wind and sent the locusts back eastward, and into the Great
Sea the Pharaoh hardened and refused to free Israel. This time, God is credited with doing the
hardening of Pharaoh’s irredeemable heart.
And, according to the now well-established pattern, Vs 21 brings the 9th stroke…… the 3rd plague of
the 3rd set of plagues….. and therefore it is unannounced to Pharaoh or the Egyptian people. And
this stroke is the most terrible of them all, up to this point. Darkness. Darkness that is a
foreshadowing of final death, of spiritual death, of evil, which is near. A Darkness that is not only
seen, but is so thick that it is literally felt; a darkness that is far more than merely the absence of
light…….a darkness which lasted 3 days throughout Egypt, but which did NOT happen in Goshen, as
we read in vs23.
Please pay close attention to what I’m about to tell you: what God did here, He also had done at
Creation: He separated, He made a distinction, and He divided the darkness from the light. Over
the ones who held His people in servitude was darkness; over His Own people who served Him
was Light. We need to not overlook 4 little words in vs. 21: “they will feel darkness”. The
Egyptians felt the darkness, the Israelites felt the light. How does one FEEL darkness or light? Ah,
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remember in our first lesson of Torah, when we studied Creation, and we found that when God
created light in Gen.1: 3, that it was different than the type of lights used to create visual light
waves, which occurred in Gen 1:14. The word used for the “light” that would remain over Israel in
Goshen, in Exodus 10 vs. 23, is the same exact word that God used in Genesis 1:3. In Hebrew the
word is “owr”, and in a nutshell it means “enlightenment”. That is, good, as opposed to evil. The
truth, as opposed to a lie. When you switch on a lamp, you get visual light, the type of light talked
about in Gen 1:14. When you hear from God, you get spiritual light…. Enlightenment, the type of
light talked about in Gen 1:3. See the difference?
Well, we talked about the light over the Hebrews, so what kind of “darkness” was over Egyptians?
Again, the same exact Hebrew word used in Genesis to describe the opposite of “owr”,
enlightenment. That word is “chosek”. And, it means darkness not like “nighttime”, but a very
negative darkness. A kind that blots out good. A kind that leads men into wrong. Evil. The exact
same wordplay at the beginning of Genesis when God creates a distinction between God’s
enlightenment, and spiritual depravity, light vs. dark, is used right here in Exodus to describe the
condition of Egypt, darkness, as opposed to the condition of Israel, enlightenment.
Yet, the account also makes it clear that VISUAL light and darkness was also involved. So, let us
not make a metaphor out of Vs 23 where it says a man could not see his brother, nor could he
arise from his spot, or as the CJB says, People couldn’t see each other. What kind of
circumstance could cause such dense visual darkness? I mean, just being without sunlight, or even
moonlight, would not have created such a darkness as is being described here. The Egyptians, as
all other cultures, knew how to deal with nighttime; they had oil lamps, and fire pits, and torches…
all manner of way of going about their business after dark. The idea that no one could “move from
his spot”, that is, they couldn’t even see to move around, does not reflect a typical nighttime
experience. No, this was not three 24-hour periods of nighttime.
There are natural conditions that happen from time to time, which brings a type of darkness in
which the darkness actually seems to absorb the light. Being from California, I have encountered
two of these conditions: fog, and a dust storm. I have been on Highway 101 outside Santa Barbara
when the fog was so dense, that one’s high beams wouldn’t penetrate any more than 5 or 6 feet
in front of the car……and I mean that in the most literal possible sense. I’ve also been in sand
storms in the desert, where the sun was blotted out at midday.
But, in Egypt, there came occasionally a brutal type of dust storm called a Chamsin. Every few
years, a combination of conditions collided that caused the air itself to become charged with static
electricity, which literally lifts and suspends super fine particles of dust in the air; alongside the
coarser particles of sand that the fierce winds normally carry. If anyone here has spent any time in
super dry climates, you know that static electricity is a normal everyday phenomenon that one must
deal with; clothing sticks to other clothing, you get shocked just grabbing the handle of a car door,
pull a wool sweater over your head in a darkened room, and you’ll get a light show from the static
discharge that occurs. These Chamsin dust storms turn day into night. And, especially in ancient
times, when doors didn’t seal, and windows were just open holes in the wall, dust came indoors
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quite easily. Indoors, you can escape the winds and the sandblast effect of the storm; but you
can’t escape the thick dust clouds caused by the electrically charged air. Indoors became dark as
well. Even oil lamps didn’t help. Mobility ended.
I suspect this is what occurred as far as the visual element of light is concerned. Otherwise, it
would be out of character with the 8 previous plagues that all involved natural elements of nature.
Of course, this Chamsin was of supernatural origin, and was several times more ferocious than as
happens by itself in nature. So fierce was it that it frightened Pharaoh and the Egyptian people out
of their wits. But, the real fright undoubtedly came in the “feeling” of the “chosek”, the spiritual
darkness, evil that covered them like a blanket. The type that makes the hairs on the back of your
neck stand on end when you can’t see anything evil or dangerous, but you can sense it. This was
a time of real horror for Egypt. But, in the same land, the Israelites were celebrating with joy!
This 9th plague of Exodus is just like the irony of being a Believer in this present world; darkness,
“chosek”, and enlightenment “owr”, exist side-by-side. We, who are covered with God’s light, live
in the same space and breathe the same air as the majority of the world who are under a blanket of
darkness. At the same time that we can have our hearts broken and weep for those who are in
servitude to the prince of the darkness, we can and should celebrate that God’s enlightenment is
upon us and everyone who trusts Him. BTW: notice that ONLY Israel received light. It’s no
different today. We non-Israelites by birth, through Jesus, have been JOINED to Israel’s
covenants. That, which benefits Israel, now benefits us.
So, Pharaoh sends out an urgent call for Moses; and still this foolish, rebellious king tries to bargain
with God (we’ve never tried to bargain with God, right?). After the previous stroke, he had agreed
to let only the Israelite males go to worship Yahweh. Now he says, if Moses will get God to call off
the darkness, all Israel can go, man and woman, girl and boy, young and old…….however, their
livestock must be left behind.
Moses declines the offer, and says that everything must go. Why? Because, it says in Vs26,
Yahweh has called Israel to serve Him and sacrifice to Him……..but they don’t know exactly what
this is to involve. In other words, maybe God will want ALL their livestock, maybe he won’t want
any. Maybe he’ll want Sheep, maybe cattle. They haven’t been told. So, the only thing they can
do is to take all their people and all their possessions into the desert, set them before God, and see
what it is He might demand of them. Did you catch that? Here is another permanent God-principle
that just bursts out of nowhere. We are to submit all that we have and all that we are…..ourselves,
our families, every possession…..before God, because we cannot possibly know at any given
moment what it is He will demand of us. We must go forward in faith and trust, holding nothing
back. Nothing. It is all His, and His to give or take as so pleases Him. Yet, what is our typical
response? Ok God, you can have everything but this…..or this……or this. You can have me; just
don’t take my job, my health, my wife, and my kids. Those things that the Israelites would have left
behind at Pharaoh’s orders would have remained in servitude, so Moses HAD to refuse.
Everything we leave behind, but still possess; everything that we do not take with us to present to
God, when we approach the Cross, stays in Egypt…..stays in bondage and servitude, and is
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therefore not available to serve God. God has made it clear that EVERYTHING we are and
possess is to be put before Him, when we turn our life over to Him.
Neither Moses nor Pharaoh would budge; Moses won’t leave without the livestock, and Pharaoh
won’t let Israel go with it. Pharaoh orders Moses to leave his presence, and never come back.
Because if he ever approaches Pharaoh again, Moses will be put to death. Pharaoh has, by his
own words, sealed his and his people’s fate. There will be no more opportunities to avoid
judgment. God does not strive with man forever. It ends, and we don’t know ahead of time exactly
when that day or hour is. But, when it does end, when God decides to turn us over to our innate
wickedness, all hope of redemption vanishes, forever. Scarey, scarey thought……and terribly, terribly
true.
READ CHAPTER 11 all
Judgment. What we will see in Chapters 11 and 12 is judgment. What is judgment? It’s the time at
which we receive what is due us, according to God’s system of justice. In the Bible, judgment
almost always results in a negative consequence. We all, saved and unsaved, are going to be
judged. If we’re saved, however, if we trust God by way of His son Yeshua, we will NOT be
condemned, we will not be the subjects of God’s wrath. If we are not saved, we WILL be
condemned. Pharaoh, and Egypt, had been given 9 chances of accepting God’s will, and obeying
Him. This 10th blow upon Egypt brings with it NO choices…this is not yet another warning, another
chance for Pharaoh and Egypt to repent…..the time for warnings and choices has passed. Egypt’s
fate is now in etched in concrete. This so-called 10th plague equates to what happens when we
die, and then stand before God. Some will live forever in darkness (remember the Hebrew word for
spiritual darkness, “Chosek”?) others will live forever in light…the Hebrew word for this light, this
enlightenment, is “owr”. From this condition, whether it is light or darkness, there will be NO
change, no opportunity for change, for all eternity.
Now, the first 3 verses of chapter 11 were either spoken to Moses BEFORE or during the last
audience Moses had with Pharaoh. In other words, we saw in Chapter 10, after Pharaoh called for
Moses when God covered Egypt with “chosek”, spiritual darkness, and with visual darkness; then
when Moses refused Pharaoh’s offer for all Israel to leave with the condition of leaving their
livestock behind, Pharaoh told Moses in a fit of rage NEVER to come back again. Well, now we find
out in Ex. 11:8 that during that same conversation, Moses had raged right back at Pharaoh. And,
we see that not only did Moses refuse Pharaoh’s offer, but also Moses told him that THAT night,
about midnight, all of Egypt’s firstborn would die. That included, according to vs.5, even the
livestock. But, the Israelites would not be affected…..they or their livestock.
Now, while I don’t blame Cecil B. DeMille for depicting that which killed the Egyptian firstborn as a
green cloud of death floating menacingly around all the streets of Egypt (I mean, he had to show
something), it does kind of give us a wrong impression. I have even heard Bible Teachers say that
it was the “angel of death” that wandered throughout all of Egypt, and killed the Egyptian firstborn.
No, it was not. It was Yahweh HIMSELF who took all those lives. How, exactly, that occurred, we
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don’t know, except that it was by Almighty God’s very own hand that the life of the firstborns was
extinguished. Vs 1 says that Yahweh, not the Lord, Adonai, or malach Adonai, or anything
else…..YAHWEH says, “I will bring one more plague”. And then in vs. 4 says “Here is what
YAHWEH says, about midnight I will go out…..” and kill all the firstborn of Egypt.
And, after this terrible judgment, God says NOW Pharaoh will release you. In fact, he is going to
drive you out of Egypt. But, before Israel leaves, they are to strip Egypt. They are to ask for Gold
and Silver from the Egyptian people. And, they’ll get all they ask for. Because vs. 3 says that the
Hebrews “found favor” in the eyes of the Egyptians, and that they saw Moses was a very great
man. Translation….. here, take anything you want, we can’t fight Moses or your God. Just leave us.
To the bulk of the Egyptian people, Moses was just a powerful sorcerer….. more powerful than
Egypt’s magicians. And, they had no more interest in testing him further. Frankly, this was no
different from the Egyptians perspective than if a robber was holding a knife at their throat, and it
was a money-or-your-life deal. And, interestingly, to this very day that’s how the Egyptians see it…..
as theft. If you or any of your friends have doubts about whether Israel was ever in Egypt, or that
there was even an Exodus (which, by the way, has become a very popular theme in the more
liberal denominations), just tell them to ask a modern day Egyptian about it. The anger over Israel
taking all that gold and silver from Egypt has remained a bitter sore spot in the heart of the
Egyptian people right up to modern times….3400 years later.
Let us not overlook just what is at the bottom of this decision by God to crush Egypt with these
supernatural devastations and then the plundering of their Gold and Silver: for God reminds us, in
vs.7, that this is ALL done “in order that you may know that Yahweh makes a distinction between
Egypt and Israel”. We keep hearing this over and over in the Exodus story of the Plagues, don’t
we? That God makes a distinction between Israel and Egypt. When God keeps repeating
something, it’s a sure bet we need to pay attention. So, let us not EVER think that this setting
apart of Israel from the rest of world is some minor or remote issue, or has changed or become
obsolete. Remember, from a Biblical standpoint Egypt, which is real and tangible, also is a “type”.
That is, Egypt is representative of the world at large…all those NOT joined to Israel. To this very
day, and to the end of time, God sees the world as Israel, and everybody else. Where does that
leave us, gentile believers? Thankfully, with Israel, as part of Israel. This is one good reason to
follow God’s directive to bless Israel. For when we are blessing Israel, we are also blessing
ourselves. Romans 9, 10, and 11 covers this in great detail, but it can be somewhat summed up by
Romans 11:17 where Paul says in his Olive Tree analogy, “ But if some of the branches were
broken off, and YOU (gentile believer) a wild olive were grafted in among them and have become
equal sharers in the rich root of the olive tree…..” Israel is symbolized in Scripture as the Olive
Tree. And, in Romans 11:24 “For if you (gentiles) were cut out of what is by nature a wild olive tree
and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated Olive Tree (Israel), how much more will these
natural branches (those Israelites that were cut off because of disbelief) be grafted back into their
own Olive Tree”.
In other words, from God’s spiritual perspective, a gentile believer is grafted into the covenants of
Israel. And, it is those covenants that, from a spiritual aspect, makes Israel, Israel, and separates
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them from everyone else. God did NOT give His covenants to gentiles. They went ONLY to Israel.
By trusting in Jesus as Lord and Messiah, however, we are grafted into the covenants of Israel. No,
I’m not saying you became a Jew when you became saved. There are physical Jews and physical
gentiles. But, by God’s reckoning, neither a physical Jew NOR a physical gentile automatically
belongs to True, Spiritual, Israel…. or, as Paul calls it, the Israel of God. Only those Jews and
gentiles who believe and trust Jesus. Again, I caution you, I am NOT saying that a physical
member of the tribe of Israel is now no longer an Israelite. I’m saying that there is an earthly,
fleshly, physical perspective on the one hand; and there is a spiritual, heavenly perspective that
God has on the other. Salvation, deliverance, concerns ONLY the spiritual, not the physical,
perspective. God did not come to save our flesh; he came to save our eternal souls.
What we need to come away from this with for our study of Torah is that God made and
DEMONSTRATED a distinction between Israel and everyone else…here, in Exodus, it’s between
Israel and the Egyptians. This is such an important foundational principle…. Israel was set apart…set
apart to be God’s special people. When we hear the commonly used church-word “sanctification”,
it simply means to be “set apart” for God. And, this is NOT an OT distinction that has dissolved. It
remains intact in the NT as well. Jesus did NOT end this distinction between Israel and the world….
my goodness, He, Himself, was a Jew, an Israelite, and made a point of letting people know that.
He simply provided a NEW and lasting way for gentiles to partake of, to be grafted into Israel’s
covenants, by means of His own blood. But, do not misunderstand; even the New Covenant was
not a covenant between God and gentiles; it was a covenant with Israel. We won’t go any further
with that for now, because that is all a very long lesson in itself.
Let’s back up for a moment. It was DURING these 3 days of darkness (chosek) that had fallen
upon Egypt that Moses pronounced to Pharaoh the coming death of the firstborn. Did you catch
that? Yet, while all Egypt was cowering under the horror of the complete absence of light and the
blanket of evil that lay over them, Israel was celebrating joyously for they were experiencing light.
They knew the time of deliverance was near. In fact, during that time of darkness for Egypt Israel
had, 4 days before Yahweh would go throughout Egypt killing all the firstborn already selected their
Passover lambs, and this according to God’s instructions. This would become the establishment
of, and the very first, Passover.
Now, let’s fast-forward about 1400 years to 30 AD. We’re in Jerusalem, and it’s Passover (in
Hebrew, Pesach). Yeshua has completed His Passover meal in the company of His 12 disciples
the evening before, and now is nailed, bleeding and suffocating, on the execution stake. But,
before death takes him, the land suddenly becomes covered in thick, terrifying darkness. Yeshua,
our Passover lamb, was selected and sacrificed when all was dark, literally and spiritually, for the
world. Yet, in Heaven, great joyousness was taking place, for deliverance was at hand. There
should have been great celebration in Jerusalem, among the Jews, as well. But, they were blinded
to the truth, and could not see that Christ WAS their deliverance; He was their Passover lamb.
Let’s fast-forward again, now 2000 years from Christ’s passion, to today. Our world is becoming
darker and darker. Spiritually, our entire planet is becoming so evil and rebellious and is under
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“chosek”……spiritual darkness. It is hard to not be despondent, and feel full of hopelessness and
despair and confusion as we watch our world reeling out of control. But, as believers, those of us
set apart, sanctified for God, what should our reaction be? The same as those Israelites in Egypt,
as we’re reading about in Exodus; celebration. Though those who do not know God are in
darkness, and about to experience eternal spiritual death, we who DO know God live in His light,
and are about to experience deliverance into eternal light. The example for how we are to live
during these last days, as each day reveals new and deeper levels of man’s wickedness and
depravity, is right here in Exodus; we can and SHOULD actually take it from God’s perspective….
Final and complete deliverance. Yet, like the Israelites, our joy is bittersweet. Like those Israelites,
we all have friends and relatives and neighbors that made the choice to join with the world and all
of its darkness. The sad fact is that until Jesus reigns on Earth, light and darkness, death and life,
will rule simultaneously.
Let’s stop here and we’ll pick up next week.
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Lesson 10 Chapter 12
This chapter of Exodus is almost a book unto itself. Here, the festival, or ordinance, of the
Passover, Pesach, is established. In fact, another God-ordained feast, the Festival of Unleavened
Bread, is also laid out. The important details and timing and who may participate and who may not
are described. And, these details are rich and full of spiritual meaning, which we will discuss.
But, this chapter also includes the carrying out of God’s decree that He shall kill, by His own hand,
all the firstborn of Egypt……people and livestock. And, it ends with the people of Israel packing up
and quickly leaving Egypt, once again giving us some important information about who went, how
many, and WHERE they went.
Now, just for the sake of organizing our thoughts to take on the important facts and meaning
contained in this 12th Chapter of Exodus, it helps if we can see it arranged in 5 parts:
Verses 1-14 are God directing Moses on the details of establishing the first Passover.
Verses 15-20 look to the future, as these details are meant for FUTURE Passover celebrations.
Verses 21-27 have Moses communicating to the people, actually the elders of Israel, all that God
has instructed him.
Verse 28 records the people of Israel being obedient to Moses and God.
Verses 29 to the end of the chapter describe the horror of that dreadful night that thousands upon
thousands of Egyptian firstborns, human and animal, were killed by Yehoveh for the sake of Israel,
and then goes on to describe the first stages of the Hebrews’ exodus from captivity in Egypt.
So, let’s begin.
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READ CHAPTER 12 all
Verse 1 leaves us no doubt where and when this feast of Pesach, Passover, began. But, verse 2
can cause us some confusion if we’re not careful, for it seems that God is establishing the Jewish
calendar year. Those of you who know a little about the Jewish calendar and the 7 yearly feasts
know that Passover is a spring festival. Passover occurs in the Jewish month of Abib, as it was first
called, but now is referred to as Nisan. The names of the 12 months of the year were originally
Hebrew…but, during their exile to Babylon, some 800 years after the exodus, the Jews changed the
names of the months from Hebrew to the Babylonian names. Some sects of Jews have stubbornly
clung to the more ancient original Hebrew names for each month, but most accept the more
common Babylonian names.
However the Hebrew vs.. the Babylonian isn’t the point of confusion I’m concerned with. Clearly
God tells Israel in Verse 2 that this Passover month, Nisan, is to be the first month of the year. So,
one would think that the first day, of the first month of the year would be considered New Years
Day. In other words, just as we follow the Julian calendar today whereby January is the first month
of the year, on the 1st of January we celebrate New Years Day….the day a new year begins.
However Rosh Hashanah the Jewish New Year, which literally means “head of the year”, does
NOT occur on the 1st day of Nisan, the first month of the Jewish calendar, and the month referred
to here in verse 2. In fact, Rosh Hashanah doesn’t even occur until the Fall, several months after
the Passover, in the month of Tishri. So, what gives?
Well, the Jews actually have several kinds of “new years”. Just as we have a cycle that begins
with Jan 1 and ends on Dec 31st for marking a calendar year, if you have a business, you also
have what is called a fiscal year, which can start in any month you choose; and this has primarily to
do with taxation and accounting purposes. If you go to school you know that the school year can
vary from institution to institution, that it is somewhat arbitrary (and is sometimes changed), and
certainly is connected to neither a business fiscal year, nor the New Year of the 12-month calendar.
If you’re a farmer, your “year” is based more on the cycles of agriculture, and since all of the
Hebrew festivals are based around agriculture, they are not necessarily in tune with the solar year
OR the calendar year, but rather its more about the cycle of seasons……and there are even more
kinds of yearly measurements I could use as examples.
So, in the Jewish Calendar Nisan (as proscribed here in verse 2) is considered the month for
counting the years of reigns of kings and queens, and is the first month of the Jewish religious
Calendar. The Jewish month of Elul (August) begins the yearly tithing cycle when it comes to tithing
animals; the month of Shevat (February) begins the yearly cycle for determining which fruits of the
tree harvest can be eaten and tithed. The 1st day of Tishri, which is also called Rosh Hashanah,
the Jewish New Year, is used to determine when the number of the year changes. That is, when on
12:01 am, on the 1st day of January, we go from 2002 to 2003, and then the next year from 2003
to 2004, and so on……so every 12 months, on the 1st day of the New Year, the number of the year
increases by one. Easy enough. Well, the Jews have a specific month that they change calendar
years, but it is NOT the month of Nisan which even though it is the first month of the Jewish
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calendar. Rather, it is somewhat mid-calendar year that the Jews advance the number of the year
by one, and it is also the month they add days or weeks to their calendars (from time to time)
because they use a LUNAR calendar as the basis, so adjustments must be made every few years
to keep their calendars accurate and in line with the more modern SOLAR calendar year.
It’s not important to remember all this in detail. But, it is important to understand that the Biblical
calendar is NOTHING like our current, nice, and neat solar based 365 ¼ day calendars. So, when
we come to the establishment of festival days in the Bible, or the dates of specific events, or when
it talks about how long a certain king reigned, you have to think in terms of the Jewish calendar
system, not our modern day system.
So, what we know is that the first Passover, marking the night before the Jews left Egypt, was in
the spring, in what we think of as around April. And, in Vs. 3, based on the Jewish lunar calendar,
God instructs Israel that on the 10th day of the month of Nisan…..4 days BEFORE Passover…… they
are to select…..not kill, just select…..the lamb to be used as the Passover sacrifice.
Now, before we go any further, let me dispel some myths about this lamb. First, this has to be a
MALE lamb. Second, it has to be one year old. In other words, we are not talking about some cute,
fuzzy little baby creature taken from its mother; this is not an animal that your kindergartner could
carry around. A one-year-old male sheep is called a Ram. They have horns, they’ve developed a
certain amount of aggression (for a sheep), and they’re pretty big……50 lbs perhaps. More, they are
maturing, approaching their prime. Depending on the variety, even though a male sheep will
continue growing for about 5 years, the vast majority of the growth has already occurred by the 1st
year. A one-year-old male sheep is an adult, fully capable of reproducing, and likely has already
been used to sire lambs. Contrast that when you buy lamb chops in a grocery store; you are not
eating an adult sheep; generally the age of the sheep that you’re eating is NO MORE than about 6
months. So, let’s get the children’s book pictures of Mary Had a Little Lamb out of our heads, or
what lies underneath that clear cellophane wrapper in the meat counter when we think about the
animal that God has commanded to be sacrificed.
And, this couldn’t be a sickly Ram; or a runt. It had to be the best Ram of all the yearling Rams
you had available. Healthy, vibrant, uninjured, unscarred.
In verses 3 and 4 it is explained that although the general rule is that one Ram per household is
slaughtered, if the household is small, then another small household should SHARE a single Ram.
God values the life of his creatures. These Rams were innocent….they were being killed because of
mankind’s sinful nature, and God didn’t want any more than necessary to be slaughtered and
their meat wasted.
We find out in verse 5 that a male GOAT can be legally substituted for a sheep. And, in Vs. 6, that
although the Ram is to be selected 4 days before Passover, it is not to be killed until Passover
evening…….which God says is to be the 14th of Nisan.
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Time for another explanation: Christian Passover only occasionally coincides with Jewish
Passover. For instance: a couple of years ago Christian Passover (Good Friday) was on April 9.
Pesach, the true Passover that is Nisan 14, was April 6. Christians changed the Biblical Passover
to a politically based Passover. Because due to decrees by early gentile Church Bishops, and then
the Roman Emperor Constantine in the 4th century AD, it was decided that Passover was
ALWAYS to be the Friday BEFORE Easter……and it would not be called Passover, but Good Friday.
And, Easter was always to be celebrated on a Sunday. Well, since the Jewish calendar and the
modern Julian calendar don’t jibe, and since God gave NUMERICAL DATES that Passover was to
occur on, not fixed days of the week, then its only every few years that Christian Passover actually
occurs on the 14th of Nisan…..the exact date God prescribed right here in Exodus chapter 12. Do
you get this? For example, the 31st of October is always celebrated as Halloween. But, one year
Oct 31st falls on a Monday, another a Tuesday, another a Wednesday, and so on. Halloween is
assigned a numerical date, not a day of the week, like a Friday or a Saturday. Passover, as we see
here in Exodus, is also assigned a numerical date, not a day of the week.
Here’s the thing: the Passover established in Egypt, is a “type”. It is also a shadow of what was to
come. It most certainly represented real and actual deliverance from death……originally in Egypt.
But, 1400 years later, Christ brought the fullest meaning intended to Passover by He, Himself,
becoming the Passover……that is, by becoming the sacrificial Passover RAM. By our trusting God,
and symbolically and spiritually applying Jesus’ blood to the doorposts of our homes (our bodies),
we are passed over for the death that is our due wages for our sins. That was the spiritual meaning
of Passover in Exodus, but it was only revealed upon Yeshua’s death. All the Bible feasts that,
frankly, we have been taught by the Church to ignore as obsolete and irrelevant because they’re
part of the Old Testament (which it regards as abolished), were set up by God as types, as models,
and as commemorations for the purpose of teaching and preparing us for their ultimate fulfillment;
and although they had a real and tangible purpose and meaning to the Israelites when they were
first established, there would be a fuller meaning to each of these feasts in the future.
Now, Yeshua was NOT killed by coincidence on Passover. The Holy Father sent our Savior to be
executed PRECISELY on Passover day, the 14th of Nisan, in order to bring the festival of
Passover to its fullest meaning; so it seems a little odd to me that Jews who don’t yet believe in
Yeshua as Savior celebrate the very day of his death, unknowingly to them established for
precisely that purpose, and they do it exactly in the way and on the day as God has commanded;
but we, the gentile Church, don’t. All due to the tradition established by a Roman politician almost
1700 years ago, as a compromise to the pagan Sun worshippers and the anti-Jewish Church
Bishops, we gentile Believers have abandoned God-ordained remembrances. I don’t know about
you, but I’d rather follow God’s divine ordinance for Passover than manmade doctrines, built
around manmade political and social agendas, especially concerning this unequalled memorial
feast.
From verses 8-11 God adds more details as to exactly how the Israelites are to proceed with the
Passover ritual. In addition to selecting a one year old Ram, without blemish, and making sure that
enough people are present to eat the Ram to ensure it is not wasted, God adds the following;
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1. The sacrifice, the killing and preparing of the Ram, was to occur between the evenings
(meaning twilight).
2. The blood was to be captured in a basin.
3. Some of the blood was to be smeared on the two sides (doorposts) of the door and on the
lintel…..the crossbeam above the doorway.
4. A Hyssop branch was to be used to dip into the basin of blood and then painted on the
doorway.
5. DURING the time that Yehoveh was going throughout Egypt, killing the Egyptian firstborn,
they were to eat the Passover meal.
6. The meal was to consist first of the Ram itself. It was to be roasted over a fire, whole, with
the head attached. Fully cooked, and not to be boiled in water.
7. Unleavened bread, bread made without yeast, was to be eaten.
8. Bitter herbs were to be eaten.
9. What ever was left of the Ram, uneaten, was, before sunrise, to be completely burnt-up,
destroyed, by fire.
10. They are to eat it dressed, sandals on their feet, ready for action…..ready to leave Egypt.
Each of these parts of the Passover Ritual had spiritual meaning. The Passover Ram, of course,
pointed to the ultimate deliverer from death, Yeshua Ha Mashiach.
The bitter herbs signified the Israelites bitter centuries of captivity and hard labor in Egypt.
The unleavened bread spoke of sincerity and truth……leaven in the Bible is symbolic of sin and
deceit.
The bitter herbs eaten together with the sweet unleavened bread signified the bittersweet event
that the Passover was: death for those who were the ransom (Egypt), life to others whom the Lord
has set-apart from the rest (the Israelites). In its ultimate fulfillment it meant death for our ransom,
Yeshua, and life for other, Believers.
The Ram was to be served whole, complete, and as we’ll see much later in Chapter 12, not a
bone of the animal was to be broken. This was a precursor of Christ who did not have a bone
broken in His execution (though breaking the leg bones of the victim was customary during a
Roman Crucifixion, they did not do so to Yeshua).
The Hyssop branch signified purification (we’ll see that in the NT with the cleansing of the leper
and in Psalm 51). By the way, no one is quite sure what tree or bush the Hyssop actually was. If
you go to an Israeli market today, they sell a spice called Hyssop, but they will tell you freely that it
is NOT the same thing as the Hyssop mentioned here in Exodus. More and more scholars think
this is a species of what we call Oregano.
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The divine ordinances being laid out to Moses and Israel were interrupted momentarily in vs.. 12,
when God, Yehoveh, reiterates what is going to happen on Passover night. That it will be He,
Himself, who will proceed throughout the land of Egypt, killing all the firstborn of Egypt, AND,
bringing low all the gods that the Egyptians bowed down to. One can only imagine the scene that
night: little babies, toddlers, teenagers, adults, the elderly; suddenly, for no apparent reason, their
breathing stops and their hearts fail. No means of reviving them was possible. People in the streets
fell over dead, with no apparent cause. Can you mentally picture the multitudes of panicked
Egyptians rushing to their pagan priests for help, praying in fear and desperation and despair to
their household gods to save them. The Lord specifically targeted the Pharaoh as his own
household lost its firstborn…..the heir to the throne of Egypt died. Hundreds of thousands of
livestock….perhaps millions….. laying dead in the pastures, from one end of Egypt to the other
meant starvation for many Egyptians. God, unstoppable, unswayable, UNAPOLOGETICALLY
bringing about terrible judgment from which there was no escape…….EXCEPT……..for Israel and all
those joined to Israel, who depended on the blood of the Ram.
For in vs.. 13, Yehoveh says that when he sees the blood of the Ram upon the doorposts of the
houses of Israel, He will pass by, pass over, that home and all those within it. They will not
experience the death of the firstborn that all their non-believing Egyptian neighbors are.
What a sobering dreadful thought. And, my friends, this exact thing happens every single day.
Between the time we got up this morning, and the time we’ll retire tonight, hundreds of thousands
of people across the face of this earth will perish for all time……and worse, for all eternity. And the
same will happen tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that……. Yet, by joining yourself to
the Israel of God you can avoid this. Trust God by trusting Yeshua, and you have joined the Israel
of God. Trust Christ, sprinkle His blood on your house…..your body…..and you will have life. Don’t
and eternal death is the certain result. There is no in between, there is no alternative, there is no
neutrality, and there is no escape.
In vs. 14, God makes clear that this day, Passover, the 14th of Nisan, is to be a memorial forever.
That last time I checked, forever means forever…..not until some Roman Bishop or Emperor
decided otherwise.
Beginning with vs.. 15 and ending with 20, God instructs the Israelites on how all future Passovers
are to be celebrated. Now, actually, it’s more of an addition than a change. This event is called the
Festival of Unleavened Bread, or Matza. It commands that for 7 days, in connection with Passover
(Passover being itself technically a one day event), beginning on the 14th day of Nisan, that Israel
is not to eat bread with yeast, leaven, in it. Even more, each household is to throw away all of its
leaven or anything that contains leaven.
There is a rather severe penalty for eating anything with leaven during that 7 day period; vs. 19
says that the person that offends will be “cut-off”. The Hebrew word for “cut off” is “karet”. And, it
means to cut off, or eliminate, a body part, or to cut something down, like cutting down a tree. It can
mean permanent separation, or most often in the Bible indicate divine destruction and death. So,
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this being “cut-off” is not akin to a time-out for a rebellious child. Nor is it like a jail sentence with a
set amount of time for punishment, or being temporarily separated from society. Likely it did NOT,
in most cases, mean that the affected person was to be executed….. Yet, undoubtedly, execution
was, at times, the result. But, it did mean the “cut-off” person was banished from Israel, from his
own tribe, from his family, and most seriously, from the Lord. Now, let’s be clear: this is Yehoveh
doing the talking, here. So, this is not so much about the punishment of the flesh, or by being
disowned by your tribe; rather this is about being disowned by God. The spiritual benefits of being
part of Israel have been terminated.
Notice also that it doesn’t matter whether one is (depending on how your bible version phrases it)
a foreigner or a citizen of Israel. Let me put that in the sense that it is meant: it doesn’t matter
whether you are a native, a natural born Israelite, or if you are from a non-Israelite tribe but have
joined Israel by giving up your old foreign tribe and pledging your allegiance to one of the tribes of
Israel. This principle that God has no 2nd class citizens in His Kingdom is made clear, here. We’ll
find this same message in a number of places throughout the OT, and in the NT. What this means
for you and I who, as non-Israelites, have through the covenant of the blood of Christ been grafted
into Israel that we might partake of Israel’s covenants, is that God makes no SPIRITUAL
distinction between those who are natural born Israelites versus “foreigners” who were born
outside of Israel by now are grafted into Israel. Does the Lord continue to make a PHYSICAL
distinction between Jews and gentiles? Of course, and St. Paul covers that subject quite well.
Beginning in vs.. 21, Moses starts to communicate (to repeat actually) all that God had instructed
him, to the elders of Israel, in order that the elders would then get the message to every individual
Israelite.
Before we go any further, let’s get a mental picture of the Israelite population at this time. There
were something around 3 million Israelites in existence and living in Egypt, about a quarter of the
total population of Egypt. Some scholars suggest that number was closer to 2 million, others that it
was closer to 3.5 or 4 million. Some of the most liberal say that numbers the Bible gives us are
grossly inaccurate and there were only a few thousand Israelites at this time, which is just goofy
and frankly would defy what was normal and natural population increase for that era. We’ll get into
that a little deeper in another lesson.
The Israelites were living PRIMARILY, but not entirely, in Lower Egypt, in an area east of the Nile
Delta, called Goshen. But, without doubt, there were thousands upon thousands of Israelites that
had left Goshen and lived scattered all throughout Egypt. 430 years earlier, the Israelites had
arrived as exclusively Shepherds. But, now, many were merchants, farmers, and traders….. and
most were craftsmen of every type used by Egypt to build their highways, government buildings,
and military fortresses. There had been intermarrying between the Hebrews and Egyptians, though
both sides discouraged it. Some Israelites lived on the frontier between Goshen and the Sinai, and
a few in the Sinai itself.
So, when Moses gave instructions to the people’s representatives, the Elders, to prepare to leave
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Egypt some had to hustle back to wherever they were living to get the word out to the group of
Israelites who lived among. It also means that as the huge throng of Israelites left Goshen, led by
Moses, they were joined along the way with Israelite stragglers, and foreigners of non-Israelite
tribes who had heard and witnessed what the god of Israel had done, and wanted to join Israel. In
a few verses, we’ll actually see this issue mentioned.
In vs. 25 and 26, one of our key words, service, pops up, although likely your translation will say
“observe this ceremony” or “observe this rite”, or something like that in its place. That is, literally
in vs.. 25 it says, “you are to keep this service”, and in vs.. 26 “when your children say to you:
what does this service mean to you?” The importance of seeing the use of the word “service” is
the intent of God for us to see that Israel is moving from servitude, forced laborers, as serfs for
Egypt, into service, a voluntary allegiance to Yehoveh, based on love and trust. And, of course,
this is a “pattern”. For when we give our service to Yehoveh, by means of Yeshua, we move away
from servitude to our evil inclinations and Satan.
In vs. 29, a very brief recounting of the horror of that night of death for the Egyptian firstborns is
described. I cannot stress enough, that at the very moment Yehoveh was passing the eternal death
sentence on the firstborn of Egypt, He was delivering Israel. Egypt was still in that state of
“chosek”, spiritual darkness, while Israel reveled in God’s enlightenment. While Israel was
feasting and worshipping and joyously celebrating, Egypt was frozen with fear and in a national
state of mourning at the avalanching number of dead….. “for there wasn’t a single house
(meaning a single family) without someone dead in it.”.
In vs. 31, the now devastated and broken Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and ordered them
to leave Egypt….along with all the Israelites…….no preconditions. Take everything you own, he says,
and go; but he also begs that Moses would bless him. Undoubtedly the blessing was meant to
remove this divine curse of death that had overcome his own house and all of Egypt.
The Egyptian people were in full agreement. They pressed Israel to leave “otherwise we’ll all be
dead”.
It’s really kind of interesting: even though the Egyptians thoroughly acknowledged Yehoveh, and
they now knew about Yehoveh and His power (maybe better than all of us in this room), they still
wouldn’t believe Him. For He never threatened to kill all the Egyptians (“otherwise we’ll ALL be
dead” they feared)…..just the firstborn. There is a very big difference between knowing ABOUT
God, and knowing God. And, there is a very big difference between HEARING God, and
BELIEVING God, versus TRUSTING God. Knowing about God, even hearing Him and believing
that He is, is simply an intellectual exercise, if it’s not accompanied by knowing God, Jesus,
personally, and trusting Him.
The Israelites quickly packed up all their belongings, including the unbaked bread dough, the
special batch that contained no leavening; and in their packs they stored the gold and silver that
they “stripped” from Egypt at God’s command. Now, why would God order His people to take
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gold and silver from this crushed people, the Egyptians? Well, for one thing it was going to be
needed for the building of God’s sanctuary, and for the Ark in which to place the stone tablets of
the 10 Commandments, and for the Menorah and other implements of service to God. For another
it was restitution for 2 centuries of servitude, forced labors, from a people who hated them.
Now, when did the Israelites leave Egypt? ON PASSOVER!! On Nisan the 14th. Remember, by the
Hebrew way of reckoning, a day is sundown to sundown. They finished their Passover meal during
the nighttime, and in the following morning, at sunrise, which was still the same day, they packed
up and left. Do you get the significance of this? Our personal Passover, our redemption from
eternal death, is the moment we accept Christ and sprinkle His blood on the doorposts of our
bodies. But……immediately upon accepting Him we are also free to leave our bondage to sin. We
don’t have to wait for something else to happen in order to leave servitude and begin serving God.
Isn’t that neat?!
Verse 37 tells us that they left from Raamses and stopped at Sukkot. Raamses was right next to
Pithom, and they were known in the Bible as the great “stores cities”, those huge commercial and
governmental warehouses that were built on the backs of the Israelites. We know exactly where
Raamses and Pithom are (in the land of Goshen), and they have been archeologically excavated.
Sukkot is another matter. Exactly where that is, is as much speculation as the exact route of the
Exodus itself.
We’ll begin to deal with that next time.
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Illustrations
Last week we saw that the King of Egypt finally released God’s people, but not until Egypt was
decimated. The livestock was dead, the field and tree crops were destroyed, and now hundreds of
thousands of Egyptian males…..including the Pharaoh’s own heir to the throne….. were deceased.
And, Israel left Egypt on Passover, in the month of Nisan. So, while Believers celebrate Passover
as a day of personal salvation due to the redemptive death of Yeshua, the Jewish people view
Passover (Pesach in Hebrew) as a day of national redemption from Egypt. In fact, the national
redemption of Egypt was a shadow of the personal redemption that Messiah Yeshua would provide
by means of His own blood.
Let’s re-read a bit of chapter 12 to start our lesson.
RE-READ EXODUS CHAPTER 12:29 - end

Here we read of a place named Sukkot. Now, if the name Sukkot sounds familiar, it ought to. Becky
and I, as have many of you, gone to Israel to celebrate the Biblical Feast of the Tabernacles, also
known in Hebrew as Sukkot. This fall festival is the grand finale to end the yearly festival cycle.
Sukkot, as most of you now know, means “booths” or “huts”. The idea here is of temporary
shelter or a temporary stopping place……a place you pass through on your way to somewhere else.
We’re also told, in vs. 37, that about 600,000 men (not counting children) made up the group that
left Ra’amses. So, from that how do scholars arrive at the 2 to 3.5 million people they say
participated in the Exodus? Well, first of all, the 600,000 are men only. And, it includes no children.
But, it also includes no women. Nor does it include the elderly. Here’s why: the Hebrew rule of
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census taking ONLY counted men of an age that could be part of the military……that is, males of an
age not too young, and not too old, to fight. So, the 600,000 consists of males from about 20 to
about 50 years of age. No children of either sex were included. No women were counted and no
males older than about 50 were included. If each man had only ONE wife, and some men at that
time had MORE than one wife (and of course some had none), then the 600,000 gets doubled to
1.2 million. If each couple had only 2 children (and we know that the average household had as
many children as possible), then the 1.2 million would double to 2.4 million. But, this is ONLY those
Israelites that lived up in the land of Goshen, near Ra’amses. Thousands more lived throughout
Egypt and joined the Israelites during their journey. Not only that, but vs. 38 explains that in
addition to the Israelites, a “mixed multitude”, or a “mixed crowd”, went with them as well.
Egyptians, foreigners of several nationalities and races, of which there were scores of thousands
living in Egypt at that time, families that consisted of Israelites who had married Egyptians, perhaps
several generations earlier, and had only marginally continued to identify themselves with Israel (if
you had the opportunity, why would to connect yourself to the slave labor class?)……these all joined
up with Israel. This is why God made instruction and provision concerning so called “foreigners”
(in Hebrew, ger) joining Israel, giving up their former tribal affiliations (and theoretically their
connections to false gods) and declaring allegiance to one of the Israelite tribes.
And, oh by the way, they took with them (vs. 38) an enormous amount of livestock: their own
livestock, of course, as most of the Egyptian livestock was now dead and their carcasses rotting in
the pastures. And, it included all kinds livestock…..sheep, goats, cattle, and oxen. Can you visualize
this incredible migration? I doubt the world had ever seen anything like it. The equivalent of the
population of the entire state of Oregon was leaving Egypt. And, they took with them all their
livestock, their possessions, and some short-term food and water provisions. What a site to behold
that must have been. The entire known world would have known about it in short order……and
probably wondered just where it was they were heading; because life was never going to be the
same for those already living wherever it was Israel was going.
When the multitude arrived at a place they would later name Sukkot, and stopped for a short time,
they baked the unleavened dough that God had instructed they prepare BEFORE they left. And,
apparently, they had precious little else because vs. 39 says they had left Egypt without time to
gather adequate food supplies for themselves.
Next we find out that the exact amount of time that Israel spent in Egypt was 430 years. While this
disagrees somewhat with Gen 15:13 that quotes God saying they’ll be in Egypt for 400 years, at
the least we see that the Israelites were in Egypt for about 4 centuries. But, another way to
understand this is that the Bible often speaks in round numbers. We just saw a few verses earlier
where there were 600,000 males in the Exodus. Of course, it was NOT precisely 600,000, that is
just a round number, as was the 400 years. However, vs. 40 & 41 says it was 430 years to the day.
That’s not a round number. So, there is no reason to take it as anything other than PRECISELY
430 years. But, understand one other thing: by the lunar calendar, a year is 354 days. By our
modern 365-day calendar, they were in Egypt just under 417 years. The Bible generally uses the
lunar, Jewish, calendar. Further, many Rabbis insist that some of the 400 years that Israel was “in
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Egypt” included Abraham’s time there. So, there is disagreement over this. A few scholars (both
Hebrew and Christian) hold that the amount of time from when Jacob arrived in Egypt proper, to
the day Moses led Israel into the wilderness, was closer to 250 years.
I love the expression used to describe the Israelites leaving Egypt; they were called the “hosts of
the Lord”. Or in some versions, “all the divisions of the Lord”. Most literally from the original
Hebrew, the phrase is “Yehoveh’s forces”. In fact, the Hebrew word used to describe the hosts or
divisions or forces is “tsaba”. Tsaba indeed means hosts, or forces, because its sense is normally
of a military. God called the Israelites, in essence, His army. And, the Bible uses a similar term at
times to describe the “host of Heaven” meaning the angels. And, indeed, Angels are God’s spirit
army.
Vs. 42 says that God kept watch over the Israelites as they left Egypt. That is, He protected them,
guarded them, and shepherded them. Vs. 43 begins instructions on just WHO may partake of the
Passover. And, it starts right out stating that NO foreigner can be involved. Yet, an Israelite’s
foreign slave, provided he has been circumcised (indicating he has been joined to Israel), may. A
traveler, a visitor, even a houseguest may not participate, if they are not part of Israel.
Then, in vs. 46 we are given the injunction that not a bone of the Passover Ram is to be broken. Of
course, that was made a point of emphasis in the Gospels that despite the beatings and the
execution by Roman crucifixion, not one bone of His body was broken…..a must unusual
circumstance by the way because it was usual in Roman-style crucifixion to break the leg bones of
the condemned as means to faster death.
Now, look at vs. 49: God makes it clear that there is but ONE ritual, ONE law, concerning the
Passover. There is not a Passover “A” for natural born Israelites, and Passover “B” for foreigners
who have declared allegiance to Israel….. those who have joined themselves to Israel. All who are
citizens of Israel, no matter whether they have Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’s genes in them or not,
are to be considered the same before God WHEN IT COMES TO SPIRITUAL MATTERS.
I’ve covered this with you before, but as we close out chapter 12, it bears repeating; we now
understand that Yeshua is the highest fulfillment of Passover, that HE is the sacrificial Passover
Ram for all, that those of us who are born OUTSIDE of the genealogical line of Abraham (gentiles),
born OUTSIDE the natural family of Israel, we are grafted into, joined with, the nation of people
who ARE of the line of Abraham when we accept Christ. But……that is from a Spiritual aspect. And,
to God, the TRUE members of HIS ideal Israel are all those who trust Him. And, trusting Him
means accepting Yeshua as Messiah.
Open your Bibles to Romans 9. We’re going to take just a moment to see how this principle laid
down here in Exodus 12 comes to its fullest meaning in Christ; we’re going to see what Paul says
about all this because right here in Exodus the groundwork, the basic principle, of gentile believers
(foreigners, ger, in Bible terms) being joined with Israel to partake in her covenants is set.
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READ Rom 9:6-8, 23-26, 30-32
Ok. You see where I’m going with this. Verses 7 & 8 are so terribly important to grasp because
here is defined just WHO the “seed of Abraham” (meaning all those for who the promises made to
Abraham were intended) are; and just as important, who the seed of Abraham are NOT! And, we
find out that the physical descendants of Abraham are not ALL to be considered the “seed”, just
those who come through the line of Isaac. Who would have thought that in our modern day this
definition would be so terribly important to define whom God’s people ON A PHYSICAL level are.
Because Islam says that it was Isaac’s BROTHER Ishmael who would be the line of Abraham’s
seed. This shows you just how the most basic premise of Islam is utter deceit. And, I remind you,
that the founder of Islam wasn’t even born until 5 centuries after these words of Paul were spoken;
so Paul wasn’t battling theologies with the Islamic world because it didn’t even exist. Further, in
verse 8, we see that from a spiritual aspect not all of the legitimate physical seed (the
descendants of Isaac) would be counted as “seed” either. Now turn quickly to Romans 2:25.
Read Romans 2:25-29

Notice the key here: God sees the true Israel….which is the heavenly ideal of Israel….. as a Spiritual
entity. Therefore, with the advent of Christ, God sees His Israel as a congregation of Jewish and
Gentile believers. Most certainly He sees and recognizes the physical nation of Israel (the
descendants of Isaac and Jacob), the people born as natural Israelites, as Israel….PHYSICAL
Israel. national Israel. But, that is apart and separate from the “Israel of God” which is an
everlasting spiritual entity.
Now, remember I’ve told you several times that our chapter designations, and the way we
separate and divide and number Bible passages is arbitrary and done simply for the sake of being
able to refer to a particular book or passage. In the original, which was written on lengthy scrolls,
the books of the Bible were undivided…..each book was like one long continuous work. In fact,
originally, the books didn’t even have names. So, where we have this tendency to mentally stop
with a certain subject at the end of a chapter, and then feel as though we’re beginning with a new
subject at the next chapter, we get this skewed idea of what is happening.
In this case Romans 2 simply continues on with Romans 3. So, let me read to you Romans 2:24
through Romans 3:4, without stopping, as it was originally written.
Read Romans 2:24 – 3:4

Notice how Paul makes sure that we understand that the PHYSICAL differences AND purposes
God created for His chosen people, Israel, remain intact. And, then remain intact AFTER Yeshua
has come and gone. Israel, physical Israel, remains central to God’s purpose, and remains set
apart and valuable to Him.
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So, here in these last few verses of Romans 2 and the first few verses of Romans 3, we get this all
import God principle, that tends to really mess with our minds: as pertains to each of God’s
principles and commands there is an earthly, physical, fleshly level on the one hand, and there is a
corresponding heavenly, spiritual level on the other. This is what I call a “duality”…. or, the Reality
of Duality (dual, as in two); in this case, there are two “levels” of Israel: physical and spiritual. Both
are real, and exist simultaneously, and are organically connected; however, not everyone who is
part of physical Israel will belong to spiritual Israel, and not everyone who is part of spiritual Israel
will be physical Israelites. Just as with Passover there is the earthly ritual and meaning that Moses
was instructed to perform, and then there is its fullest, spiritual aspect that was fulfilled with the
death of Jesus.
The physical aspect of Israel consists of the earthly nation of Israel and its people; people that we
today refer to as Jews. Spiritual Israel consists of all those, Jew and gentile, who are faithful to
God…..that is, those who have accepted God’s Messiah, Jesus Christ.
Does this come together for you? I hope so. I realize this can be a little difficult to fully grasp. Now,
with that as a background, allow me to address one other issue that, because of the point in
mankind’s history we find ourselves, it has become critical for believers to grasp: the church
consist of all believers, gentile and Hebrew. There are not Jewish believers as apart from gentile
believers; to God, a believer is a believer is a believer. It doesn’t matter whether Jewish believers
go to a gentile church or a Messianic Jewish Synagogue; and it doesn’t matter whether a
GENTILE attends a Messianic Jewish Synagogue (as many do) or a typical gentile church. …. those
are just manmade divisions and organizations.
The thing is this: over the centuries, the meaning of the term “Church” has changed. Remember,
Church is simply the chosen English rendering of the Greek word “ekklesia”, which is what the NT
often uses when referring to believers. Sadly, over time, the term Church has lost its true meaning.
The Church is people. When the Bible refers to Church, ekklesia, it is referring ONLY to people, to
human beings, who have submitted to Messiah Yeshua. The Church has nothing to do with
buildings and places and activities and man-ordained denominational organizations. It is a terrible
misuse of the term “church” when we refer to the place where we go to worship as “Church”. It is
a terrible misuse of the term “church” to call what many do on Sundays as “doing Church”. The
Church is Believers. Period. You are the church. I am the church. A gentile who believes in Christ
is the church, and an Israelite…or as we think of it today, a Jew…. who believes in Christ is the
church. Unfortunately our misuse of the term church has led to this way of thinking that means that
Jews, Israelites, Hebrews, who trust Yeshua are in a different class or category than gentiles who
trust Yeshua. Nothing could be further from the truth. God, through Moses in Exodus, and through
Paul in Romans, and through Christ in the Gospels, and through several of the prophets, has tried
with great effort to get this into our brains.
Does all this really make a difference to us? You bet it does. Because this shows just how
connected we are to Israel in every imaginable way. It explains how the Body of Believers, the
Church, is to see itself; that our true identity is as part of Spiritual Israel. Not as a “new” Israel. Not
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as a replacement of Israel. Rather, Believers compose the Spiritual ideal that represents all that
God envisioned for a group of people set apart for Him….Israel.
READ CHAPTER 13 all
“Set aside for me all the firstborn.” We are going to see, in Chapter 13, some Biblical principles
that Gods develops that will play a huge role in the New Covenant that will be realized in Christ
Jesus.
Before we get to that, though, notice that instruction is given as to WHEN the changes to Passover,
or better, the additions to the Passover festival, are to begin. It is to start AFTER the Israelites are
in the land of Canaan. Or, as the Bible puts it, in the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the
Emorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And, this festival of Matza is to occur during Passover
week…actually, it starts on Nisan 14th, Passover, and continues until the 21st of Nisan. An
additional command concerning this feast of Unleavened Bread (Matza) is ordered: you are not
only to remove all leaven from your house; you are to remove it from your territory. That is, once
the Israelites take Canaan, during this festival they can’t even have leaven present ANYWHERE
throughout the territories that the tribes of Israel own. And, in vs. 8, the people are told that the
recounting of God delivering Israel from Egypt is to be taught to the children.
Now, a quick word about these various nations of people that were the current occupiers of the
land of Canaan: the Canaanites were the scores of tribes and clans that had been spawned by
Noah’s infamous grandson, Canaan. Remember that Canaan was accursed by God via Noah,
much of that curse a result of Canaan’s father, and Noah’s son, Ham. And, the Canaanites
represented, at this time, the majority of the inhabitants of that loosely defined territory, the Land of
Canaan. Please recall that the Land of Canaan was NOT a nation with sovereign borders; it was
just an area of land given a general name for the sake of identification. It was an area
predominately inhabited by descendants of Canaan, but scores of these descendents had formed
their own independent people groups, several of them becoming small city-states, each with their
own king and usually with their own set of gods.
The Hittites were not native to the land of Canaan. Rather, the Hittites were a very high and
powerful culture that dominated most of what is modern day Turkey, Syria, northern Iraq and
western Iran. While they had settlements and influence in the Land of Canaan, they were not
dominant there. There is no clear agreement among Bible Scholars or historians as to the
ancestors of the Hittites. Some believe they were from Ham, others from Japheth and still others
say they were Semites, from Shem. But, the study of them is rather new because until the 1800’s
the ONLY mention of a people group called the Hittites was in the Bible, and of course, to many
academics that just meant it was made up by those who wrote the Bible. Imagine their surprise
since the Hittite culture has been unearthed, found to be large and dominating, with a fully
developed written language that has many similarities to Hebrew, and the Hittites records
themselves have yielded corroboration of Bible texts concerning the time of the Patriarchs.
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The Hivites and the Emorites were descendants of Canaan. But, they had achieved sufficient
population and power, by this time, as to warrant being spoken of as separate nations of people. If
you’ll recall, the people who populated the city of Shechem, where Abraham first stopped in
Canaan, and later Jacob would attempt to settle down, were identified in the Scriptures as Hivites.
The Jebusites were also of the line of Canaan, however they occupied the hill country of southern
Canaan, while the Hivites occupied the plains. The Jebusites are given credit for being founders of
the city of Shalem, later called Jerusalem, and were controlling the city when David took it from
them about 1000 BC.
The key thing to understand here is that AFTER the Great Flood, the people that God had allowed
to populate the land that He would eventually give to the descendants of Abraham were declared
cursed because they were descendants of Canaan.
The thing that is hard for us to accept, sometimes, is that Almighty God has allowed some people
to be cursed (or ransomed, if you would), in order that others might be redeemed. We hear the
Lord speak of Egypt being the ransom for His people, Israel. In other words, in order for Israel to
carry out their portion of God’s grand plan; God had Egypt pay a dear price. We see the same
thing happening here, where Canaan will soon become a ransom for Israel……Canaan is going to
pay heavily, with the loss of their land, so that Israel will get the land God has set aside for Himself
and promised to Abraham.
Let us not ever forget, fellow gentile believers, that Israel has also paid, and is paying, a very dear
price so that WE could be joined to the covenants God gave to Israel. They were given the Word of
God to keep alive, at the expense of the greatest continuous and ongoing persecution of a people
that the world has ever, or will ever, know. They eventually had their hearts made stony, for a time,
for the sake of gentiles… that the gospel is taken to the entire GENTILE world. That is why Israel
had no business being proud or haughty of their lofty place before God as they viewed what God
did to Egypt and to Canaan, and later to Assyria, then Babylon, then Persia, the Greece, then
Rome, all for the sake of Israel; and Paul tells us gentile believers that WE have no business
thinking that somehow we are better than the Israelites, who God has and is using for His
purposes, because God gave US the task of spreading the Gospel.
Look at all that had to happen to even lead up to Christ coming. All that had to be prepared,
nations built and destroyed, entire peoples decimated, persecution of the Jews…..the “Church Age”
as we like to call it, or the Time of the Gentiles as the Bible refers to it, that 2000 years since Christ,
is just for a time and for a purpose. In God’s great scheme of things, our spreading of the Gospel
is just one piece of a very big puzzle, that many other people and nations played roles in since the
beginning of the world. We need to remember that the Gospel is primarily about redemption. And,
redemption is NOT God’s end plan; redemption is NOT the be-all end-all of the Creator’s divine
purposes; redemption is just a step, among many other earlier steps, along the way to the final
stage of His vision of having a Universe of perfection, full of beings that love Him and commune
with Him, for all eternity.
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Now, in vs. 9, we get some words that have led to a peculiar practice by Orthodox Jews. It speaks
of “having a sign on your hand, and a reminder between your eyes”, and it is repeated in vs. 16.
Nobody knows exactly when the tradition started, but it certainly existed in Jesus’ day. You have
all probably seen pictures of some Jews wearing this strange headband with a little black box
attached that sits squarely in the middle of their foreheads. And, of these same Jews wrapping a
leather strap around their forearm and wrist, also with a little black box attached. Well, this is how
the Orthodox Jews have come to take the meaning of verses 9 and 16. These wraps are called
Tefillin in Hebrew, and Phylacteries in the Greek. The black boxes contain tiny scrolls with certain
prescribed O.T. bible verses and prayers written on them: it is standard that they use Ex.13 verses
1-10 and 11-16; and Deut.6 verses 4-9, and Deut.11 verses13-21. So, they have taken this
command to remember to its most literal possible sense.
Now, starting in vs. 11, more is said about this setting apart of the firstborn. And, we are reminded
that WHENEVER the bible speaks of the firstborn, it doesn’t mean ANY firstborn; rather, it means
(sorry ladies) ONLY the firstborn MALES (Hey, I don’t make the rules). Next we see that this
includes animals as well as humans, and then goes on to speak of a donkey that is to be redeemed
with a lamb. Very interesting. What is being set up here is the entire God-principle of redemption.
And, within the PRINCIPLE of redemption, we will see the PROCESS of redemption.
I don’t want to get philosophical here, but let’s remember that while, at least on the surface,
redemption is a principle quite familiar to us Christians, it was NOT a principle well understood by
the world in Moses time, just as its not understood by the world in our time. Even the Jews have a
more nationalistic, corporate and collective view of redemption; they don’t see the Messiah’s
purpose as redeeming individual souls from a fiery eternity, they see the Messiah as returning
Israel to glory and power as a nation and establishing His physical kingdom on earth around a
physical Israel.
From the time of Moses forward, it became a practice that within 30 days of the birth of a firstborn
son, the father paid to the High Priest (or his representative) an amount of money to redeem his
son.
Notice the dichotomy set up here: in Egypt, the firstborns of Egypt were set apart and marked for
death. In Israel the firstborns of Israel were set apart for life and service to God. In Egypt, the
firstborns were set apart and sacrificed, killed, ransomed in order to REDEEM Israel. In Israel, the
firstborns are also set apart to be sacrificed to God…but, by the terms of redemption, they are
bought back. Remember how Abraham took Isaac to the altar on Mt. Moriah to sacrifice him to
God, but God redeemed Isaac, by substituting a Ram (which was a “type” after which the
Passover would become modeled) and Isaac was not killed? Again, what was the basis of
redemption? It was by substitution. The entire concept of redemption is not just about deliverance,
or buying back. It is sometimes, and it is this way in this case, about SUBSTITUTION.
I don’t want to get too deep into the subject of redemption just yet, but it’s key to understand that
there are two basic kinds of redemption spoken of in the Scriptures: one is the act of a relative, a
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kinsman, and it concerns family members, and is often called the kinsman redeemer. In Moses
day, and for hundreds of years after, this type of redemption usually involved the living brother
marrying (redeeming) his deceased brother’s widow. But, it can also involve land and other
property. The second type of redemption is a buying back or a substitution, and does NOT have to
do with the rights of a relative; it involves a deliverance brought about by paying a ransom. In
Hebrew, this kind of redemption is called “padah”, and that is what we’re dealing with here in
Exodus 13. This is NOT the kinsman redeemer kind, which in Hebrew is “ga’al”.
The firstborn donkey, an animal, therefore, has to be redeemed, padah, at the price (a ransom
price) of a clean animal permissible for use as a sacrifice: a Ram. And, the Israelites have the
CHOICE of killing the donkey OR paying the redemptive price. Why would the Israelites choose to
NOT redeem a donkey? If it was born defective, or weak, or perhaps they had no need for another
donkey, or because the Ram was more valuable to them than a donkey. But, God makes it clear, in
vs. 13, that with HUMAN firstborn males, there is no choice: God values human life so much that
EVERY human male firstborn MUST be redeemed……must have a redemption price paid. I cannot
help, here, but point out that this sure seems to shoot holes in the notion that a mother has the
right to abort the life of an unborn child, if she so chooses.
And, what is it that God says that the Israelites are to say, in explanation, to their children about
this practice of paying a redemption price for their firstborns? Look at vs. 14 and 15: it is too remind
each generation of Israelites that a) HUMAN LIFE MUST BE REDEEMED, and it involves a price;
and that b) God used the death of the Egyptian firstborns as a terrible price, the redemptive price
for Israel, His chosen and set apart people.
So, here the principle and process of redemption is set up. If real life, which to God is the life of our
souls, (not our corrupted bodies) is to be realized, then we MUST be redeemed for a price. And,
the price is substitutionary death; and the substitution must be male and must be a firstborn. Do
you see this? The entire premise for Yeshua’s substitutionary death for us is now in place. And,
it’s not optional.
Verse 15 sums up what has just been taught in the previous verses. Let’s read it again.
Read Ex. 13:15

In verse 16 the command first stated in verse 9 is repeated to wear this as a sign on your hand and
between your eyes on your forehead….which has led to the use of Tefillin by the Jews.
Verse 17 now shifts the focus of the book of Exodus to the actual exodus itself. And, it leads off
with the reason God led them to take the route they did.
The first thing we’re told is the route they did NOT take. They did not take a well-known, long
established, highway called the “Way of the Land of the Philistines”. Notice a couple of things: the
words in verse 17 speaking of the location of the Way of the Philistines are “it is nearer”, which
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helps to reinforce the location of the bulk of the Israelites as they gathered to leave Egypt. In fact,
the Way of the Philistines BEGAN at the stores city of Ra’amses (also known as Tanis). The Way
of the Philistines was primarily a trade route. It had Egyptian fortresses strategically located along
this highway, both to monitor and guard Egypt from foreign invasion, and to protect the myriads of
merchants and traders that traveled this route from the never-ending bands of robbers that
attacked the caravans.
But, what God is well aware of is that if the Israelites took this route, it is likely that not only would
Pharaoh command his armies stationed at the various fortresses to attack and annihilate the
Israelites, but the Philistines and the Canaanites and the Hittites and other people living up in the
Middle East might come against Israel. Why would they do that? Simple. With a 600,000 man
army, and a group of 3 million people who considered themselves, generally, to be of one nation,
they would have a tremendous impact on whoever and wherever it was that they would finally stop
and settle. Imagine if the entire population of Canada just upped and decided, unilaterally, that they
were going to migrate to the US, all at once. The US would do all it could to prevent it, because the
impact on our nation would be hard to even calculate. The same thing was about to happen here.
Israel’s leaving would not only devastate Egypt by their loss, and it would change forever the
culture and balance of power wherever it is they wound up.
And, one could imagine that the Pharaoh would quickly know the truth of the matter if the Israelites
traveled the Way of the Philistines: the Israelites were not going into the desert wilderness for 3
days to worship their god, as was their original request to Pharaoh. They were leaving forever.
There is nothing in Scripture to indicate that Pharaoh was informed that Moses’ demand had
changed from the 3-day sojourn to permanent migration of the Israelites. I suspect that had a lot to
do with Pharaoh’s reaction to send his armies and chariots after the Israelites…..when he realized
that he had unwittingly authorized the loss of a ¼ of his entire nations’ population, and almost it’s
entire skilled workforce.
Anyway, Yahweh knew His people well enough to know that if they had to fight their way all the
way to the Promised Land many, if not most, of the Israelites would simply give up and go back to
Egypt. Back to the life they knew rather than risk death in war, or the great unknown of what lay
ahead in Canaan. What could be more human? We do that all our lives; forever timid about
stepping fully into the new life that God has for us; forever trying to keep one foot in our familiar and
comfortable old life, and the other into the changed and unknown way of walking with God.
Next week we’ll continue with examining the probable route of the Exodus.
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Category: Exodus
Audio Files MP3

Illustrations
Last week we viewed a documentary film that brought together information that has been known for
centuries, with newer findings that shoot a lot of holes in the traditional route of the Exodus. We
certainly are not going to solve in this class what learned scholars over the ages have been unable
to. However, as the Red Sea crossing and the route of the Exodus is one of the most fascinating
events in the entire Bible, I also don’t want to skip over it. So we will discuss that further today; but
first let’s continue to with Exodus chapter 13. So, let’s re-read the last few verses.
RE-READ EXODUS CHAPTER 13:17 - end

Verse 18 is the beginning of the real controversy surrounding the Exodus. Because it says that
instead of taking the more direct, well-marked Way of the Philistines, to the Land of Canaan, God
directed them to take a route that headed towards (depending on your version) either says the Red
Sea or the Reed Sea. The Hebrew word for this body of water is Yam Suf (or Yam Sup). Yam
means Sea, Sup means reeds, or papyrus. In the original Hebrew texts, the wording is “Sea of
Reeds”. However in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, the words are Red
Sea. So, this is partly where the controversy comes from.
Further, verse 18 says literally that the people would go on a “round about” way to Canaan, and
this route would be “the way of the wilderness”. Now, follow me here, because this is the first step
in helping to unravel the mystery of the route of the Exodus. Just as there was a north-south
1000-mile long superhighway of trade and travel that followed along the Mediterranean Sea coast
(formally called The Way of the Philistines), there was a 200-mile east-west trade route formally
called The Way of the Wilderness. The Hebrew word used for “way” in both names, the Way of
the Philistines and the The way of the Wilderness is derek; and it means road, or path. Why so
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many translators chose to make, correctly, “The Way of the Philistines” the formal name for a
known trade route, but to refused to accept “The Way of the Wilderness” as the formal name for
the well-known east-west trade route across the Sinai is a mystery. Why would so many excellent
scholars intentionally make the phrase “the way of the wilderness” out to be some kind of general
direction rather than the precise name of a long established ancient trade route that it is? Of
course, it could be that when we recognize that rather blatant fact that sits here right before our
eyes, it destroys the possibility that the traditional Christian Mt. Sinai could be the place where
Israel was going, because the Way of the Wilderness goes nowhere near the place Constantine’s
mother determined, in a vision, was the Mt. of God; something she did in the 4th century A.D. and
something which the Jews did not agree.
And in verse 19 we get a very poignant reminder of Israel’s past, when it states that the Israelites
took with them Joseph’s bones. More accurately, they took with them Joseph’s mummified body,
because Genesis told us he was buried in the Egyptian way that was mummification. But, this also
brings a closure to the Israelites’ time in Egypt. Joseph was the beginning of that time, and Joseph
laid the groundwork for Israel to come to Egypt at first for sheer survival, then to multiply into a
large nation. However, in Joseph’s handling of the 7 years of abundant crops and then the 7 years
of acute food shortage, the foundation would also be laid for the hatred and subjugation of the
Hebrew people. Recall that Joseph, in co-operation with the Semitic Pharaoh that ruled Egypt
when Joseph was in power, took the Egyptian people’s animals and crops, and eventually their
land and their independence, away from them in payment for the stored grain necessary to survive
those years of great famine. But, Joseph’s family, Jacob and all his sons and families, prospered
and did quite well during this period of devastation. While the average Egyptian was suffering and
losing their wealth and freedom, Israel was multiplying and prosperous. The bitter jealousy of that
incident (along with the Exodus from Egypt) has never, even to our day, subsided.
As written down in Gen.50:25 Joseph made his family promise to bring him (meaning his corpse)
out of Egypt when they left, because he believed God’s promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
He believed that Israel would be in Egypt only as sojourners…..not as permanent citizens. He knew
it would be a long sojourn…..4 generations equating to about 400 years in the days of the
Patriarchs. But, he absolutely trusted that someday, as promised by Yehoveh, they would leave,
and he wanted his remains to go with them. Here, it states that is exactly what happened.
We’re told that after stopping in Sukkot, where they made and ate unleavened bread, they moved
on to a place called Etham……another location that has not been positively identified NOR is the
distance between Sukkot and Etham stated. And we’re told that Yehoveh went before them by day
in a column of cloud, and at night fire emitted from the cloud to light their path.
Understand: unlike what some movies claim, and is often implied in sermons and Sunday School
lessons, the Lord was not so much acting like a tour guide or a scout; He wasn’t taking the
Israelites towards a place that they had no idea where they were going or how to get there. They
knew they were going to Canaan. And, the Lord told them that they couldn’t take the Way of the
Philistines, instead they were to travel using the Way of the Wilderness; so, the route was generally
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established for them. Rather, Yehoveh was their armed escort; He was guarding, protecting,
defending and running interference before them. He was going to tell them when to move, and
when to stop; when to take a bit of detour, and when to get back onto the path. Isn’t that a
wonderful picture of how the Lord operates in our lives, if we will but follow Him?
But, we’re also given another clue we should not overlook that helps a little with the route of the
Exodus…… it says that the appearance of the cloud and the fire were for WHAT reason? It was so
that they could travel by day and by night. When they first left Egypt, they moved both day and
night. Why? There were a couple of reasons: first, because they needed to get as far away from
Egypt as fast as they could (which also lets us know that they probably went a pretty good distance
before they bumped up against the Red Sea, or Reed Sea…..the Yam Suf). These Hebrew fugitives
would never be more energetic or enthusiastic than they were immediately upon leaving Egypt; so
this was the best time to put some serious distance between them and Pharaoh. And, second,
because it was late spring when they left, the desert wilderness was hot. Anyone who has lived in
the desert knows that the best time to travel in the desert is at nighttime, when it’s cooler, and to
rest in the daytime when it’s hotter.
EXODUS Chapter 14
READ EXODUS 14 all

After watching that video on the Exodus crossing and the Mountain of God, I hope the stage is now
well set for moving on into the matters of Chapter 14. I think enough was covered in that video that
we don’t have to spend too much time going over details that involve, to a degree, speculation
anyway.
Chapter 14 opens with Yehoveh giving Moses an instruction: turn back and encamp at a place
called Pi ha-Hiroth, which means “mouth of the channel” or, in this current case, “mouth of the
gorge”. And, this Pi ha-Hiroth was at the edge of the Red Sea.
Now, what the plain language of these opening verses tell us is that the Israelites were heading in
one direction, but then God had them turn around and backtrack somewhat and go in a different
direction altogether. And, what would result is that the Pharaoh heard that they are wandering
aimlessly in the desert wilderness (that is the Sinai Peninsula). First question: how is that Pharaoh
would know where it is they were going and where they were at any given time? Undoubtedly
Pharaoh had instructed the commanders of the many military outposts Egypt operated throughout
the Sinai that they were to follow the Israelites and report back. This would have been an easy
task; for you don’t hide a hoard of 3 million people and hundreds of thousands of animals walking
along dusty trails. Rest assured, they were NOT blazing a new trail; they were taking the well-
known route, and even a detour would have been easy to detect.
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So, as the Israelites took that same route across the Sinai that Moses used to flee from Egypt to
Midian, some 40 years earlier it was a very simple task for Egyptian scouts to follow and report the
route of the Israelites back to Pharaoh. And, reporting back to Pharaoh was accomplished via
smoke signals, signal fires, and reflecting light off of shiny objects. These systems of sending
messages across large distances had been in use for centuries prior to the Exodus. It would not
have taken but a very few hours for a scout following the Israelites to have had his message
relayed and then put into the hands of Pharaoh.
What we need to understand is that 1) as far as Pharaoh knew, Israel was only going to be gone
for three days, in order for the entire nation of Israel to meet together and sacrifice to God; and 2)
Pharaoh never trusted that to be the case. In my career in the corporate world I learned many
interesting insights into human behavior, my own included; and one of those is that what a person
tends to suspect of others primarily comes from within the framework of what their OWN thoughts
and behaviors are. That is, if one is cunning and manipulative, they tend to fear others might be
cunning and manipulative of them. If they are by nature people who are not true to their word, their
fear is that others will not be true to their word. Pharaoh knew what he would do if he had been in
Moses’ shoes, asking for his people to leave: so Pharaoh suspected that Moses would say
whatever he had to say (such as, “don’t worry, we’re just going to be gone for 3 days”) in order to
get what he wanted. In this case, it was to get the people of Israel completely free from Egypt. I
don’t think Pharaoh ever really believed this was to be a short 3-day holiday, which is why he
risked the well being of his nation in an un-winnable battle with the God of Israel. Of course, in the
end, he was right, wasn’t he?
The other thing we need to know is that the Sinai Peninsula was Egyptian-held territory. Much like
Alaska was US territory before it became a State, the Sinai wasn’t a part of Egypt proper, but it
was controlled by Egypt. Alaska was important to the U.S. for two reasons: as a source of natural
resources (oil), and as a strategic military buffer between North America and the Soviet Union.
Again, the same for the Sinai; the Sinai was mined by Egypt as a source of copper, and it provided
a rather substantial geographic buffer between Egypt and the Middle Eastern nations that were
constantly trying to gain the upper hand over one another and Egypt.
So, until Israel had crossed over the Sinai either onto the Arabian Peninsula to the east or the Land
of Canaan to the north, they were still on Egyptian territory, which made them vulnerable. This, of
course, is why Pharaoh was free to send his soldiers after Israel; for if the Sinai had been
controlled by some other nation, the presence of Egyptian soldiers would have meant war with
whichever nation claimed control.
In verse 3 the word came back to Pharaoh that Israel seemed to be confused in their route, and
now were “closed in by the wilderness”. These are not euphemisms; wherever Israel was, they
were traveling through a landscape that had them “closed in”; a place that, from a strategic military
point of view, had them trapped. What kind of terrain could “trap” the Israelites? Well, certainly not
flat and open desert expanses. We saw in the video that this could only be something like a large
gorge; a dry waterway that had cut through the rocky hills on the eastern part of the Sinai
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Peninsula. It had to be a route that had one way in and one way out, with no ability to escape in
any other direction. This is NOT speculation. For sure this was the case, because the book of
Exodus plainly says so. The speculation only concerns where exactly that place was.
Now, we are reminded in vs.. 4 of something that is a constant theme of Exodus; that one of the
primary purposes of God striking Egypt in all manner of way was so that HE would be
glorified….AND…..that the Egyptians would know that it was Yehoveh who had the power to do such
things.
Pharaoh is now informed of what he had suspected all along: Israel was well on its way to
permanent relocation. And, of course, this infuriated Pharaoh because he felt duped. Obviously he
had held out the barely flickering hope that Israel would return after 3 days. He really didn’t want to
risk another round with Moses and his God; yet, simply by the amount of time Israel was gone and
their route it was evident they weren’t coming back. So, he sent his armies after the Israelites.
Was it that Pharaoh meant to destroy Israel? No. Certainly, as retribution and a demonstration of
his control, he would have killed thousands of them; but his goal was to get them back into Egypt,
back into slavery and servitude to him.
We’re told that not only did he send some sort of special division of 600 chariots after the
Hebrews, but also other divisions of “every kind” of chariots. Archeology and Egyptology have
shown that Egypt used different kinds of chariots in what was very likely the 18th Dynasty period;
this was characterized by using a variety of 4 or 6 spoke wheeled chariots. This unusual use of two
different types of chariot wheels occurred only in a very narrow slice of history in Egypt, and that
was during the generally accepted time of the Exodus, about the 14th century BC. And, we’re also
told that the Pharaoh himself went with his army.
Let us not overlook a vital ingredient to Pharaoh giving chase to Israel: Yehoveh hardened
Pharaoh’s heart. We’ve encountered this before. Why would Yehoveh do this? To draw the
Egyptians to destruction, which was His plan. After the Egyptian army is destroyed at the Red Sea,
it will be 300 years before we hear of them troubling Israel again. This drawing of Pharaoh to
destruction, like a moth to a flame, is a pattern that will repeat at Armageddon. It was utterly
senseless for the Pharaoh to take this suicidal action. His own magicians and sorcerers and council
begged him to leave Israel alone because their God had proved over and over again that He was
just too strong. But, Pharaoh was so blinded with rage and pride and hatred that he went against all
wisdom; some of that hatred was caused by Pharaoh’s own evil inclination; but some was also
caused by the Lord that His purpose would be achieved.
Let’s fast-forward to a time that I am reasonably certain is literally just around the corner. I don’t
know if this time is a month from now, a year, or maybe 10. But, I have little doubt that most of us in
this room will live to see the events talked about in Ezekiel 38 and 39, because we are in the midst
of watching Ezekiel’s prophecy of Ezekiel 36 and 37 occurring as I speak.
READ EZEKIEL 38:1 – 39:8 all
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The pattern of the Lord literally baiting those marked for destruction into battle against His
people…..a battle in which the Lord BY HIS SUPERNATURAL MIGHT will defeat the enemy….. is
repeated here. Just as Pharaoh was so obsessed with Israel that all reason was thrown to the
wind, so will all these nations mentioned in these verses of Ezekiel not be able to control
themselves; between their own evil thoughts and plans, and the Lord setting their plans like
concrete into their minds, destruction is their destiny.
Please see the bittersweet truth in this: the Lord WILL mark some for life and some for death.
Some will be a ransom for others. The Lord WILL make distinctions. He will sacrifice those who do
NOT belong to Him, for the sake of those who do. While on the one hand it is His will that all be
saved, on the other He knows who will be and who won’t be. And, those who won’t be will be
hardened in such a way as to essentially commit mass suicide on an unimaginable scale by going
against the Lord God at Armageddon.
Now, consider this: who in the world loves death so much that they would happily die…..happily see
their children strap bombs onto their tiny bodies, and their entire nation be decimated….. if it meant
destroying God’s people, Israel? That’s right, Muslims. The core group of those who will lead the
unbelieving world into self-destruction has been revealed if we’ll just open our eyes: it will be
Islam. Oh, certainly, Russia and it’s completely godless society, and possibly China also with a
society based upon rejection of any spiritual reality will be part of this great battle for their own good
reasons. But, it is Islam that has the nearly limitless supply of petro-dollars, and of people who are
anxious to martyr themselves and their families in suicide bombings and in battle simply to destroy
any last vestige of Israel and Judeo-Christianity
Pharaoh knew exactly where to find the Israelites: camped at the very seashore spot that Yehoveh
had led them. It must have been just before sunset that the Hebrew watchmen spotted the
Egyptian army in the distance, and they flew into hysteria. People being people, naturally the first
thing they did was to seek someone to blame: Moses. And, they sarcastically confront him wanting
to know if the only reason he brought them out here is because there wasn’t a sufficient amount of
cemetery space back in Egypt. If Moses didn’t know before they left Egypt, he knew now that in
the unlikely event they survived Pharaoh’s army, this group of people was going to bring him little
joy. They were whiners, ungrateful, and of little courage.
Can’t you just picture Moses standing in front of the elders of the people, as they point their boney,
withered fingers at him, reminding him that THEY never really wanted to leave Egypt in the first
place? After all, slavery’s not so bad, right? Better to serve Pharaoh and survive than to die a
painful death. Translation: better to serve the evil that we are familiar with and live the life we’re
comfortable with, than to follow God in faith and, what to us, is uncertainty.
Moses is unshaken: he fires back at them “Don’t be afraid. Stand fast and see Yehoveh’s
deliverance of you today.” Moses goes to God, and He tells Moses, why do you cry out to me? Is
Yehoveh irritated that Moses approached Him with a problem? Of course not. It’s as though God
fully expected Moses to already know that the first step of this “problem” was to keep moving
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forward….don’t stop. Go forward, God will make a way. Alfred Edersheim says in his tremendous
work “The History of the Old Testament”: “There are times when even prayer seems of itself to
represent unbelief, and only to go forward in calm assurance is our duty”. How true. Balaam
kept going back to God hoping for a different answer; one more in line with the one he wanted. We
find ourselves in challenging situations that seem to result from doing the very thing that only hours
earlier we were so confident was a God ordained action. Suddenly, an unexpected choice
confronts us: and now, do we go forward or pause? Of course going to God in prayer cannot ever
be a poor choice; but apparently, when our duty before God is already crystal clear, we are to go
forward AS we pray. This as opposed to stopping, and rethinking whether or not we should have
begun this journey in the first place.
Notice an interesting response by God: in vs. 16 He tells Moses to “hold YOUR staff high, stretch
out YOUR hand”. Just as back in Egypt, when Moses spoke, he spoke in God’s authority.
Remember earlier where God told Moses that when Moses spoke, it was as if God spoke? Moses
was already empowered with God’s power to do what was necessary to carry out God’s will. This
as contrasted with verse 17, when God says “but I will make Pharaoh’s heart hard”. God
empowers us for whatever tasks He gives us: no more and no less than needed. Of course, we
NEVER hold within us more than the tiniest fraction of the infinite power that is Yehoveh. Some
things He reserves strictly for Himself. God never asked Moses to do the thing that God and God
alone has determined will be His sole doing: changing a heart for the good or bad. And, Church,
when we are going about the business of spreading the Gospel, we need to keep that in mind: God
has never and will never empower us with the ability to change a human heart. We can neither
soften a heart nor harden a heart. Our job isn’t to convert anybody: our job is to but speak and
demonstrate with our lives the truth of the Gospel.
Next, we are told in Vs. 19 that the “messenger of God” changed position from leading Israel, to
being stationed BETWEEN Israel and the Egyptian army. Now, in almost every instance in Exodus
14 that our Bibles say the Lord, or God, or Adonai, in fact the original Hebrew is God’s personal
name, “Yehoveh”. Only a couple of times in this entire chapter do we even find a reference to God
as anything other than Yehoveh, and here we encounter one of these. The Hebrew that is
translated angel of God or messenger of God most of the time is “malach elohim” or “malach
Yehoveh”. I wish I fully understood the difference between malach elohim and malach Yehoveh:
that is “ the angel of God” vs. “the angel of Yehoveh”. But, there IS a difference. In this verse, the
“malach elohim”, the “angel of God” is clearly identified as that cloud that was leading Israel.
Sometime later, this visible presence of God would rest upon the Holy of Holies in the Wilderness
Tabernacle, there it was called the Shekinah, or as we typically called it, the Glory of God.
This is stuff that entire denominations have been built on: what EXACTLY is the Angel of God, as
opposed to the Angel of Yehoveh, as opposed to the Shekinah? What is clear enough is that
God’s word assigns different terms to each of these visible presences. Are these just different
names for the same thing? I’m not sure, but I have my doubts. Somehow, I just don’t think God
fits into all the nice, neat boxes and characterizations that we humans build for Him.
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So, what DO we know about this cloud, this presence of God, that had been leading Israel, but now
suddenly moves to divide the camps of Israel and Egypt from each other. More precisely, God is
being a hedge of protection around Israel. We’re told something that should be quite familiar to us
by now in vs. 20: that the cloud gave darkness to the Egyptians and light to Israel.
Remember our Hebrew lessons back in Genesis 1, where God created darkness and light? And,
that the words chosen really weren’t about nighttime and daytime….or about visual light or visual
darkness. The Hebrew word for darkness used there was “chosek”, a very negative word; it
denoted a type of blindness, an evil or obstructing force……a spiritual darkness. For light, the
Hebrew was “owr”, which referred to enlightenment, a positive spiritual force; something, which
emitted truth and goodness. These terms aim towards something that is far more than merely the
presence or absence of visible light, like from a light bulb, or an oil lamp, or even from the star that
is at the center of our own solar system, the Sun. We saw those terms again in Exodus, as part of
the 9th stroke, or plague, upon Egypt; when Egypt was plunged into a horrifying 3 days of spiritual
darkness, while at the same time the Israelites up in the land of Goshen were experiencing “owr”,
enlightenment, God’s light, His goodness, showering down upon them. Well, here we see these
same two terms again. Once again God put “chosek” upon Egypt, that is Pharaoh’s armies, and
“owr”, enlightenment upon Israel.
But, what is kind of startling, if we think about it, is that both this spiritual darkness and spiritual light
are coming from the same source, simultaneously. From this cloud, this angel of God, this almost
impossible to explain presence of God, on the one hand comes darkness for some, and on the
other hand light for His people. For those who oppose Him, darkness and death; for those who are
His own, light and life. This is NOT an image of God that we are used to; and frankly, many of us
aren’t particularly comfortable with it. Some like to say, well yeah, that is the OLD TESTAMENT
God, but the NEW TESTAMENT GOD is different. Sorry, but that’s not the case. We are reminded
scores of time, in the Old and New Testaments, that God NEVER changes. What we must keep in
mind is that Yehoveh has determined what belonging to Him means, and what it does not. And,
whether in the past, present, or in the future, what is NOT His will be eternally destroyed. What IS
His will be eternally existent and present with Him. There is no in between, no appeasement, no
compromise, and no changing His mind.
And, by the way, let’s explore just what “changing” means when referring to God. His “never
changing” refers to His attributes and character, as reflected in His principles and His governing
dynamics. It is NOT changing if He grants you a healing from a disease, but does not grant that to
me. It is not changing that God instructed Joshua to kill or drive out all those who occupied the land
He set aside for His people, but does NOT instruct Jesus to drive out or kill the Romans who
occupied the Holy Lands. It’s a matter of timing; in fact, at a prescribed time in history Jesus WILL
not only drive out and kill all those who have no place in the land of God, He will destroy all those,
worldwide, who oppose God (even if only in their hearts) in a great battle that we call Armageddon.
And, now in vs. 21 comes one of, if not the most, dramatic moments in the entire Bible: the parting
of the Red Sea. Israel is trapped on an enormous beach; the Yam Suf on the one side, and the
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Egyptians on the other. They see their destination of refuge on the other side of the impassible
waters, but there is no MEANS to get there. Israel braces for the worst and sets about mourning
because they know that death for some, and return to slavery for the remainder is at hand. But the
Lord will make a way where there is no way. Moses stretches out his hand, and the process of
dividing the deep Sea that blocks the Israelites’ path, begins. An east wind begins to blow……please
remember back to our first day together so many months ago, when I told you to watch out for the
word “east”. Whenever you see it, underline it. Because you’re going to find that “east” has
significant spiritual implications, and often involves the presence of God or a miracle.
All night, the EAST wind blows, and the waters are split. The sea bottom is dried and made firm
and passable for the 3 million fugitives sitting trapped on the beach at the edge of the Sea. I am
convinced that this great horde was about to pass through the Gulf of Aqaba. Let us now and
forever put to rest the liberal and secular notion that IF the Exodus happened at all, the Hebrews
crossed a shallow mud flat, back up on the edge of the Land of Goshen; for if that is true, then the
Bible is a gross exaggeration at the least, and a liar at worst. We are told in the Torah that walls of
water built up on their right and their left. That after the Israelites walked through the dried sea
bottom that the Egyptians pursued and the waters returned and drowned every last Egyptian
soldier. It must have been that the Israelites crossed in the wee hours of the morning, well before
daybreak, otherwise the Egyptians, even from a distance, would have seen it happening. And, it
was a several hour journey for all those people, and a distance of probably around 8 miles to cross.
But, once His people were safely on the other side, God suddenly broke His light upon the
darkness that had entangled and immobilized Egypt for several hours, and kept them from
attacking Israel. As the Egyptians realized what had happened, and they set out in hot pursuit of
Israel, something threw a panic into them. They were so terrified that the soldiers determined to
flee for their lives, because as it says in vs.. 25, “Yehoveh makes war for them (Israel) against
Egypt”. Oh, Egypt NOW knew God’s glory alright; but none lived to tell about it.
The scene here is a shadow, a type, a model, of what is going to happen in those last moments of
this present world when the darkness, this ever deepening shroud of evil that pervades it and rules
over it will become darker and darker; then suddenly, when only a few are expecting it, all will be
plunged into Heavenly light. Satan, His demons, and all that belong to him, will not be able to stand
in the light God’s Presence. We’ve all heard that statement about Satan and demons being
unable to stand in the light of Holiness; but perhaps what we haven’t quite realized is just what that
means, which is this: it is that those in union with darkness will be burned up by the SAME exact
light that those who have come OUT of the darkness, into union with Christ, will be saved by.
As an aside, it says that not ONE of Pharaoh’s men survived. Did Pharaoh die here, along with his
troops? We’re not told. Many think he did, and there is some evidence in Egyptian historical
documents that during the supposed time period of the Exodus, the Pharaoh died and Egypt also
went into a terrible decline that lasted for decades. It is not explained as to just WHY this
Pharaoh’s death and the sudden collapse of Egypt were tied together. But, if indeed this were
referring to the Pharaoh of the Exodus it would explain a lot. Egypt, now without its leader, the
rightful heir to the throne having died during Passover night, and ¼ of the population leaving all at
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once, would have collapsed.
This chapter concludes with the words that Israel saw all that God did, and they held Him in awe.
But, it also says that they had a change in heart, and in addition to trusting God, they also trusted
Moses. Yeah, well, that was just for a time. Because it wouldn’t be but a few more days before
they lost faith again, and the whining and doubt resurfaced. God’s people haven’t changed a
whole lot in 3500 years, have we?
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Category: Exodus
Audio Files MP3

Illustrations
At our introduction to the study of Exodus, we divided it up into 6 parts, simply for the sake of giving
us a kind of structure to help us navigate through the various stages of Israel’s redemption from
Egypt, formation as a nation, and receiving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai. Verse 21 of chapter 15 ends
the first part, which I termed The Deliverance Narrative, and begins the next part called In The
Wilderness. So, let’s begin by reading verses 1 – 21.
READ CHAPTER 15:1 – 21

The first 21 verses of Chapter 15 are actually a song, often called the Song of Moses, sometimes
called the Song at the Sea. In Hebrew this is Shirat Ha-Yam and for liturgical purposes it is simply
known as the Shira. And, when I say song, I mean song exactly as we would think of it: poetry set
to music. In Hebrew, the words of the Song of Moses rhyme, and phrases are done in doublets and
triplets, characteristic of ancient Hebrew song and poetry structure. Powerful and expressive words
like shattered, smashed, shuddered, terrified, consumed, dread and anguish, are used…. typical of
the highly charged emotions contained within poetry and particularly of military victory songs of that
era. There would have been musical instruments playing, as the people sang these words.
Let’s keep in mind that what we have here is a song created by man. That is, the exaggerations
and prideful expressions and great joy over the death of thousands of Egyptian soldiers that are
contained within this song are not necessarily God’s thoughts: but rather man’s spontaneous
response to this great victory at the edge of the sea. I tell you this because it is important to
recognize that various types of literature exists within the Bible, and because we have to be careful
when to acknowledge something as written down concerning God’s mind as versus man’s mind.
Some time back I mentioned that we will find many instances, in Scripture, of man not telling the
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truth; even ascribing something to God that is simply not so. We see David do it on more than one
occasion. We see Peter lie about knowing Jesus, and there too many more instances to quote. The
point is, what we are often reading is simply an accurate account of what happened and what was
said; whether it is flattering to a particular person or not, or to the Israelites or not, even whether it
would PLEASE God or not. The Bible shows us its characters warts and all.
The main theme expressed in this song is of Israel’s tremendous pride at God’s, Yehoveh’s,
victory over the Egyptians; jubilation over their escape from Pharaoh, and even some rather
premature gloating over how the news of this victory must have stunned and worried the
Canaanites and the Philistines was also included. But, there is another important idea expressed in
that last section of the song; it is that God has created a nation, a theocracy; that is, a nation
whose king is God. This is the founding song of the nation of Israel.
So, while the Song of Moses is man’s attempt at a recounting of all that had just happened
concerning their deliverance from Egypt, it cannot carry the same weight as what we read in
previous chapters of Exodus, because intermixed with the facts are ancient cultural traditions of
just HOW one creates a victory song after a military victory…..which is largely the context that the
Hebrews viewed what had just transpired. We needn’t be alarmed at this: all of our Christian music
has been created the same way. We express the best way we can, through lyrics and music, our
understanding of Heavenly things and our interpretations of what it is we THINK we see God doing,
and how we THINK God wants to be praised and honored, using tried and true traditional musical
structures and methods of presentation familiar within our culture. That is all that is happening
here, with the Song of Moses; only, of course, this is in the setting of ancient Israelite culture.
Now, without going through this song verse by verse (since there is no new information here), I
would like to point out a couple of things of interest, that will be useful to help us understand the
Hebrew’s mindset at this point in history.
Note verse 11, the rhetorical question is asked: “Who is like you, O Adonai, among the mighty?” If
you have other versions your bible might say Lord, instead of Adonai, or gods instead of ‘the
mighty’. So some of you may well have, “Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?” And, this is
pretty accurate. Substituting a couple of words in the original Hebrew it literally says “Who is like
you, Yehoveh, among the elim”. Elim means highest, or mightiest, of the gods. God, plural. You
see, the general way the humans at that time looked at the spiritual world (and Israel was no
different) was that not only was it composed of multiple gods, but that these gods were also in a
celestial power structure. So, in their minds, there were lower gods that served mightier gods, and
there were also all sorts of other gods in between. The Hebrew word Elim indicates those gods at
the top end of the power structure….the mightier gods.
Perhaps its disturbing to hear that Israel, even after being rescued from Egypt, still thought of
Yehoveh as just one of many gods; but think of it like this: just as baby Christians learn that Jesus
is Lord, but don’t know much else, so it was with Israel and their understanding of Yehoveh. New
Christians begin with lots of preconceived notions that they take for granted are true, not realizing
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that most of what they think they know about God is false. And, so, on the one hand while Israel
looked to Yehoveh as Israel’s only god, on the other hand they did not see Him as the ONLY god
that existed, but as the highest god among many gods…..the chief god….in this case mightier than
Egypt’s gods.
Dr. Robert McGee puts it this way: when we first come to God, we are full of deceits that have filled
us throughout our lives. Simply accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior does not set us free from these
deceptions…..in fact, Jesus tells us that it is the “truth that will set you free”. As we open ourselves
to God, He reveals truth to us…..one truth, one step, at a time. And, each of these truths is given to
us in order to destroy some of the deceptions that we had formerly believed. But, it’s a slow,
lifelong process.
This was Israel’s condition. They left Egypt, their minds and souls thoroughly corrupted and full of
false assumptions acquired there during their 400-year sojourn. At the point of their Exodus in
terms of spiritual maturity they were the equivalent of baby Christians. Infant Israel now knew they
had a God, and they knew His name, and they knew He was more powerful than the gods of
Egypt. But, they didn’t know much more than that and most of what they thought they knew was
either so simplistic as to be nearly meaningless, or was outright false. So, just as we all do when
first coming to the Lord, they viewed Yehoveh within the context of their education, culture and life
experiences. For them, Yehoveh, was their god…..but other people and other nations had their own
gods, too. This kind of thinking would lead them, throughout their history, into idol worship, which
eventually resulted in bringing God’s judgments upon them on a number of occasions.
Notice in verses 14 and 15 the mention of Philistia, Edom, Moab, and Canaan. It says that these
nations trembled and were terrified when they heard what had happened to Egypt on account of
Israel’s god. Was this wishful thinking by the Hebrews? Perhaps boasting and bragging? As we
discussed a couple of weeks ago, though news was not instantaneous then as it is today, people
had great interest in what people in other nations were doing. A migration of 3 million people would
have been big news within a few days of Israel leaving Egypt, and this knowledge would have been
communicated very quickly throughout the region.
But, why would Philistia, Edom, Moab and Canaan in particular be concerned? Because it was
common knowledge by that time that the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob believed,
correctly or incorrectly, that the territory those 4 nations inhabited would some day belong to Israel.
And, these nations knew that if 3 million determined folks showed up…..along with this God,
Yehoveh, that devastated Egypt and made mockery of Egypt’s gods….and if Israel’s purpose was
taking those lands from them, they just might be able to do it. For the scores of tribal chieftains and
kings that lorded over that territory, that would have meant losing their personal wealth and power.
For the common folk, it meant either subjugation or expulsion at the hand of Israel. So, it is quite
likely that those 4 nations mentioned displayed a very public concern about just where that vast
Israelite mob was heading, and these Hebrews (who had been slaves for so long) really enjoyed it
that now they were feared.
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One final thought and we’ll move on. Interestingly, this Song of Moses eventually became a
standard part of Temple services that occurred on the Sabbath. In fact, the song of Moses was the
closing hymn of every Shabbat service. The Song of Moses was divided into 3 stanzas (Ex. 15:2-5,
6-10, and 11-18), and one of these stanzas was chanted each Shabbat, in rotation. For the
Hebrews, the Exodus is not just a distant historical curiosity. It was the establishment of the
Israelite nation, and the ordination of the Law. And, the singing of this song reminded Israel that
they will always be in the midst of hostile nations, yet Yehoveh will also be there to protect them.
Just as He delivered them from Egypt, He will deliver them yet again from the hands of their future
enemies. The Hebrews were, and still are, looking for the same final victory that the Church is. In
our time, it’s primarily an issue of whether the Messiah who comes to rescue God’s followers has
been here once before, or is coming for the first time, that separates us.
READ CHAPTER 15:22-27

We transition now from The Deliverance Narrative to the section concerning Israel’s time In The
Wilderness. So, let’s take just a moment before we examine these 6 verses we just read, to set
the stage for the “In the Wilderness” part of the book of Exodus.
First, it might surprise you to know that many of the details that we wished were contained in
Exodus but aren’t, are in fact provided in the book of Numbers. Numbers is very connected to
Exodus. While I might pick some things out of Numbers to add to our Exodus study, we’ll be
studying Numbers in depth some months from now.
Second, what we are actually witnessing in the book of Exodus is a process; and in the Wilderness
portion, we learn of Israel’s passage from being an enslaved infant to a freed and redeemed
problem child.
Third, three prominent themes are developed during the Wilderness section of Exodus: challenges
in dealing with hostile neighbors, the development of an early form of government for Israel, and
the recurring “grumbling” of the people against God and Moses.
What we also become witness to in Israel’s time in the Wilderness, and hopefully learn from, is
that true, meaningful, and lasting transformation usually only occurs in man during a time of
personal wilderness experience. That time when whatever we might have described as normal,
familiar, or comfortable existence ceases for us. When life is reduced to a day-by-day, if not hour-
by-hour, state of nearly suspended animation. The wilderness experience is one of being betwixt
and between; it’s neither where you’ve come from, nor where you’re going. Those of us that have
lived long enough have experienced this. It is that time that God uses to mature us a notch or two,
because we become the most tender and most teachable.
So, let’s begin.
Right away, immediately after all the celebrating at their miraculous escape across the Red Sea,
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and the defeat of their former captives, the Egyptians, a life and death situation arises for Israel:
they have run out of water. It says in verse 1 that Moses “caused” the Israelites to leave where
they were and move on. If that sounds like an odd way to say that Moses led Israel away from the
Red Sea, you’re in good company: the Hebrew Sages saw it is strange as well. They generally
agree that what was happening here is that the Hebrews were both celebrating and stripping the
dead Egyptian soldiers of their valuables and were in no hurry to get moving, so Moses put his foot
down and made them go before they were ready.
Verse 22 says they moved into the wilderness of Shur. Let me mention here, that what the Bible
calls wilderness means desert. Shur is thought to mean “wall”. Now, just to make some of these
many names of places we have, and will, encounter a little more real to us, understand that MUCH
of the time, that place had NO name, or had no name the Israelites were aware of; so the Israelites
gave it a name. Their first stop, in the last Chapter, at Succoth is a good example; it was NOT
called Succoth when they first stopped there. Moses didn’t say, “hey, everybody, we’re going to
Succoth”. No, it was a name they gave the place either during their short stay there, are not long
after leaving it. So it is, probably, with Shur and most other names on their route to Canaan.
Next, in verse 23, it says they came to Mara, but couldn’t drink the water because it was too bitter.
Here we encounter the naming issue again; for Mara is Hebrew for “bitter”. They certainly would
NOT have intentionally gone to a place known for having water too bitter to drink in order to obtain
drinking water. They only discovered that problem once they arrived. And, so, they gave it a
suitable name: Mara, bitter. One can imagine how this all came about: Moses tells the people, take
enough water for 3 days, because we’re going to stop at this Oasis that will have water for us. The
3 days pass, they’re running out of water, and they arrive; and, guess what, the water isn’t
drinkable. Tired and hot and thirsty, the Israelites react by “grumbling” as it says in verse 24. They
blamed Moses. Moses, of course, turns to God and says, well this is a fine kettle of fish…..so now
what? And, Yehoveh tells Moses to put a special kind of wood into the water that will remove
whatever it is that makes it bitter. Of course, it worked, and now the people and animals can satisfy
their thirst.
Now might be a good time to mention that wherever these various Oasis and wells were located
when the Israelites stopped and camped, they had to supply enormous volumes of water, meaning
there were but just a handful of water holes suitable for Israel’s needs. For it has been calculated
that to sustain 3 million people and all their herds and flocks, more than 10 million gallons of water
per DAY would have been necessary. How much is 10 million gallons? Well, the Cocoa Water
tower, the big one with the flag on it, is 1.5 million gallons. So, it would take 7 of those EVERY DAY
to take care of Israel’s needs. I think we can erase any mental picture of a quaint little water well
with a goatskin bucket and a desert maiden pulling up a gallon or two of water a time, or of a typical
desert oasis like in these pictures.
In verse 25, we’re also told that there……whether “there” refers specifically to the Oasis of Mara, or
is simply a general referral to their being in the wilderness is not clear….. there God would impose
law and judgment; or depending on your version it might say statute and ordinance, or laws and
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rules, or some such variation. Now, certainly it was NOT at Mara where the Torah was given. So
what is being referred to here is something else; or perhaps we can look at it as the preamble to
the Torah. The general Rabbinical thought is that a handful of general rules were given to Israel,
here, but whatever it was has been lost through the ages.
Let’s start to understand some of these legal terms because the nuances, though important, and
typically buried or completely lost in our English translations. The words translated into laws and
rules or (better) law and judgments are the Hebrew words choq and mishpat. And, they are not
synonymous terms. Choq means a prescribed task, or a prescribed rule in the same sense of what
today we would call a law. So, choq is a precise legal term most closely associated with what we
would think of as a law or regulation. Choq is usually associated with the decree of king or a
government that MUST be followed. Conversely, a mishpat is a judicial ruling. It’s about a judge
looking at a case and making a decision. So, if one is thought to have broken the law, then the
case is brought before a judge, and it is ruled upon. The decision of the judge, the ruling, is the
mishpat. A Mishpat, therefore, is often the result of a choq being violated.
So, what we see here is the beginning of the process of forming a government and a establishing a
practical system of laws. God is going to give Israel a kind of government that is based on laws that
HE is going to establish AND judge. And, using this system of laws, Yehoveh is going to test, or
prove Israel. Now, just exactly what does that mean in verse 25, to “test them”? It would be good
for us to understand this, because in several places in the Bible, including the New Testament,
we’re told that as Believers, we will be tested by Yehoveh. Well, in Hebrew, the word is nacha.
And, I’m not sure we have a good word in English to translate it. But, it is another judicial term, a
legal term, not unlike the idea of trying a legal case in a court of law. That is, nacha, testing or
proving, is not the law (choq) itself, nor is it the final verdict (mishpat); rather, it is the process of
trying a case, the trial procedure itself, in order that a verdict can be determined and justice meted
out. What God was doing was setting up the principle of His earthly government; it involved laws
that would be clearly spelled out, what happened if one was thought to have broken one ore more
of the laws, and then the consequences if one was found guilty. The whole concept is very similar
to our modern judicial system.
Now, so that we can have a better understanding of how Israel would operate, let’s consider that
thought for a moment: in the US we have an overall system of government that is broken down into
3 branches with approximately equal, though different, powers that in theory oversee one another;
the Executive, the Legislative, and the Judicial. The idea is that the Legislature, the Congress,
makes, defines, and enacts the laws. This is completely separate from the Judicial Branch, our
court system, which determines whether or not someone has broken those laws, and if so, what
the consequences should be; and further in some cases it determines whether a law that Congress
has made is of itself in accordance with our Constitution (our governing principles), and therefore,
is a just law in the first place. And, the Executive Branch has powers to enact certain rules and
regulations regarding trade, it controls the military, and it handles matters with foreign
governments. Now, hear me, please: the concept behind the American government system,
whereby governmental powers are divided up and somewhat independent of on another is
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NOTHING like the system of government God set up over Israel. Israel’s governmental system,
which we could call a theocracy, a government ruled by God, most closely resembles the operation
of our Judicial branch.
Next, in verse 25, we see that the governmental system God is imposing on Israel, the system that
God will give Moses on Mt. Sinai, will come in the form of a covenant. But, this covenant will be
totally unlike the covenant that Moses and the Hebrews had known before: the one given to
Abraham. For that covenant was UN-conditional. It was unilateral promise from the Lord….. God
would do all that was required.
But, here Yehoveh says: “IF….. you will hearken……to My commandments…..and keep My laws”,
then He will not put sicknesses upon His people. Rather, He will be their healer”. If. That little word
holds such enormous repercussions. Of course, the word “if” is at the center of the judicial
process, isn’t it? The entire judicial system is based on a whole series of “ifs”. Because there is
no point to having laws if there is no one to accuse you of breaking them, and if there is no one to
judge the matter, and if there is no one to determine a proper punishment, and if there is no one to
enforce the sentence.
The Abrahamic covenant, made some 600 years before the time of the Exodus, didn’t say “if”;
because that covenant was not a law, nor a judicial system, nor a type of government, imposed on
the Hebrew people. That is, the covenant with Abraham was NOT conditional. Rather it was a
statement of fact, a promise, of what God was going to do. As we’ll see in much later in our study
of Torah, the covenant that Yehoveh made with Abraham was essentially a vow, an oath, that God
made invoking His own name as the guarantor of the promises He made to Abraham. On the other
hand, the covenant that was soon going to come to Moses on Mt. Sinai was a set of rules that said
what ISRAEL must do, and not do. And, IF someone violated those rules, laws, what would happen
to them. Let us also realize something else so VERY important about these covenants of God:
each newer covenant was NOT a replacement of an older one. Let me say that another way: there
were several different covenants from Yehoveh, each made for a different purpose. The Covenant
with Abraham was not declared null and void, when God made the Covenant with Moses (the one
made on Mt. Sinai). And, the Covenant with Moses, which is often referred to as the LAW, was not
declared null and void, because of the Covenant of Yeshua…..what we call the New Covenant.
They were each for different purposes, and each remains in effect and intact to this day. Now,
certainly, as each covenant was instituted it had an effect on how the earlier covenant would
manifest itself. But, if we can just grasp that every one of God’s covenants that we read about in
the Bible is still valid, none of them replaced or abolished, then we’ll better be able to understand
God’s Word.
Now, some of you are probably squirming a little by what I just said, because it has been
consistently implied, if not outright taught, in modern Christianity that when Jesus came He did
away with all previous covenants, of which the Law is one. Oh, really?
Turn your Bibles to Matthew 5:17.
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Here we see what Yeshua, Christ, said Himself concerning this subject, and note that it was within
the context of the Sermon on the Mount. Here are our Savior’s very own words concerning what
we call the Law or the Old Testament: “ Don’t think that I have come to abolish the Torah (or
what is often called the Law) or the Prophets (that is another section of the OT that includes
most of those books we think of as the Major Prophets). I have come NOT to abolish but to
fulfill”. Some of your Bibles may say “complete” rather than fulfill.
So, what does that mean? Well, first, it means what it says. NONE of God’s covenants have ever
been voided or replaced. So, does that mean we’re supposed to be following the 613 commands
of the Law? A tough question that many of us are wrestling with. About ¼ of those 613 commands
are about the sacrificial system. Well, since Yeshua was the sacrifice that is “once for all” then by
worshipping Him, we ARE obeying those commands by depending on His sacrifice. But, how about
the rest of them, the remaining 3/4ths? Well, modern Christians still hold up the first 10 of those
613, what we call the 10 Commandments. Yet, for some reason we have given ourselves
permission to abolish the Sabbath, one of those 10 Commandments, and replace it with what is
called “The Lord’s Day”. Some say, no, we didn’t abolish the Sabbath; we just changed which
day we observe it. In any case, that is another source of controversy.
But, what is difficult for me to find any controversy at all in, is what Christ said in Matthew 5:17;
pretty plain language isn’t it? Yeshua says that the New Covenant, which is Himself, the covenant
we Christians all recognize and depend upon for our salvation, did NOT abolish NOR replace the
older Covenant of Moses, nor the even older Covenant of Abraham.
Hopefully, as we work ourselves through the Torah, we’ll come to better understand just how that
all impacts us. It is my intention, as we get to the part of Exodus in a few weeks where the Torah,
the Law, is given on Mt. Sinai, to explain WHY it is that the Law was not abolished at Christ’s
advent, and WHAT exactly it is that the Covenant on Mt. Sinai was meant to accomplish. And,
when we’ve done that, I think Yeshua’s words that He came to “fulfill” the Law and not to abolish
it will become clearer.
Well, Chapter 15 ends by telling us that the Israelites moved on from Mara, and went to
Elim….another place no one is quite sure of its location. And, there they camped for a time. The
Israelites former life as city dwellers and suburbanites, laborers and craftsmen was officially over.
Now, they lived as the Bedouins lived; they lived as desert nomads
CHAPTER 16
READ CHAPTER 16:1 - 4

So, what we can now readily see is that God is going to use Israel’s time in the desert wilderness
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to test them, or to prove them……and this “testing”, in Hebrew the word is NACHA, is in the judicial
sense of being on trial before a judge. That is, Yehoveh has begun to lay down his rules and laws
of government, which will culminate, soon, in the giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai. And, with these
laws as the basis for Israel’s government, God is going to have an ongoing judicial trial, if you
would, to see if Israel will “hearken” to Him…..meaning, to listen and to obey. At the same time,
God is teaching Israel how to live like a redeemed people.
The Israelites stayed for about a month at Elim (recall that elim means “gods”); God had taught
them all He intended to from the circumstances at Mara, and then Elim, but now it was time they
move on into the Wilderness of Seen. Notice I pronounced the name of that desert they moved into
not as s-I-n (sin)……but rather as s-e-e-n (seen). Do not think that somehow how or another the
name of that area of desert relates to what we in the Church think of when we speak the word
“sin”. In Hebrew, the word simply means “thorn”. And, it is the root word for the word
“Sinai”….like Mt. Sinai. In Hebrew, “Sinai” is pronounced see-nah’-ee, and it means “thorny”.
When they arrived at the Wilderness of Seen, it marked about the 2-month point in their journey
from Egypt. And, of course, the grumbling and complaining starts once again. And, whom did they
grumble against and to? Moses and Aaron, their leaders. And, it is a repeat of the complaint we
have heard before: things were better for us back in Egypt, so why have you brought us here……just
to starve?
But, in reality, their grumbling was against God; for Moses and Aaron were simply following His
instructions. And, this is a connection that the people still hadn’t seemed to fully grasp. And, of
course, since their grumbling is against Yehoveh, it is Yehoveh that responds; and notice the tone
of His response. It is not one of anger or disgust with the people; for God is going to intentionally
lead Israel from one difficulty, one challenge, to the next both to TEACH them and to put them on
trial.
In verse 4 we get another of those great moments in Bible history that we learn of in our childhood
days of Sunday School: the raining down of Manna from heaven. But, if we look closely, we see
much more to this episode than simply a provision of food supplied by God. There is some law, and
some important instruction, being laid out here. And, in this, God is going to put them on trial.
We’ll continue with the story of Manna next week.
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Category: Exodus
Audio Files MP3

Illustrations
Last week we just started in our study of Exodus 16; this week we’re going to continue that study
and talk about the provision of Manna to sustain Israel. But unlike the Sunday School version there
is much more to this episode than meets the eye. So, let’s begin by reading this rather long
chapter in it’s entirety.

Three million Israelites are hungry. They’ve been gone from Egypt for nearing 2 months, and their
food supply is running out. They come to Moses and want to know why he would bring them out
into the desert wilderness just to die from starvation. Moses takes this complaint to Yehoveh and
the Lord responds. God tells the Hebrews that He is going to feed them by raining bread down from
Heaven. Now, the Hebrew word for bread is “lechem”. But, lechem also is a general word
meaning food. Just like the old fashioned term “breaking bread together” literally meant taking a
loaf of bread and breaking, or cutting, it and sharing it, it most often simply meant to eat a meal
together. Bread, here, just means food in general and not literal bread.
But, then God starts to set up and teach an important principle to the Israelites, by means of His
commands concerning the bread, the food, He would provide them: they were to gather all the
Manna they needed to satisfy their appetites, but only enough for one day at a time. And, each day
they were to do this EXCEPT on the 6th day, they were to gather a double-portion…..that is a two-
day supply.
Now, here the story about the “bread from Heaven” detours a bit, and then picks up in a few
verses. So, rather than skip around, we’ll just follow the flow of the Bible.
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Something rather interesting is said in verse 6: upon the Moses and Aaron repeating the Lord’s
commands concerning the gathering of Manna, they say that, “…..this is so you shall know it was
the Lord who brought you out of Egypt…..” Actually, what it says is, “….so you shall know it was
Yehoveh who brought you out of Egypt….” As I have mentioned on numerous occasions, more than
9 out of 10 times in the Torah that you see the words Adonai, or Lord, or God, in fact the original
Hebrew is Y-H-V-H; that is, the Lord’s FORMAL and PERSONAL name is used.
But, the issue I’d like to point out is not about His name; it’s that obviously the Israelites had real
doubts as to who it was that was responsible for their leaving Egypt. We’ve already seen a couple
of incidents where difficulties arise and immediately the Hebrews blame Moses. In other words, this
people who (like all other people of their era) were superstitious and believed in magic and sorcery,
weren’t really convinced that it was this god Yehoveh who had orchestrated the plagues back in
Egypt, parted the waters of the Red Sea, and so on. Even with the cloud that led them by day and
the fire that emitted from that cloud at night, the people doubted. Moses was the visible human
presence, and so Moses caught all the grief. Therefore, as it says so clearly in this verse, part of
the lesson from the Manna was to teach Israel that it was Yehoveh, and not Moses, who rescued
Israel from Egypt. This is a lesson that Israel will not fully grasp for decades.
The instruction Moses and Aaron received from God about the food God would supply, they now
pass on the people of Israel. And, in verse 7, Moses and Aaron reminds the people that while they
may think their griping and murmuring and complaining is directed at their human leaders, in fact it
is Yehoveh who they are expressing displeasure with……and Yehoveh hears them.
Moses goes on to tell Israel that God knows their needs and will of course supply it. He tells them
that at sunset (the beginning of the new day) God will give them meat to eat, and then in the
morning (still the same day) bread (food) to satisfy their hunger.
In verses 9,10 Moses then instructs Aaron to call for the entire community of Israel to come-near to
the presence of God. They obeyed, and as they looked out into the desert wilderness that lay
ahead of them, there they saw the Glory of God in the cloud. This phrase, the Glory of God, is the
English translation of the Hebrew words kevod Yehoveh. Is this kevod Yehoveh some new divine
experience for Israel……to look upon the cloud and see the Glory of Yehoveh? Of course not. It was
that same cloud, that presence of God, that had been leading them, that had protected them from
Pharaoh’s army, and had been fully available for their vision, every day, all day, since leaving
Egypt.
So, why did Moses have to tell these people to stop, look up, and come-near to God’s presence?
Because, while God’s presence is available to us, we must choose to “come-near” to Him. What
is it that we hear preacher after preacher admonish us to do? Keep our eyes upon Jesus, who is
OUR present day Glory of God. Israel had either taken their eyes off of the cloud of God’s Glory or
not fully recognized that the cloud WAS the presence of God; and so they became disheartened
and disoriented. Same exact thing happens to us. We get so used to the idea of Yeshua within us,
guiding us, such that He becomes like an old piece of furniture, or just another feature of the
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landscape….. and so He goes unnoticed in our lives. God’s presence had never left Israel; the
people just quit looking upon it.
It was sunset, verse 13 says, when a vast horde of quail suddenly fluttered down upon the startled
camp of Israel. Reminding us a little of Egypt, when God used natural elements of His creation in
extraordinary ways to smite Pharaoh and his people, Yehoveh uses the quail in a supernatural way
to bless HIS people. Quail migrating across the Sinai and Arabian Peninsulas at that time of year is
normal. That they would swoop down for a rest, en masse, having grown exhausted from their long
flight, was a not uncommon occurrence. That they would do so at God’s command, in such vast
quantity, at the exact spot needed, was the supernatural aspect of this miracle.
One can only imagine the Hebrews’ wonder and awe: what a day they had just experienced!
Called by Moses to come-near to the kevod Yehoveh, they had once again experienced God’s
awesome presence in their lives and become comforted. Yet, before dark, God also brought them
meat from the skies, and they went to bed with their bellies full. Then, as they arose in the morning,
from a restful sleep that comes only by being fully satisfied, the rising sun revealed an even greater
miracle.
For there upon the desert sands was something that looked like delicate frost; it was everywhere.
Verse 13 says the Hebrews looked upon it and asked one another “what is it?” In Hebrew, “what
is it” is Man hu…….from which we have derived the word Manna. Moses tells them, it is the bread
(lechem), meaning food, from Heaven that God had promised to send them, to sustain them.
It also explains that the coming of the Manna each day was associated with dew. Taken together
with a description in Numbers 11:9 that says: “when the dew fell on the camp at night, the Manna
would fall UPON IT…” we get a more complete picture. There would be a fall of dew, then the
Manna would flutter down upon it, and then another layer of dew would fall over the Manna.
Apparently this keeps the Manna clean and fresh.
Now, Moses issues an interesting instruction concerning the Manna: each man is gather as much
as he thinks is needed to fully satisfy himself. Yet, at the same time, they were told to gather an
“omer” which is about ½ gallon, for each person. Let me make a quick note for you who have
heard the term “omer” used in different way as associated with the Biblical Feasts of Passover
and Unleavened Bread. An omer is more correctly associated with being a sheaf. So in the ritual of
bringing in the first omer, it simply means bringing in the first sheaf of grain stalks from the harvest.
Only here in Exodus is the omer some kind of measure of volume. Perhaps it is equal to the
amount of grain that is contained within a typical sheaf of grain stalks.
And, when the Hebrews went out and gathered the Man hu a very strange thing happened:
whether they gathered MORE than an omer, or LESS than an omer in their baskets, when they put
it into an omer-sized jar, everyone had exactly the same amount!! The meaning of this has been
the source of many interesting commentaries. But, at the bottom of it is what the Israelites would
have learned from this mystery: there was no need to horde, or to rush out to be first to gather, nor
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to worry if there would be enough provision available from God for each of them. That in God’s
economy, His bounty is endless, and equality is not about giving everyone exactly the same, it is
about giving to each person fully what they need.
Verse 19 brings with it another reminder from Egypt: Passover to be specific. The Hebrews are to
gather each day ONLY enough Man hu to eat that day, and they are to dispose of the remainder,
leaving nothing left by daybreak. Do you remember that same instruction for the Passover Ram?
That they were to eat their fill, but dispose of the remainder before morning.
But, many of the Israelites ignored that part of the teaching and to their disgust found the leftover
Manna rotted and otherwise inedible. It’s funny, isn’t it? We tend to look at God’s instructions and
commands and follow the parts of them that make sense to us, and kind of blow-off the parts that
don’t. Not that I’m suggesting a mechanical legalism by any means being a better avenue to
follow; but here we see God’s position on obedience, and how blessing can be ruined by man’s
rebellion; or worse, by our personal determination of WHICH of God’s commands and ordinances
are important and which aren’t.
In verse 22, they were instructed that on the 6th day they were to gather double the normal amount
of Manna, and in verse 23 the reason for this is given: the 7th day is a Sabbath of Holiness to
Yehoveh, and therefore NONE is to be gathered on the Sabbath. They were given permission to
prepare the Man hu how ever they wished…..baked, boiled, whatever….but it had to be done before
the end of the 6th day. And, BTW, God was not going to rain down any Manna on the 7th day.
We have here the first re-establishment of Sabbath for the Hebrew people. In other words, while,
indeed, Sabbath keeping would be part of the formal law given by Yehoveh to Moses on Mt. Sinai,
the Sabbath had already been established……first at Creation, and here in regards to the gathering
of Manna.
Now, after the experience of gathering extra Manna, not using it up, and finding it full of worms and
maggots the next morning, one can only wonder what was going through the people’s minds upon
THIS instruction. But, most did as they were told, and as they entered the Sabbath, sure enough
whatever they had prepared the previous night was still fresh and edible.
And, yet, after all that had happened, some people STILL got up on Sabbath morning, took their
baskets, and went out expecting to gather Manna, as normal. Naturally there was none to find. This
behavior really infuriated Moses, so he said fine: you’re all under house arrest on Sabbath. Stay
where you are, do not go out from your tent on the Sabbath. STAY HOME!!
We could probably spend an entire session doing nothing but discussing all the pertinent meanings
and commands God has ordained concerning the Sabbath; of setting our labors aside and not
gathering our sustenance on the Sabbath, even of Moses ordering the Israelites to stay home. And,
if we were to study the way Shabbat is observed by traditional Jews, we would find every effort to
maintain the intent of God’s command concerning the Sabbath. But, we’re not going to stop here
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and do that. A little later in Exodus, or perhaps Leviticus, we’ll get into the Sabbath in depth. I tell
you from the heart, I’m unsure of just what to present to you about the Sabbath, because it is
complex, it is full of reverence to our Holy God that has been almost completely obscured by an
anti-Jewish, tradition based church. Let me just say something briefly about it, for now, to give you
food for thought; because while the Sabbath is important to God, it is also a thorny issue for
Christians.
Whether you believe that some or none or all of the 613 laws of the Mosaic covenant pertain to
Christians, the fact is that keeping the Sabbath holy is one of the 10 Commandments that forms the
pillar of the Church. I don’t think anyone here would disagree with that point.
Yet, I also don’t think we take the matter of the Sabbath seriously enough. Nowhere in the Bible
has God rescinded the command of the Sabbath. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that for our
modern generation, or since Christ, is it OK to work 7 days a week and to ignore the Sabbath.
Many church leaders have taken Paul’s meaning in Col. 2 to mean that the institution of the
Sabbath can be made into anything man wants…which, by the way, makes no sense whatsoever to
understand it in that way (this is what happens when Bible passages are taken out of context in
order to try to validate a predetermined agenda or doctrine). Remember this: in the Sermon on the
Mount, another pillar of the Church, Jesus says in Matt.5:17 that in NO WAY has He come to
abolish the Torah…..or as many Bibles say it, the Law and the Prophets. Further, that not the
slightest detail, not a jot or a title, shall pass from the Torah until all heaven and earth pass away;
the Sabbath is a rather significant element of the Torah, wouldn’t you say?
And, also remember, that it is simply documented and historical fact that the early Church
continued to follow the Biblical rule of the Sabbath (as Saturday) right on up until Emperor
Constantine ordered the Sabbath abolished, and replaced it by something called “The Lord’s
Day”, which was to become the new day in which the gentile Church came together to worship.
This new day of worship, the Lord’s Day, was designated to be the 1st day of the week, Sunday,
which was already the traditional day of national worship for the primary pagan religion of the
Roman Empire……the Mishrain Sun Worshippers…..which is why Sun-day is called Sunday in the
first place. This day was chosen as a political compromise between the Sun Worshippers and the
Christians.
Let me quote directly for you a couple of edicts handed down in the early 300’s AD when this all
happened. And, BTW, the ancient official documents I am quoting from, you can find in the local
library or on the Internet. First, the very first “Sunday Law”, ordered and enacted by Constantine,
during his 2nd meeting with the council of Church Bishops in Nicea, in 321 AD:
“On the Venerable Day of the Sun (the sacred day of the Sun-god, Sunday) let the
magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the
country, however, persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their
pursuits; because it often happens that another day is not so suitable for grain-sowing or
for vine-planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of
heaven should be lost….. given the 7th day of March, 321, Crispus and Constantine being
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consuls each of them for the second time.”
What happened in these several councils of Nicea was that the GENTILE Christian Church was
established, and the JEWISH Christian Church was abolished. Some 16 years after the first
Sunday Law was enacted, the following edict was handed down from another of these Roman
Church councils, called the Council of Laodicea:
“Christians shall not Judaize and be idle on Sabbato (the Sabbath), but shall work on that day; but
the Lord’s Day (Sunday) they shall especially honor and, as being Christians, shall, if possible, do
no work that day. If however they are found Judaizing they shall be excommunicated”.
Understand, that in this context “Judaizing” simply referred to Christians doing anything that Jews
traditionally did. So, for example, if Jews honored the Biblical Feasts, Christians should NOT. If
Jews baptized by submersion, Christians should NOT. If Jews lit candles and ate Challah bread on
the Sabbath, Christians should NOT. And, since Jews honored the Sabbath, then Christians should
NOT. The principle that was begun in the 4th century, and now firmly entrenched in our modern
church was this: if the Jews do it, Christians shouldn’t. Christians who did anything Jews did in
relation to honoring God, were considered to be Judaizing, and this would result in being
excommunicated from the Church.
Now, I know this is not an easy subject; but (at the risk of offending you) I must say that the reason
it is not easy is because we love our traditions and prefer our doctrines to what the Scriptures tell
us. So we run around twisting and allegorizing the Bible in order that we have it mean what men
have decided they want it to mean. There are plenty of passages in the Bible that are difficult and
their understanding is not straightforward. But, the passages on Sabbath are not like that: they are
plain and unequivocal.
Now, let me give you the view of the Catholic Church concerning Sunday, rather than Sabbath
worship; and, by the way, Catholics lay claim to Constantine as one of theirs. What I am about to
read to you comes from the official publication of the Catholic Press…..the official Catholic
newspaper……. and was written a little over 100 years ago:
“Sunday is a Catholic institution, and its claim to observance can be defended only on Catholic
principles….From beginning to end of Scripture there is not a single passage that warrants the
transfer of weekly public worship from the last day of the week (Saturday) to the first (Sunday)”.
Do you understand what I just quoted to you? The Catholic Church who CLAIMS the establish of
Sunday as the day of communal worship for Christians says outright that NOWHERE in Scripture
(OT or New) is there a single passage that would allow the 1st day of the week worship and rest to
be substituted for the God-ordained 7th day of the week worship and rest. That statement is
factually true in every sense. But, why was that statement made and communicated to the world?
Why would the Catholic Church say such a thing, because it sounds as if its condemning itself for
Sunday worship by openly admitting the truth that scripturally there is nothing to indicate that any
day other than the 7th, Saturday, is Sabbath? You see, this was part of an ongoing argument
against Protestants, who, of course, deny the all-important doctrine of the Catholic Church that the
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Pope has special authority, given to him directly from God, to change or add or subtract from the
Scriptures. So, in yet another article continuing the debate, again from the official Catholic Press,
we get this:
“Protestantism, in discarding the authority of the Roman Catholic Church, has no good reason for
its Sunday theory, and ought to logically keep Saturday as the Sabbath”.
In other words, the Catholic Church openly admits that there is NO scriptural authority at all for
abolishing or moving the Sabbath to Sunday. However, since in their view the Pope has the
authority from God to change anything he believes God has directed him to change, then the act of
the Roman Catholics (Constantine and the Roman bishops) abolishing the Sabbath, and instead
observing Sunday as a new and different day of meeting called the Lord’s Day, is OK. The
Catholics view Constantine as a Pope. Conversely, since Protestants broke away from the Catholic
Church several centuries ago, and since Protestants deny the authority of the Pope and the
Catholic Church as empowered by God to alter scriptural commands, then on what basis can
Protestants say that they can change the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday? And, the implied
answer is: there can be none.
And, in another Catholic Press article:

“ It is well to remind the Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, and all other Christians that the Bible
does not support them anywhere in their observance of Sunday. Sunday is an institution of the
Roman Catholic Church, and those who observe that day observe a commandment of the Roman
Catholic Church.”
Does that hit you where it ought to? Do you understand that the Catholic Church completely
acknowledges that Sunday observance is NOT a Biblical command; it is a command of the Roman
Catholic Church government? Does that bother you just a little bit? Man, I hope so. Believe me, I
understand how it uncomfortable it is to scrutinize traditions and doctrines that have been
mainstays of our church lives. But, discomfort is just not a good enough reason to skirt this issue,
or worse, disregard the plain Scriptural truth.
So, let me frame this just a little differently. How about if each Christian denomination simply voted
to decide which day should be the Sabbath? How about if Torah Class determined by majority
rules that Tuesday, the 3rd day of the week, would become our Sabbath? How comfortable would
you be with that? For most, not very comfortable at all, because (hopefully) we’d all ask ourselves,
by what Biblical authority can we do such a thing? But if we took Paul to mean what is most often
taught that he said about the Sabbath (that is that men can make Sabbath any day they want),
then why can’t we just move it around and do it whenever we feel like it? As a matter of fact, why
not just make the Sabbath a different day each week? Or change it from year to year to be fair and
equitable to everybody? Or have 4 Sabbaths running together at the end of the month so we can
have more time off? Or, no Sabbaths at all? I see some of you frowning a little; that’s the problem
with trying to defend the traditional gentile Church’s dubious position that we can change the
Sabbath and observe it any way we please. If you decide that’s really so, that means we can do
anything with it that suits us. And, we all inherently know that that cannot be the case….and that,
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indeed, is NOT what Paul said or meant.
Now, I’m not advocating moving all Church services to Saturday (although I think it would be very
healthy for the Church). Every day is a good day to worship God. But…..every day is NOT Shabbat;
every day is NOT the 7th ; every day is NOT the day that God ordained in Genesis as the Sabbath,
and is reinforced here in Exodus, again at Mt. Sinai, and all throughout the Bible…. including, BTW,
the New Testament. Let’s all remember that Yeshua Himself, Jesus Christ, observed the 7th day
Sabbath. But, as individuals, or as families, we can certainly honor God’s Sabbath, the 7th day,
AND still participate in the Lord’s Day (a non-scriptural, gentile tradition) if we choose to. We can
honor the day God ordained as Sabbath, by taking God’s intent to rest and be with our families
and worship Him on the 7th day, and we can STILL attend Church and/or Sunday School on The
Lord’s Day if we wish to. So, I’m not here to condemn any denomination or to tell you to abandon
going to church on Sunday; but I am saying that Shabbat is an important enough issue that we
cannot do whatever we wish just because we always have.
Anyway, in verse 32, God has commanded that a jar of Man hu be set aside as visible proof, for all
future generations, of the miracle of God’s provision during Israel’s time in the wilderness. So
where is this jar of Manna, today? Well, when they find the Ark of the Covenant, they’ll find the jar
of Manna, because the Ark contains the stone tablets of the 10 Commandments, Aaron’s budding
staff, AND the jar of Manna. This is the meaning of verse 34 about placing the Manna before the
Testimony (another name for the Law or the Torah)….. and you can bet that when they do find it,
the Manna will be perfectly preserved.
As we near the end of chapter 16, allow me to point out something of a general nature that
students of Torah need to know: Moses did NOT personally write all of the 5 books of Torah, which
are often called the Five Books of Moses. When someone asks me, ‘who wrote the Torah’ I
commonly say “Moses”, but only as a broad and general response. The Rabbis have always
recognized that others recorded parts of the Torah, because parts of it were written in retrospect
after Moses was dead and gone. We get an example of this here, because the words of verse 35
say that they ate manna all 40 years in the Wilderness, and until they came to settle in the land of
Canaan.
So, for those of you who might say, wait a minute, how can these verses be speaking of stone
tablets and an ark that haven’t even been created yet, because they still haven’t even arrived at
Mt. Sinai? Remember, the Torah is NOT in perfect chronological order. Let me put it another way:
Moses didn’t write a diary. The Torah was not written like a daily journal. Moses didn’t write down
a few sentences about what happened that day, and then more tomorrow and so on and so forth
like a news report, until the Torah was completed. No. Most of the events and instructions we see
in the Torah were written by Moses, and others, after the fact…..as history….so that it was coherent
and understandable by future generations.
Chapter 16 closes by giving us the interesting piece of information that Israel ate Manna for 40
years. God provided them with that Heavenly food for their entire time in the wilderness but the
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moment they entered the Promised Land, it quit coming as quickly as it began.
Next week, we’ll take up chapter 17.
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Category: Exodus
Audio Files MP3

Illustrations
As we leave behind the establishment of a daily food supply for the Israelites, something called
Man hu (meaning “what is it?”), let’s move in to Exodus chapter 17.

As the 17th chapter of Exodus opens, we have the Israelites leaving the Seen Desert, and moving
on towards Mt. Sinai, also known as Mt. Horeb, also known as the Mountain of God. One wonders
if they had understood the significance of the occurrences of the last several weeks, or had any
inkling that God was in the process of molding and shaping them. Is it possible that the miracles of
the plagues against Egypt, the Hebrew’s release from bondage, the parting of the Red Sea, and
the turning of the bitter waters of Mara into sweet drinkable water, could be so easily dismissed and
forgotten in just a few days; their faith going up and down like an elevator? How could it be that the
visible cloud that led the way both day and night, God’s actual and real presence before them,
wasn’t enough to assure them at all times that God was in control?
But, such was the case with this weak, quarrelsome, insecure people. Let’s hope it is not so with
us, as well. Once again, they needed water. They were human, and they were in a barren desert,
and needing water was a necessity of life and a reasonable concern. Their journey necessarily was
one of moving from oasis to oasis; food was no longer an issue, but water was always an issue to a
nomadic tent dwellers. There is no indication that the Israelites even thought to approach God
about their need for water; rather they griped…..they worried……they doubted and they feared. And,
they blamed…..they blamed Moses and Yehoveh. Now, this situation WAS a little different than
before when they needed water; because where Moses led them this time there was not even a
hint of water, which in itself was strange. Moses was an experienced desert dweller, having lived in
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Midian…..and I suggest only a few miles from where the people of Israel stood, thirsty, at this very
moment. He would ONLY have taken them to a place where normally there was water. So,
probably we are dealing with some kind of unusual drought condition on the Arabian Peninsula,
and the water source Moses expected to be present (near Rephidim) was dried up. Naturally, this
was indeed a potential disaster.
Yet, one would reasonably assume that Israel would have remembered back to only a couple of
weeks earlier, when at the bitter springs at Mara God miraculously made the water drinkable for
them. But, apparently, they not only forgot about God’s interest in satisfying their physical need for
water, but they never grasped the significance and lesson contained within His solution. Let’s
revisit Mara for just a moment.
Back in chapter 15, we see Israel grumbling and in need of water. Moses brings them to a spring,
an oasis that, in its natural state had water that was quite bitter to the taste. But, when some
special, unnamed wood (obviously something that was available locally) is immersed into that bitter
water at God’s command, the water is cleansed of its bad taste, and it became useful to save their
lives.
This is such a beautiful picture of what Christ would do for us 1400 years into the future. Here we
are, mankind, our corrupt natural state being full of bitterness. Bitterness, in our Western way of
thinking, generally is an emotion or an attitude or a mental state; it means that we are hanging on
to hurts and offenses; we have developed a sense that life has been unfair to us, and as a result,
we view the world around us cynically and reject joy. But, that typically is NOT what the Bible
means by bitterness. Rather, scripturally, bitterness means the opposite of sweet, both in a real
and in a poetic sense. Bitter means unbearable pain usually at the hands of another, suffering with
no hope of escape, oppression….the root word for bitter, mara, is even associated with poison. The
Jews of Nazi Germany were bitter; they were in a hopeless state of oppression beyond their own
control.
Bitter, as a negative state of existence, is often used to describe the Israelites condition in Egypt.
And, bitter is also the natural condition of all mankind; unable to save ourselves, unable to change
ourselves, unable to shuck off our bitter existence, even if we don’t recognize it as bitter.
And, now comes Christ, who is hung onto a piece of wood, His precious blood spilled all over it.
But, what miraculous qualities that wood, that cross, has; for when that Divine wood, the Cross, is
immersed into our lives and our bitterness, our oppression, is taken away. Often when something is
immersed into a liquid that object takes on a different character. In point of fact the Greek word
baptizmo, from which we get our English word baptize, means to immerse. And, the word
baptizmo is a word that was borrowed from the cloth dying trade of the biblical era; that is, a
natural cloth was baptizmo into a vat of dye, where the cloth took on the characteristics of that
which it was immersed into. And so it is with those who are crucified with Yeshua; His wooden
cross, immersed into our bitter lives, transforms our lives and makes them sweet and free from the
oppression of the power of sin. This is the picture intended at the spring of Mara, out in the
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wilderness.
Well, lets return to Chapter 17 and Israel’s newest need for water. Moses reminded them that
while they may think their grumbling is against him, it’s really against God. And Moses asks why
they would test Yehoveh. Remember our Hebrew lesson about this word, test (or prove, or tempt in
some versions); and that the Hebrew word used here is the same as we saw earlier: nacah (naw-
saw). And, it carries with it the sense of being hauled into court and being put before a judge; that
is, a trial proceeding. So, what Moses accused the people of doing was of literally putting God on
trial; they were putting themselves in the position of judging God!
Yet, once again, God is merciful. Rather than rebuking Moses or the people for their lack of faith
He simply provides for them. God tells Moses to take the people’s representatives, the elders, and
go to “the rock” at, or near, Mt. Horeb. And, there, using the same staff that Moses held up to part
the Red Sea, Moses was to strike “the rock”, and water would pour from it, enough for everyone. It
is interesting that this is the 2nd time we have found Moses being ordered to strike something with
his staff, and both times it had to do with water. The first time was when he struck the Nile River
and turned it bloody red, making it undrinkable. Now, he will strike a rock and the rock with produce
drinkable water. Also notice how the staff of Moses…….which is really but God’s staff of authority
placed into Moses’ hands…..was used in one case (at the Nile) for wrath upon people who were
not His (the Egyptians); but in our current case it would be used to provide for mercy and
protection of His own.
It’s important that we see this difficult attribute of God: that from the same source (the Lord) comes
blindness and revelation; destruction and salvation; darkness and light; shalom and despair.
Goodness to those who submit to His Lordship, calamity to those who refuse it. We commit a
terrible idolatry when we discard those characteristics of Yehoveh that bother us, and retain only
those that please us. For, indeed, to do so makes us guilty of forming our own god-image from our
own minds…..and this is the very definition of idolatry.
Now, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out what could not possibly have been understood by
Moses and the elders: that this event of striking the rock is yet another shadow of a future event.
Christ, called the Rock, was smitten that living water would pour forth from Him for all of God’s
people. And let’s also remember that when Yeshua, who was Himself living water, was stabbed
with that Roman spear, that all who were watching saw physical, real water pour forth from that
wound. This event at Horeb, and the Crucifixion at Calvary, were completely connected……on both
physical and spiritual levels.
Allow me to point out another interesting connection that is not readily seen in the English, but is in
the original Hebrew: Moses was to use his staff (his rod) in God’s name, to strike the rock at
Horeb, just as he had struck the Nile about a year earlier. Remember, back in earlier chapters of
Exodus when we discovered that the word used to describe the 9 blows that God visited upon
Egypt that we usually call “plagues”, was in Hebrew “nachah” (naw kah). Don’t mix up two very
similar sounding Hebrew words “nacah” (naw-saw) and “nachah”…..nacah (nawsah) means to
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hold a trial, while nachah (nawkah) means to strike, or hit, deliver a blow. This word nacha
(meaning to hit) would not be used to describe something benign like hitting a nail with a hammer;
rather, it carries with it the sense of attacking with a purpose to cause harm, even to kill. Looking
back, we can understand why “nachah” (nawkaw) would have been used to appropriately describe
these harmful, and eventually deadly, strokes upon Egypt that began with Moses striking the Nile
River. So, the use of the word nachaw when describing hitting the rock so that water would come
forth seems out of place. What would be the point of using a word like nachah that has with it an
aura of malice and violence, in this setting? And, Rabbis have mused for centuries on just why that
word, nachah, which portrays striking with a sense of harm, would be used with Moses bringing
forth water for his people to drink. If it were not for the connection with what would eventually
happen to Our Rock, Yeshua, when He was struck with malice and violence, the use of that
Hebrew word here at Horeb would be out of place.
We’re told in vs. 7 that the place where the Israelites grumbled about needing water was named
Massah and Merivah: usually translated “testing” and “quarrelling”. A better translation of Massa
than testing would be “tempting”; BTW, notice that this is NOT the same word as used earlier
when Moses accused the people of putting God on trial; that word was nacah (naw-saw)(with an
“n”), while the name of the place was massah (with an “m”). And, why is the word “tempting” so
appropriate here? Because these people, who have followed the cloud for 2 months, now slap God
in the face by asking, at the end of vs. 7, “Is Yehoveh with us or not?”
Suddenly in verse 8 the scene changes and the people become engaged in their first battle with a
hostile neighbor. This, of course, was the very thing that God had arranged for Israel to avoid in the
first days of their Exodus, by insisting they take the desert wilderness route, rather than taking the
direct route to Canaan using the major highway between Egypt and Canaan called the Way of the
Philistines. For whatever reason, this battle with Amalek was a battle that God WANTED Israel to
fight.
It is a group of people called Amalek that attacked Israel. We will find out later, in Deuteronomy 25,
that Amalek attacked the rear of the long column of Israel, which consisted primarily of the
stragglers: the weak, feeble, and sickly. This made what Amalek did all the more horrendous
because Israel in no way threatened Amalek. But it is not at all surprising that it would be Amalek
as the first to attack Israel; for the Amalekites were the descendants of Esau. So, while Amalek
was related to Israel, because of the split between the twin brothers Jacob and Esau, they were
also enemies (remember how Jacob connived to get the firstborn blessing, and all the wealth and
power that went with it, away from his twin brother Esau…..and that later, Jacob became called
Israel and produced the 12 tribes of Israel).
In vs. 9, Moses instructs Joshua (who would eventually become the leader of Israel after Moses’
death) to select the men who would fight Amalek, and then lead them in battle. As for Moses, he
would stand on a hill above the battlefield, probably with his staff in hand. Along with him (up on the
hill) would go his brother Aaron and a man named Hur. We can understand why Aaron, Moses’
prophet, would accompany him; but who is this Hur fellow? Well, we find him mentioned again in
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Ex. 24:14, and he seems to be Aaron’s assistant, though in the genealogies, he does not appear
to be a blood relative of Aaron’s. Talmudic tradition is that Hur was Miriam’s husband (Miriam
being Moses and Aaron’s sister).
Well, the battle begins: Joshua down in the valley leading his men, Moses, Aaron and Hur up on
the hilltop observing, with Moses raising his hand. It is usually presumed that he was holding up his
staff in his hand, but that is NOT what the Scriptures say. The presumption that he held his staff in
his hand comes from the name of the victory altar that was built to commemorate this battle;
because the altar’s name (Yehoveh nissi) implies that a banner or an insignia or some kind of
device that symbolized Israel was used by Moses And, vs. 11 says that a strange thing occurred:
as long as Moses held his staff in the air, towards the heavens, the battle tilted in Israel’s favor.
But, as soon as he put his arm holding the staff down for a rest, the battle swung towards Amalek.
So, Aaron and Hur had Moses sit on a stone and then, one man on each side, they propped up
Moses’ arms so that the staff would not have to be lowered as Moses arms grew tired, not even
for a momentary rest. This battle went on, as battles in that day did, until sunset. And, so, Joshua’s
men defeated Amalek.
Now, a couple of things of interest: first, let’s talk a little about Joshua. Joshua was of the tribe of
Ephraim. Hopefully, you recall the last 3 chapters of Genesis when the importance of the tribe of
Ephraim was discussed. In fact, to understand the end times and Revelation, I urge you to study
Ephraim who is a key that unlocks the door to many Biblical mysteries.
Technically at the time of this battle with Amalek Joshua was NOT yet called “Joshua”. His name
was Hoshea, or in English, Hosea (this is NOT the same Hosea as the prophet Hosea that has his
own book of the Bible). Hoshea means “help” or “salvation”. Sometime following this battle
Hoshea’s name was changed. We’ve seen this name changing happen before, haven’t we?
Abraham started out as just Abram, meaning father of many. Later, God said you would now be
called Abra-ham, meaning EXALTED father. We saw Jacob, Ya’akov’s, name changed to Israel.
And, now, Hoshea will have his name changed to Joshua. These two names (Joshua and Hoshea)
are related, but we really can’t see it unless they are presented in their original Hebrew. Joshua is
in Hebrew, Yehoshua; which means “Yah saves” or “God saves” or better “Yehoveh saves”.
Most accurately, in Hebrew, Hoshea is Hoshua or Oshea. So, after the battle with Amalek, Hoshua
(Hosea) has the word “Yah” added as a prefix to his name, so that it becomes Yah-Hoshua
(Joshua). So, it’s easy to see, after this strange battle where Moses has to hold his staff up high to
God in order for Israel to beat Amalek, that the leader and victor of this momentous battle would
get his name changed to a name that reflected what happened that day, when God saved them
from Amalek.
Now, one more thing and we’ll move on. Yehoshua is simply long hand for a name we’ve already
become familiar with: Yeshua, Jesus. Jesus Christ. Yes, in our modern vocabulary, Joshua is the
name Christ was born with. In Hebrew, Yeshua. Our Lord had the same name, as did this man that
won the battle over Amalek. Here, again, we have an OT connection to the NT. Joshua, friend of
Moses, PHYSICALLY saved Israel through God’s power. Joshua, Yeshua, Jesus Christ,
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SPIRITUALLY saved Israel, and all who would be joined to Israel, through God’s power. In both
cases this was an act of God doing the saving. And let me assure you these connections are real,
not contrived. They are there for us to SEE as connections, not coincidences. Unfortunately, often
the connection is invisible if not presented in the original Hebrew language.
At the end of chapter 17, we get this bone-chilling instruction from God: He is going to completely
blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. He is going fight Amalek generation after
generation. Why? Why this ultimate condemnation from God upon Amalek?
Well, Amalek was not only real and tangible, being exactly as reported and doing exactly as
reported, but they are also a type. Amalek was gentiles, and so represents those gentiles who
come against Israel. Amalek were the first people to attack Israel after their redemption from Egypt.
Amalek represents that force which opposes God’s people and God’s plan that is to be worked
out through His people. This is not the last time we will hear of Amalek in the bible. Saul, first King
of Israel, will be commanded by God to destroy Amalek as a punishment for their attempt to stop
the advance of Israel during Moses’ days as their leader…..Saul never accomplished that. Several
centuries later, the evil Haman, of Esther fame, is said to have been a descendant of Amalek.
Many Arabs, today, are from the family of Amalek, which is the tribe of Esau. The Jordanians, for
instance, are a people whose ancestors are a mix of Ishmael and Esau.
Moses then built an altar. This was a typical action of people in that day in reaction to an important
event. This altar was a monument and a marker to commemorate the battle of Israel, and God,
against Amalek. The altar was named Yehoveh Nissi: Yehoveh is my banner.
As we end this chapter, permit me to mention something briefly about Moses’ staff and it being
referred to here as a “banner” to God. There is a critical God Principle being set up, and it is this:
when we turn our staff over to God, when we loosen our grip and give it to God, it becomes God’s
staff in HIS hand. Understand, that in ancient times, a staff, also sometimes referred to as a rod,
and in later times as a scepter, is a symbol or representation of authority. Moses’ staff, in human
terms, was a symbol of Moses’ authority. But, in raising his staff to heaven, the bible calling this
act “raising a banner”, this is symbolic of turning his authority over to God, whereby God does
something miraculous: the staff of Moses becomes the staff of God.
This is the secret to the Christian life. As long as we cling tightly to our own personal authority and
Lordship over our lives, then we are simply not usable by God. And, there is absolutely no power in
our own authority. The strongest, most powerful, most brilliant, most wealthy of us ultimately have
only our own personal natural human abilities to count on. But, turn that authority over to God, and
He will fill it with His power. Moses’ staff, under Moses’ authority was just a dead piece of wood,
even though it seemed to him like an indispensable tool for his trade as a shepherd, and necessary
symbol of his authority over Israel. But that same staff, under God’s authority, could part the Red
Sea, turn the Nile to blood, and defeat the enemy in battle.
This principle is often expressed in modern Evangelical Christianity as yielding or surrendering to
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God. We see that principle being developed here in Exodus, with Moses.
It was long ago recognized by the ancient Hebrew Sages that this chapter is out of chronological
sequence. The mention of God’s Laws, of an Altar, and of Moses teaching God’s rules to the
people and then judging the people according to those rules could only have occurred after the
Law was given on Mt. Sinai.
As chapter 18 opens, Moses’ father-in-law makes a reappearance. Yitro, Jethro, the priest of
Midian, had heard about all that had happened concerning Israel, and came to greet Moses. As we
have discussed, news traveled fast in those days; people in other nations knew what was going on
in other regions. And, you can bet that there were MANY regions and nations that we holding their
collective breath, wondering just where this 3 million strong mob were going to land.
This is another of the many chapters of Exodus, that for reasons unknown to me (albeit I have my
suspicions), the bible translators consistently chose to use the word “God” or “Lord” whenever
the word “Yehoveh” appeared. So, when we look at the original language texts what we see is that
Yitro KNEW the God of the Hebrews’ name, and we can safely assume that the same people and
nations who knew of the happenings in Egypt concerning Israel ALSO knew the name of Israel’s
God….Yehoveh. In that era knowing a god’s name was considered vitally important because the
superstition was that if you knew the NAME of the god who lorded over some area of responsibility
like the weather, or fertility, or prosperity, or battle, then by invoking that god’s name, that god
HAD to do what you requested.
One of Yitro’s purposes for coming to meet Moses was to bring Moses’ wife, Tzippora, plus their
two sons to Moses. It says, in vs. 2, that she had been sent home. That pretty well fits with the
tradition concerning Tzippora that she was a real firebrand. That she created such a problem for
Moses that when Moses was on his way from Midian to Egypt to confront Pharaoh, she became so
belligerent that he sent her home. Anyone remember what the name Tzippora means? Well, first
let’s remember that it is a very Bedouin name…….and it means “bird”……of which she was anything
but. And, BTW, that name is still in use today. It is generally thought that the rather interesting
episode where Tzippora publicly confronts Moses about his not having yet circumcised his sons,
and God being angry with Moses to the point of threatening his life for this omission, is what led
Moses to sending Tzippora and her sons home to Yitro, her father.
Now, vs. 5 says that Moses was at “the mountain of God” when Yitro showed up. This is kind of
interesting, because it is another evidence that this story is a little out of order in Exodus, because
we don’t even hear of the Exodus refugees moving and encamping at the foot of Mt. Sinai until the
next chapter. I had warned you last week that the Torah is NOT always in perfect chronological
order, and this is one of those instances. But, this is also well in line with the God instructed
incident of the striking of the rock in order that water might be obtained; because it is said that this
rock was in the mountain range of Horeb, which is the mountain range where Mt. Sinai, the
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mountain of God, is located. I think it also reveals that Yitro knew exactly where this mountain of
God was. He knew this because, a) is was very near to his own homeland of Midian, and b)
because there apparently had been some sort of correspondence between Moses and Yitro, as it
says in vs. 6, and c) because likely Moses had taken him there some years earlier, or at the least,
made clear to Yitro its location.
I don’t want to run it into the ground, but it is very likely that the Mountain of God was no more than
a very few days journey from Yitro’s home, and so places Mt. Sinai right where the Apostle Paul
says it is: in Arabia….or better…..on the Arabian Peninsula. Let’s remember that the mountain of
God where Moses was leading the Israelite people was the same place where Moses had
encountered God in the burning bush. And, at the time of the burning bush incident, Moses was
living with his father-in-law, in the land of Midian.
It says Moses ran out to meet his father-in-law and fell prostrate before him. This was a traditional
sign of respect given to the head of the family, which was Yitro.
It sure would be fun to have been able to overhear their conversation. Of Moses talking to his
young boys and his listening to their stories about what had been happening in their lives during his
absence. And, I’d sure like to know WHICH Tzippora showed up: the one that mellowed a little,
remorseful perhaps and missing her husband, or the one that gave him heck for going in the first
place and then being gone too long! And, of course, to hear Moses recounting miracle after
breathtaking miracle that Yehoveh had performed to save Israel and reduce Egypt to devastation.
Then, undoubtedly, relating to Yitro the unending problems of dealing with this enormous
population of never-satisfied, ungrateful people, who didn’t miss an opportunity to tell Moses just
what he was doing wrong!
Now, in vs. 9-12, many scholars think we have a recounting of a gentile conversion to the religion
of the Hebrews. Yes, Yitro was gentile, NOT an Israelite. And, although he is called a priest he was
not a priest of Yehoveh but of some other religion, and some other system of gods. We don’t just
have to assume that: because the ONLY priestly tribe of Israel was the Levites, with the Levite
Aharon as the High Priest. And, there is no indication anywhere that Yitro could possibly have been
a member of Israel, let alone a Levite, so in order to offer a sacrifice on Israel’s altar he would
have had to confess loyalty to Israel and the God of Israel.
We get an important glimpse into the mind of the people of that era, as Yitro has the stories he has
heard concerning the power of the Hebrew god confirmed by Moses; and in vs. 11 Yitro makes the
confession that Yehoveh is greater than all gods. And, he follows that up, by making a sacrifice to
Yehoveh, in the presence of Moses and Aharon and all the elders of Israel, and then finishing it up
with a meal. This was the standard way of making a covenant, a B’rit. Back in Genesis we
discussed at length how covenants were cut. And, we see here that what Yitro did was to make a
covenant before God, probably declaring his allegiance to Yehoveh, and therefore to Israel. Now,
did he, therefore, renounce his other gods? Did he now adhere to a monotheistic ideal…..that is,
that there is only one god and his name is Yehoveh? Probably not. He simply acknowledged that
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Yehoveh was the god of the Hebrews, and the El…..the chief god…..which would have set just fine
with Israel, for in general that’s how they viewed Yehoveh as well (just the greatest god among the
many gods).
Let me point out something else for you that will become more apparent after we have finished
Exodus and study the book of Leviticus: verse 12 (almost universally) in English translations says
that Yitro brought a burnt offering and sacrifices for God. What is says in the original language is
that Yitro brought an ‘Olah and a Zevah for Yehoveh. The ‘Olah was a very specific kind of
sacrifice, as was the Zevah. And, of course, we see that Yitro didn’t bring those two exclusively
Hebrew sacrifices, each with their own special meaning (which, by the way, were only ordained in
the Law given at Mt. Sinai) to some god in general; theses sacrifices were of course (just as it says
in Hebrew) for the God named Yehoveh.
Let’s stop here and pick up the remainder of Chapter 18 next week.
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Audio Files MP3

Illustrations
Last week we got a little way into Exodus chapter 18, and ended where Moses’ father-in-law,
Jethro (Yitro in Hebrew) brought Moses’ wife and 2 sons to him for a reunion. And, we find that
much news had reached Yitro about some of the amazing incidents that had occurred in Israel’s
flight from Egypt. Yitro, being a pagan priest, naturally accepted that many of these incidents were
miraculous in nature and could only have been brought about by the god, or gods, that watched
over the Israelites.
Moses and Yitro spent much time together as Moses recounted exactly WHICH god it was and
gave Yitro some of the dramatic details of the past several weeks’ journey. Yitro was so favorably
impressed with Yehoveh that he wanted to make this superior god his own god. In reality, it was
less a matter of Yitro giving up all of his old gods and more a matter of accepting Yehoveh as the
greatest god…..the god above all gods. The process of accepting Yehoveh involved two specific
sacrifices (which we learned were called an ‘Olah and a Zevah), and sealing it all with a sacred
meal. In essence, Yitro became an Israelite, though it is not at all clear that henceforth Yitro gave
up his identity as a Midianite and, rather, thought of himself now as a Hebrew.
Let’s re-read the last half of Exodus 18 to get our bearings for this week’s lesson.
RE-READ EXODUS 18:13 - end

The day after Yitro’s conversion ceremony, Moses was sitting as a judge of the people; that is, he
was the arbitrator of disputes. And, apparently he was the ONLY judge, because he had a long line
of people waiting to bring their grievances before him; it says the people stood in line from sun-up
to sunset. Yitro observed this and at the appropriate time, discussed it with Moses. Now, although
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typically we remember this incident as being based on Moses being wearied on overworked, in fact
Yitro’s main concern seemed to be for the people who waited endlessly to stand before Moses.
And, it is also made clear in vs. 15, that Moses not only judged peoples legal matters, he was also
their spiritual advisor; that is, they came to him to ask him what God wanted them to do in certain
situations in their personal lives. Now, this was a good news bad news deal; for it was good that
the people were learning to seek out Yehoveh for his direction, but it was bad news in that the
people felt they could only approach Yehoveh through Moses. And, indeed, Moses was quickly
approaching burnout!
One wonders where Yitro gained such wisdom as to offer Moses the advice that he did; which in
essence was to set up a kind of government system, with lower judges and higher judges, and so
forth. And, apparently, though its not revealed, God must have agreed with Yitro because Moses
instituted it right away.
Now, the system of organization that was set up sounds very similar to the Greco-Roman system
instituted 1000 years into the future: there were to be leaders of 1000’s, leaders of 100’s, leaders
of 50’s, and leaders of 10’s. For those of us that have been in the military, we understand this
system quite well; but for those who haven’t been in the military, basically it worked this way: 10
people reported to 1 leader. 5 of these leaders (who, altogether, represented 50 people) reported
to a chief of 50. Two of these chiefs (each controlling 50 men plus their leaders) reported to a
fellow who controlled 100. 10 of these leaders, each of which controlled 100 men plus their leaders
reported to a man who, therefore, was in charge of 1000 men, plus all their leaders.
There are several interesting elements to this matter of Yitro counseling Moses that we shouldn’t
bypass. First is the matter that credit for the establishment of Israel’s justice system is openly
given to a non-Israelite. Even more, Yitro was a Midianite; he was part of a confederation of tribes
that in a few years the Lord God would order Moses to destroy. Midian would become much like
Amalek: people specially marked for destruction due to the trouble they caused God’s people.
Second is that this judiciary system that Yitro recommends (and Moses institutes) is purely secular.
That is, it is NOT composed of those who will be God’s set apart servants from among Israel, the
Levites and the Priests. In fact, verse 21 makes it clear that the chosen judges would come from
among “all the people”. In other words, these would be ordinary citizens, not tribal chiefs or
princes, and not elders. The existing hierarchy of tribe and clan chiefs and heads would be set
aside in favor of people chosen for their wisdom and uprightness regardless of their social status.
Let me state right here, however, that politics and power have always played a role in men’s
affairs since there were enough people for there to BE clans and tribes. So, I have no doubt that
the selection process was not as pure as it should have been and there was likely some rather
severe behind-the-scenes arm twisting that certain men be omitted and others included as judges.
Third, this secular judiciary….although validated by the Lord……..was not ORDAINED by the Lord.
Yehoveh did NOT tell Moses to set up a judiciary, let alone tell him HOW to go about it. This was a
HUMAN institution. Now, I think we can safely say that God’s providence played a central role in
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it’s establishment and the selection of men, but there is a rather large and revolutionary (in Middle
Eastern terms) democracy component here whereby the PEOPLE choose who they want to be
their judges.
Fourth, this judiciary is to convene on a regular basis. This is not a committee whereby meetings
will happen as needed, and the judges will be re-selected each time. In a community of 3 million,
there will be many disputes to be resolved every day.
The bottom line here is that even before Israel received the Law, they were pretty well organized;
instructions and commands could have been disseminated very rapidly to the people, and every
day disputes handled quickly.
What we also are reminded from this is that Yehoveh is a God of order and structure, not of chaos
and randomness. From the beginning of our studies, I have asked you to take special note of the
various God-patterns, and types, and shadows, and systems we see in the Torah, because those
are not one-time-only devices; they will be around at least until Jesus comes, and many which still
apply, for all eternity.
God was showing Moses and Israel that His laws and rules and structures could be counted on,
depended on, and trusted. These commands were not whimsical, nor did they change according to
God’s mood. They could know God, and to the extent a human mind can comprehend the ways of
the Eternal God of the Universe, they could understand God. What that means for us is that the
order and method and reasoning God used in Biblical times and in establishing the Torah is still in
force today and as we see end-times prophetic events unveiled in the future. I find that very
comforting. Yehoveh wants His people to be reassured, not anxious.
At the end of Chapter 18, it is made clear, once and for all, that as long as Moses is alive, he is the
final authority in all matters. Of course, this had been stated for our understanding early in Exodus
when we’re told that when Moses speaks it, it’s as if God speaks it. It is no wonder that Moses is
held in such tremendous honor and esteem by the Jewish people; as Christians, we should
acknowledge Moses’ special place in God’s eyes as well.
Yitro is now given leave to return home to his land, Midian; probably a very short distance away.
This ends the 2nd of the 6 divisions of Exodus, and with Chapter 19 we enter the 3rd division:
Covenant and Law.
READ CHAPTER 19 all
As we enter this 3rd section of Exodus, the one I call Covenant and Law, it is the 3rd month of the
Israelites journey out of Egypt…..or as it was called in Hebrew, Mitzrayim. Ahead of them lay a
meeting with God that would change not only their own existence and identity, but would bring a
new dynamic to the whole world. Because, Yehoveh was bringing Israel out of Egypt in order to
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meet with Him on Holy Ground……the Mountain of God… for the purpose of establishing a new
relationship with the offspring of Jacob.
Yehoveh had been preparing Israel for hundreds of years, step by step, for this momentous event.
He had created a separate people through Jacob, allowed them to wander in a land that was not
theirs, then to sojourn and become an enormous nation in another land that eventually enslaved
them, and finally He rescued them from the hand of their oppressors. He let them witness great
miracles; He demonstrated through the disastrous strokes against Egypt (which did not harm the
Hebrews), that Israel was a set-apart people….or as the Bible puts it, God makes a distinction
between Israel and everyone else. Yehoveh PERSONALLY led Israel by means of His visible
presence through the desert wilderness; He fed them and gave them water through supernatural
means, and He fought for them and defeated their enemy, Amalek, in battle.
As a result of all that God had done for them, had Israel really changed very much in the 3 months
since leaving Egypt? Yes and no. Yes, in that they were now fully aware that the power of Yehoveh
had no bounds, and that Moses was His chosen man to lead Israel, and they now held a healthy
FEAR of Yehoveh. No, in that their FAITH in Yehoveh was still miniscule, they still didn’t
understand that Yehoveh was NOT just the only God of Israel, but was the only god, period, nor did
they even remotely grasp the HOLINESS of El Shaddai….The God Most High.
The Lord God was about to form an unprecedented relationship between a god and men; a
covenant relationship. The first covenant God constructed was far more a promise than a
covenant. The Abrahamic Covenant was a promise to Abraham that his descendants would be
many, and that the Lord Himself would provide an already decided upon land for these
descendants to live, and that through these descendants every family on earth could be blessed.
Abraham had no obligations. What the Lord would do had nothing to do with Abraham’s behavior
or actions.
The covenant the Lord was about to make at Mt. Sinai was fundamentally different than the
Abrahamic Covenant: the people of Israel had obligations to perform. How God would respond
depended on how Israel behaved.
Now, covenants were a very normal and everyday way (in that era) of either two people of equal
power that would make an agreement that was mutually beneficial; or the covenant was of the
Suzerain kind in which a king would make an agreement with his subjects; that is it was the
establishment of a relationship between UN-equals….one was a man of power, the other side were
under his control. His subjects could be a few hundred people who formed his kingdom, or in the
case of an Empire Builder, it could consist of entire nations that he controlled.
So, while we use the term “covenant” when speaking of the promise from God to Abraham, and of
the oracle given to Moses on Mt. Sinai, they are covenant-like but they don’t precisely fit the
standard covenant purposes or terms of those ancient times.
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Further, that a god would form a covenant-like relationship with a group of people was an entirely
new phenomenon. It was, and remains, unique among all known religion-based cultures. So, what
we’ll find is that it is not that many of the Laws that Yehoveh will ordain through Moses are new
and strange to the ears of the Hebrews (most of the laws and commands God would give were
familiar and had parallels in other Middle Eastern societies), its that the RELATIONSHIP of the
Hebrew God to the Hebrew people…..a covenant-like relationship…… had no parallel.
And, now, in vs. 2, Israel has arrived at the foot of the Holy Mountain; and Moses began to ascend
it, surely climbing towards the same spot where he had met God, in the form of a burning bush,
going on 2 years earlier. No time was wasted; immediately Yehoveh tells Moses that He has a
message for the people of Jacob, of Israel, and it is this:
First, you are not here because of ANYTHING you did. I smote the Egyptians for your sake, I
carried you to this spot, and now I bring you to Myself, because I chose to do it.
Second, IF…..IF…... you will hear, accept, and follow the New Covenant I am about to give you, then
you will become My own possession, my own precious treasure.
Third, IF…. IF….. you follow this New Covenant, then God will consider you a kingdom of priests,
and a sanctified, HOLY group of people.
Notice I said “New Covenant”. This covenant, what we generally term “The Law” or the Mosaic
Covenant, was indeed going to be a new covenant. The covenant Israel was operating under at
that moment was the Abrahamic covenant. That covenant promised them their own special land,
and that they would grow into enormous numbers; that through them the whole world would be
blessed, and Israel would be exceedingly fruitful. This new covenant they were about to receive
certainly was not meant to abolish the older covenant, was it? The covenant on Mt. Sinai did not
REPLACE the covenant God had made with Abraham, about 600 years earlier. God didn’t say, “in
place of giving you a promise for a land of your own, I’m going to give you My Law”. The newer
covenant the Hebrews were about to receive was for a different purpose than the older one.
These 2 covenants were to be complementary, working hand-in-glove.
This is one reason I really dislike applying the term “New Covenant” to the covenant that is
Yeshua HaMashiach. For in our gentile mindset we have this picture that once we have a new
covenant, then the older one or ones become obsolete, abolished, replaced. Not true. Certainly as
regards the Covenant that is Christ, in a sense, some elements of the earlier covenants were
transformed from being but shadows or types of a future reality, into the higher essence they were
always pointing to. For instance, the sacrificial system using animal blood to atone for sin (that
actually began with Adam and Eve), would be transformed into its fullest essence with Yeshua; His
blood being the real blood that had been pointed to by the animal sacrifices; and therefore, the
sacrifice of Yeshua was the last and final sacrifice for atonement of sins that would ever be
needed. The Sacrificial system didn’t end, and it didn’t really CHANGE….. rather it was
transformed; blood of an innocent was still required to atone for sin. So, each time we, in faith,
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count on the blood of Christ as already having atoned for our sins, we are fulfilling the point and
purpose and spirit of the sacrificial system.
Yet, in another sense, each of God’s covenants, at the time they were given, were fully developed
and fully established for the Divine purpose that Yehoveh created them. We buy new models of
computers and cars because the new models have features and capabilities that older models
don’t. Because as our knowledge and technology advances we are able to make the things we
create better, more useful, more complete. This is man’s way. This is NOT the way with God’s
covenants. God did not create a primitive, low-tech covenant with Abraham and then create a more
advanced, next generation covenant with more features in the Mosaic Covenant, and then as
God’s vision and capabilities grew, an even zippier covenant with ALL the bells and whistles in the
New Covenant that is Christ. Each and every one of these covenants were created, and remain,
perfect and intact for the purpose God intends for each of them.
Oh, certainly, some parts of each of the covenants are aging, as Paul says in Hebrews 8:13.
Because as time goes on, more of the terms of each covenant get closer to their complete
fulfillment; that is, the older the covenant, the more of the terms that have been fulfilled and the
fewer that are left to BE fulfilled. For instance, in the Abrahamic Covenant, Israel was promised a
land of their own and now they have it (never to be ejected from it again, by the way). And,
Abraham’s descendents have indeed blessed the gentile world as well as the Hebrew world. In the
Mosaic Covenant the purpose of the sacrificial system has been brought to fruition in Yeshua’s
death. But, the purpose of Law in showing men what God’s principles and attributes and morals
are, and what pleases and displeases Him will go on until at least the Millennial Kingdom (how else
will we know what God’s definition of sin is?). Even the Newest Covenant has items that have
been checked off: the son of King David (the Messiah Jesus) has already come and gone and
atoned for our sin. So, does that mean that the New Covenant is now obsolete, just because it is
2000 years old and some of its terms are fulfilled? Of course not. The Abrahamic Covenant is the
furthest along the path of having all of it’s terms completely fulfilled, the Mosaic Covenant has
many elements fulfilled but about has many left to be fulfilled, and the New Covenant has some
elements fulfilled but much more left to be accomplished (such as Christ’s return, the salvation of
all Israel, the destruction of Armageddon, setting up the Millennial Kingdom).
All 3 covenants are needed, they are all still valid, and it’s just that some are closer to having every
last element of its purpose completed than the others.
Let me give you a very short analogy and we’ll move on. When you build a house, it has several
basic components: you start with ground preparation, then a cement slab, the framed walls, then a
roof, and then siding, drywall, etc. Now, if you prepare the ground and pour the slab and complete
that portion of the job, does that mean that at that point the slab and it’s purpose is dead and
gone? That the slab is now, somehow, obsolete just because it’s use and purpose has been
mostly completed in the order of building a house? Of course not. The entire house must be now
built on that slab that has been readied to carry the load that will be built upon it. Dissolve the slab,
and there is no way to build and complete the house. It’s that way with God’s covenants…they
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were all necessary and they are all still necessary.
In vs. 7 Moses, who was instructed to take this message from Yehoveh to the people, assembles
the people’s representatives, the elders, and tells them what God said. Don’t think for a minute
that all the 3 million Israelites were gathered to a spot to hear Moses speak… Moses didn’t have a
giant goatskin megaphone allowing every last person to hear his voice. We would do well to
understand that between vs. 7., where the elders were gathered to Moses, and vs.. 8 where “the
people” responded ‘that they would do all that Yehoveh instructed’, some time passed. A few
days, I suspect, because the elders would have gone back to their people after their initial meeting
with Moses, each according to his tribe, and told group leaders under them what God had said, and
those leaders would have told smaller groups, until each person had heard God’s words and
responded. Then, they would have gone back up the chain of command, until it reached Moses
with their answer that the people of Israel, by their own choice, stood ready to obey Yehoveh.
Here we have seen another important God pattern established. First, God makes us aware of His
presence. Second, He asks the question: will you listen, obey and follow Me? Third, if we respond
yes, then He enters into a relationship with us and begins to acquaint us with His will for our lives. If
we respond no, the conversation is over… maybe just for now, but maybe forever. So, before God
gave Moses and Israel His will for them, through the Mosaic Covenant, He first told Moses to go to
the people, and based on what little they knew of God to this point, ask them if they will listen and
obey. Since they said, “YES” to God, He would now lay out His will for them.
It’s the same procedure for us with Christ: we’re made aware of His presence, then follows His
offer to be our Lord, and IF by our own choice we respond with a “yes”, He enters into relationship
with us and guides us according to the Father’s will.
Why would anyone think that the principle for entering into a relationship with Yehoveh would be
different for us today, than it was for Israel, at Mt. Sinai, a mere 3400 years ago? Time is irrelevant
to God. Is this not the eternal, unchanging God we are dealing with, here? God didn’t set up these
Divine patterns and plans, enact them and record them in the Torah just to change everything up
on us at a later time. Though, to listen to some Christian leaders and teachers you would think that
is EXACTLY what He did; a bait and switch, or He gave Mankind a defective and inferior offer, and
then replaced it with a better one at a later date. If that is the character of Yehoveh, then He can
also rescind and abolish the covenant that is Christ, cans He not? And where would that leave us?
Thankfully, that is NOT the case, but its time the Church realized that; and realized that the Torah,
and the OT, carries just as much weight as it always had. We’ve reviewed in this class, over and
over, that Yeshua Himself taught that NO element, not the slightest, had been removed from the
Torah with His advent, and that those who taught that some elements HAD been removed were to
be considered WHAT in the kingdom of Heaven? LEAST!! And, those who taught that God’s word,
ALL of it, remains as long as heaven and earth exist will be WHAT in the kingdom of Heaven?
GREATEST!!. So, let’s follow Christ’s directive and get back to Torah and rediscover so many
teachings and aspects of God that have been thrown out and replaced with manmade doctrines
over the centuries.
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In vs. 9, after Moses went back to God with the people’s response that they would listen and obey,
Yehoveh told Moses that He would come to him in a thick cloud on the mountain, AND, then when
He spoke to Moses the people would ALSO hear His voice. Why did God want everyone to hear
Him? So that they would believe Moses. God knew these people well. He knows US well. Despite
all that Yehoveh had done through Moses, He knew the people would be skeptical of the laws and
commands Moses would present to them if they didn’t actually hear them from God’s mouth
themselves.
Now, before God would give them His commands and teachings, He instructed Moses that the
people were to be cleansed. They were to purify themselves and their clothes, by washing with
water. And, on the third day after the purification process begins, THEN God will come to them.
Now, even with their purification, they cannot come into God’s dwelling place: the Holy Mountain,
the Mountain of God…Mt. Sinai. Yehoveh instructed Moses they were to build a border, a fence if
you would, as a demarcation between the desert floor, and that which is considered to be the
mountain.
Here we get the God principle that there is a barrier between God and Man…..between Earth and
Heaven. That where God dwells is so holy and so pure, that corrupted mankind is not able to stand
in the absolute purity of Heaven without being fully cleansed. And, notice, that despite the outward
cleansing the Israelites performed, washing themselves and their garments, it was not enough to
cross that fence, that barrier at the bottom of the mountain, and stand on Holy Ground. You see,
while the ritual washing they were instructed to perform was symbolic of internal, spiritual
cleansing; in fact, it was still only an external cleansing. The washing they did was not ABLE to
purify them spiritually; it simply a lesson, a teaching, the accomplishment of which pointed towards
the only way mankind could EVER be spiritually purified: and that was to be washed in the blood of
Christ.
So, even AFTER they had washed themselves with water, they were not allowed to cross the
barrier, not even to touch the mountain-side, the Holy side, of the fence, upon pain of death…. this,
of course, even applied to the animals. So, you can bet that this extensive wall they built was high
enough to pen in sheep and goats, which like to jump up and over such things. These were
valuable animals and they didn’t want to lose them to God’s judgment.
Now, it doesn’t take a Bible Scholar to figure out that such a fence would have been made out of
the only thing available to make a fence from where they were located: stones. And, in fact, the
remnants of that fence-wall have, apparently, been found.
God told Moses that at the appropriate moment, He would sound a trumpet, and call Moses and
the people to approach the borders of the mountain… but, staying behind the fence….and then He
would become visible in the form of a thick dark cloud ringing the summit of Mt. Sinai.
Can you imagine the apprehension of the people? I think the air would have been thick with anxiety
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and expectation as the 3rd day approached; the people were about to see another side of Yehoveh
that, up to now, they apparently had not. Suddenly, the cloud forms; lightening lights up a daytime
sky, and thunder causes the very ground they stand on to vibrate and resonate with the rhythm of
the thunderclaps. When it seems as though they can stand no more, a ram’s horn, a Shofar, is
sounded from atop the mountain, the note echoing off the rock walls of the valley below so loudly
that it terrified the Israelites.
Then, smoke began billowing up from the top of the mountain…..smoke like from a furnace. And,
then the mountain physically shook under the stress of bearing the weight of our awesome God.
As the thunder and the lightening and the sound of the Shofar built to a deafening crescendo,
Moses speaks to God Almighty, and Yehoveh answers back…..not in code…..not in rumblings or
noises…. Rather, we are told, by voice…..a voice that all the people heard and understood. But, what
the voice said was that Moses, by himself, should now ascend the mountain, and stand before
God. And, Moses went up.
Now, after all this build-up, the stay at the top was terribly brief; God immediately tells Moses to go
back down and warn the people not to cross over the fence, the boundary of the mountain, lest
they die. He also tells Moses to warn the priests that they had better properly sanctify themselves
just as the people had, or that God would punish them.
Apparently, the all-knowing God knew that many of the Hebrews had an inclination to disregard
parts of God’s instructions about the barrier, and were planning on jumping the fence. And, Moses,
says, “Oh,God, they’d NEVER do that, after all, they’re the ones who erected the border, the
fence, you commanded!”. God says, just go and tell them again. And, BTW, bring Aharon with you
when you come back. Now, we see another God principle being set up that will come into play
upon the building of the Wilderness Tabernacle, and then its transfer to the Temple: ONLY the
High Priest, in this case, Aharon, may enter into God’s Holiest Place; and that ONLY upon God’s
command. No lesser priest may do so. Notice also what a special category Moses must be in, in
God’s eyes. Because Moses was able to come and go, standing on Holy Ground, seeing into
God’s face. Moses was higher than a High Priest.
Let me make a quick comment about the term “Priest” as it is used here; as of this point there was
no Levitical Priesthood. So, who are these people called “priests”. They are the first born of Israel;
the first born sons of ancient Middle Eastern cultures tended to carry out priest-like duties, such as
having the honor of sacrificing to their gods and leading the family in religious rituals and rites. This
was soon going to change, as Yehoveh would establish a wholly separate priesthood and that
function of the firstborn would end.
Chapter 19 ends with Moses trekking back down the mountain and once again telling the people,
and the Levites (the priest tribe), God’s warning and command to STAY OFF HIS MOUNTAIN!
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Category: Exodus
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Illustrations
READ CHAPTER 20 all

The content of our study for this week, the next, and probably a few more after that is complex, at
times controversial, and not for the feint of heart. But, if you will determine to focus your mind on
what we’ll discuss, and ask God, through the Holy Spirit, to teach you, I think you’ll come away
with an even deeper love and understanding of Yehoveh, and His written Word. So, bear with me
as we go into a level of detail that I usually try to avoid as being too tedious, and address some
subjects that challenge some of our traditional evangelical Christian thinking. My goal is not to turn
you into scholars, biblical debate artists, nor Church revolutionaries…..rather it is simply to present
to you what Yehoveh has revealed, plainly, and literally, in His written Word, but seems to have
become lost in the denominational shuffle…. and let you decide how to respond.
If your Bible has a heading at the beginning of this chapter, it will almost assuredly say “The 10
Commandments”. And, indeed, these verses of Exodus chapter 20 are the source of what
Christians have for centuries held up as that creed which is the basis for moral and ethical and
righteous living. In both Judaism and Christianity, the 10 Commandments are also known in
scholarly and theological circles as the Decalogue.
Now, before we move on, I’m curious: how many people here would say they truly believe that the
10 Commandments are real, valid, and indeed God’s word to His people? OK. How many of these
Commandments are we the Church, the body of Christ, to be obedient to? Are the 10
Commandments a list we can choose from…….pick a few that we like, disregard some that we
don’t? OK. So, in general, most everyone here is convinced that we should be obedient to ALL of
the 10 Commandments, right? OK. Just wanted to know.
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Our cherished 10 Commandments are the beginning of the “giving of the Law” as it is often called
in both Jewish and Christian circles. Immediately following the giving of the Decalogue (which are
the first 10 Laws), more Law is given, and all together this is called the Covenant of Moses, or the
Mosaic Covenant, or the Sinaitic Covenant, or as the Church commonly thinks of it, the Old
Covenant.
The Covenant of Moses will be the 2nd major covenant God has made with a specific group of
people, the Hebrews. The first was with Abraham. Now, there certainly were some
pronouncements made by God before Abraham, to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and
another to Noah concerning the Great Flood and God’s promise never to destroy the world by
flood again. And, some teachers and scholars will refer to those two sets of pronouncements, at
times, as covenants. We don’t need to get into some theological debate over this; for the purposes
of this class, we’ll only be labeling 3 Biblical covenants as “covenants”: the Covenants of
Abraham, Moses, and Christ.
A couple of salient points will set the stage for our lesson: first, reference to the Mosaic Covenant
as the Old Covenant is an unfortunate misnomer; because it paints a picture that the Bible simply
contains two covenants of Yehoveh: the old and the new. And, from this thinking, comes the label
we give to the two halves of our Bible, the Old Testament and the New Testament. This, of course,
leaves out the all-important Covenant of Abraham that is 6 centuries OLDER than the Covenant of
Moses. Second, each of these 3 covenants are made to stand alone on their own merits, while at
the same time being organically connected. That is, they all work together towards Yehoveh’s
divine purposes. And, third, these 3 b’rit, Hebrew for covenants, all have a similar form. We talked
at length some months back about the nature and form of Biblical covenants, and time doesn’t
permit me to go over it all again. However, I do want point out that one of the several key elements
common among the 3 covenants is that each of them had an associated sign given by God, to
those who participate in the covenants. The sign for the Abrahamic Covenant was male
circumcision. Anyone expecting to be part of that covenant was required, BY GOD, to be
circumcised as the outward sign of their acceptance of the terms. The sign of the Covenant of
Moses, as we will shortly see in Scripture, will be the Shabbat, the Sabbath. That is, the
OBSERVANCE of the Sabbath was the partially inward and partially outward sign of all those who
accepted the Law, the 10 Commands plus all the other laws and rulings, that formed the 2nd of
God’s covenants. If you expected to be a part of God’s separate and distinct people, Israel, then
observance of the Sabbath was mandatory as a SIGN of accepting Yehoveh’s lordship over you
life. The 3rd, and newest, of the covenants is the covenant of Yeshua, Christ. The sign for this
covenant is the Holy Spirit. That is, this is a covenant whose sign is not outward, but inward, in the
person who accepts the terms of, and wishes to participate in, the covenant of Jesus Christ. Let me
say it another way: the sign of your salvation is that you are in union with Yeshua HaMashiach by
means of the Holy Spirit that has been placed in you by God. Of itself, it is as outwardly invisible as
is Yehoveh.
Notice an interesting progression: the sign of the first covenant is in the flesh, circumcision. It’s a
sign that you wear on your body. The sign of the second covenant is in the soul (which contains
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the mind and the will), in the form of one’s ongoing obedience to the observance of the Sabbath.
It’s a sign that you DO. The sign of the third covenant is in the spirit; God places within, or
alongside, our human spirit, His Holy Spirit. This is a sign that you BECOME…..that is, you
become a new creation.
We’re going to look at chapter 20 very carefully because one of the most difficult challenges the
modern Church, collectively and as individuals, face today is untangling centuries of man-ordained
doctrine from the God-breathed scriptural truth. What may seem like an insignificant turn of a word
or phrase can, over time, lead to serious error.
The creation of the Anglican Church, and then the Protestant Reformation (that occurred about the
same type as the invention of the printing press) led to the Believing masses having access, for the
first time, to Holy Scripture. Those happenings were watershed moments in the life of the Church.
We today, are also living in an era of sweeping changes within the Church primarily because of
access to scholarship that had been hidden deep in the bowels of both Hebrew and Christian
religious institutions. Laymen are now able to learn about the structure of the Hebrew language and
the nuances of ancient Israelite culture; we have instant access to ancient documents like the
Council of Nicea, the Gospel of Thomas, writings of the earliest Church fathers like Origen,
Eusibius, and Jerome. No longer is information like this available only in our theological seminaries
and private library collections. And, what we are finding out is that there were some hidden
agendas at work that colored Scriptural interpretations and teachings. We even find the sources of
some Church traditions, which, frankly, need to be removed from our lives. And, chief among those
hidden and long forgotten agendas, and much to our shame, was a bias against anything Jewish,
and a willingness to compromise Yehoveh’s teachings with pagan practices.
As pertains to our lesson today, there are therefore some basic presumptions that almost all of us
have lived with our entire Christian lives, if NOT all of our natural lives, about the 10
Commandments that, together with Yeshua, form the foundation for Christian morals and ethics.
Armed with some of the knowledge that Yehoveh said we would gain in the end-times, there might
be no more appropriate time than now to more carefully examine some of those presumptions
about the Decalogue.
Lets begin with the first verse of Chapter 20, where it says in most Bibles, “And (or then) God
spoke all these words, saying:”….
The word I’d like to focus on is near the end of that verse; and the word is “word”. I want to talk
about that a little bit because the word “W-O-R-D” is the term God uses when referring to that
which the Church now calls “the 10 Commandments”. Yet, you will notice that NOWHERE in
Chapter 20 did we see God give the title “the 10 Commandments” to what He spoke to Moses.
Since the title “10 Commandments” does not appear here, does that make it a doctrine rather than
a literal scriptural interpretation; that is, like Eternal Security or the Rapture or the Trinity which are
all doctrines, titles and names which do NOT actually appear in Scripture but instead are derived
from ideas contained within the scriptures, are the 10 Commandments merely a manmade NAME
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for a doctrine? Or, rather, does the title “10 Commandments” literally appear somewhere in the
Bible under that name? The answer to the last question is a qualified “no”, and, we’ll look more
closely at that in just a minute.
Before that, let’s see in the original Hebrew, what the word “word” as is there in Ex 20:1 means;
because “word” is what God calls what we have traditionally called the Commandments. The
formal academic name “Decalogue” is Greek for “10 Words”, NOT 10 Commandments. In
Hebrew what we translate into English as “word” is “dabar”. Dabar means speech; it means
communicating a thought through audible speech. Dabar is an utterance; a movement of vocal
chords, or a word just as we think of the word “word”, as used in oral communication….speaking a
language. Nothing about this term, however, indicates that it is a command. Dabar is rather neutral:
that is, it does not characterize the content of the words; the words could be about anything.
So, what is being communicated to us in this first verse of chapter 20 is that Moses did NOT
receive the Decalogue through divine inspiration; rather, God actually spoke all these words
audibly, in a manner that human ears could hear it. God gave these words by means of oracle, not
inspiration. Much of Holy Scripture is accomplished, indeed, through Divine Inspiration: that is, the
Holy Spirit moved a man, supernaturally, somehow in conjunction with that man’s own mind to
write down that which is true and absolute and divine and what Yehoveh deemed He wanted men
to know about Him and His plans and His creation. Here, however, in Exodus 20, it was NOT a
divine inspiration upon a man that was recorded: rather, it was God speaking (which is the
meaning of the word “oracle”) to Moses and Israel in an audible voice, and what is written down in
Scripture is said to be the actual words that God spoke, and the people of Israel heard, that day.
Yehoveh wanted that fact to be made so very clear, for all time, that not only did God Himself
audibly speak these words, but later with His own “finger” (figuratively speaking) did He also carve
those same words into stone tablets that they be preserved throughout the history of mankind. Man
had nothing to do with this at any stage. And, again, this is totally unlike most Biblical scripture,
which has a peculiar collaboration between God and man involved.
Now, some ancient Jewish Sages would argue, to a degree, with what I just told you about
Yehoveh speaking these words. A small minority would say that ONLY the 1st and 2nd
commandments were spoken directly by Yehoveh to Moses and Israel, and the rest He just wrote
on the tablets of stone. Their reasoning is that in the first two commandments God spoke of
Himself in the first person, and He didn’t in the remaining 8. Therefore they say Yehoveh only
spoke audibly the first 2 commands, and nothing further. There is nothing in scripture that would
indicate that….in fact scripture indicates that all the 10 Commandments were spoken out loud…..
and the vast bulk of ancient and modern Hebrew scholarship would agree with my position on this.
Turn to Deut. 5:22 READ
That should make it crystal clear that Yehoveh spoke the 10 Words out loud so ALL of Israel could
hear them; and that the remainder of the Law, He gave to Moses, but NOT out loud for others to
hear.
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Now, as to the title that the Church traditionally gives that which follows vs. 1: The 10
Commandments. Not until later, in Exodus 34:28, is this speech of God to Israel (vs. 2-17 of Ex.
20) given a formal title; and this formal title, in Hebrew, is “eser dabar”. Indeed, eser is a common
Hebrew word used for the number 10; but what did we just learn that “dabar” meant? Remember,
in verse one of Exodus 20, it reads “And God spoke all these “dabar” (words), saying;”. …. Dabar
means “word” or “words”. An utterance, speech. That is, where Exodus 34:28 in most of our
Bibles says “the 10 Commandments”, the true translation, which agrees with Exodus 20, is “the
10 Words”. Hence, the more correct Greek translation that Biblical scholars use,
“Decalogue”….Deca, 10….logue, words.
Now, you might say, isn’t that being just a tad persnickety, or overly technical, because what
follows is certainly ten instructions, ten commands of God that we are to follow; so, what’s the
harm in whatever we choose to call it?
Before I address the reasons why labeling the bulk of Exodus 20 “the Ten Commandments”
presents a problem you need to know that after Ex 34:28 there are only TWO other places in the
Bible where the title “the 10 Commandments” is used: and that is in Deut. 4:13 and 10:4. And in all
cases the phrase that is almost universally translated in our Bibles as “the 10 Commandments”, is
actually, in Hebrew “eser dabar”…. literally, the 10 Words.
In order to show you the problem with incorrectly turning the word “dabar” which simply means
word or words, into Commands or Commandments, I need to address another issue first. And, that
is the numbering of the 10 Commandments, or better, the 10 Words.
If you have a “blue bible”, that is the CJB, and you’re sitting next to a person who doesn’t have
one please scoot over a little and share it with them as we look at Exodus chapter 20. You will
notice in the left hand margin, preceding each of the ten so-called commandments, a single
Hebrew letter. What these are actually representing is numbers, because in the Hebrew writing
system the alphabetic letters ALSO are used to represent numbers. The first Hebrew letter you see
is an aleph. In addition to being part of the alphabet aleph also represents the number “1”. The
second letter you see (below the aleph) is the Hebrew letter “bet”, which also represents the
number “2”. And, this pattern continues until we come to the Hebrew letter “yud”, which
represents the number “10”. That’s not too hard to figure out.
Now, understand, in the original Hebrew these Hebrew numbers ACTUALLY appeared in the text
margin just as you see here in the CJB. In the oldest Hebrew manuscripts we have (including the
Dead Sea Scrolls) the 10 commandments, or 10 words, were each given a Hebrew number
preceding the actual command. Our modern versions have for the most part decided to delete the
numbering of the commands or words.
Now without looking at ANY of your Bibles can anyone remember what we have all learned at
some time or another is the very first of the 10 Commandments, or 10 Words? It’s usually taught
as “I am the Lord thy God, you shall have no other gods before me”. I have also seen it taught
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simply as “You shall have no other gods before me”. I’m sure nobody here would disagree with
that.
Well, as hard as it is to believe, the problem begins right there. Because, if you’ll look at the CJB
bible, you’ll see it as it was done in the original Hebrew; and guess what? What we have always
thought is the 1st Commandment is NOT the first commandment. The first commandment is
actually “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the abode of
slavery”. The “you shall have no other gods before me” is the 2nd commandment.
Even more in the original Hebrew what I am now showing you is the 1st commandment (in our
Bibles, this is typically contained in vs.. 2), more correctly reads “I am Yehoveh your God, who
brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the abode of slavery”. That’s right, where just about
every bible ever made says “I am the Lord your God”, the original Hebrew is literally translated, “I
am Yehoveh your Elohim…..it uses BOTH God’s personal name AND His TITLE in the text.
A few weeks ago I briefly mentioned this anomaly about the first commandment as we know it,
NOT being what we are usually taught as the 1st commandment; and in fact the original 1st
commandment is deleted from the Christian version of the 10 Commandments (it is NOT deleted
from our Bibles, its just not considered the first of the 10 Commandments). And after that class a
couple of people came up to me and said: “Well, yeah, but what you call the 1st commandment
doesn’t even qualify as a commandment because it’s just a statement, a kind of preamble, so it
doesn’t belong in the list of the 10 Commandments”. Well, that’s pretty sound reasoning, except
for one thing; as we just learned, God never EVER calls the content of Exodus 20 “the 10
Commandments”. Rather, His title for this is “the 10 Words”. Big difference between “words” and
“commandments”. So, the man-made title of 10 Commandments really mischaracterizes the
nature and purpose of the 10 Words. In fact, these are more principles than commandments.
Please understand that the reason that we should include “I am Yehoveh your God who brought
you out of the land of Egypt out of the abode of slavery” as a so-called commandment is because
it has ALWAYS been there in original Holy Scripture as the first of the ten. It is even assigned the
number ONE in the original Hebrew. All modern Hebrew scholarship is unanimous on this.
Yet, I must be forthright and tell you that there was a time, after the Jews’ exile in Babylon, when
the list of the 10 Commandments indeed dropped the Biblical first commandment, and so looked
like our list today. Later, sometime before Jesus, it was revised to re-include the Biblical first
commandment. This time period after Babylon saw the corruption and negligence of many of the
Biblical institutions like Sabbath observance, ritual washing, observance of the 7 Biblical Feasts,
and more.
Today, the Biblical list of the 10 Commandments, as appears in Holy Scripture, is what Jews
observe; however Christians use the version that eliminates the very first commandment from our
list of 10 Commandments, or as we now know to call it, the first “word”.
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Now, a question that would be pretty reasonable to ask right about now, would be, ‘what would
possibly be the motive for early Christian leaders to drop the 1st Commandment, and then for later
Christian leaders to continue with that practice…..it doesn’t make any sense?’ Actually, it makes all
kinds of sense.
Let’s think for a minute about what we’ve learned over the last several weeks about the
beginnings of Christianity. We know it began as a strictly Jewish movement, because it was all
about Judaism looking for a Jewish Messiah. And, indeed, the Jewish Messiah came, He was and
is Jewish, born to Jewish parents, in the Holy Land, and all of His first followers were Jewish. But
very quickly after Yeshua’s death gentiles started to be included in the Jesus movement and in a
few more years their numbers swelled primarily due to the work of the Apostle Paul. Yet for several
decades after Yeshua’s death the Christian movement was still led by Jewish leadership. It wasn’t
until sometime after 100 AD that the number of gentiles accepting Yeshua as Lord and Savior
equaled or exceeded the number of Jews accepting Yeshua as Lord and Savior. And with that
gentiles began to gain control over the early church. By the mid 100’s AD, gentiles were in
powerful positions of authority within the Church, and an anti-Jewish mindset arose which led to an
attempt to minimize Jewish influence within the Church. The FIRST center of Christianity was
Jerusalem, because Jerusalem was the center of Jewish worship. Later the center of Christianity
became Rome, because Rome was the center of the gentile world.
Early in the 300’s AD, the Emperor of Rome, Constantine, not only declared Christianity to be a
legal religion for the Roman Empire, but that he himself preferred it. Further, that the Church was to
become a gentiles only club and that Jews were now, by law, forbidden to participate unless they
renounced their Jewish heritage and quite their Jewish traditions.
It was the Roman Church, now better known as the Catholic Church, which (rightfully so) declared
the 10 Commandments to be one of the founding pillars of Christianity. And, what they did in
compiling their official list of the 10 Commandments was to exclude the first commandment, the
first word as written in Holy Scripture and begin instead with the 2nd commandment. They did what
the Jews had done for a time following Babylon: they simply took the Biblical 2nd Commandment,
the 2nd Word, and divided it into 2. So, the 1st half of the Biblical 2nd commandment became
commandment #1, and the 2nd half of the 2nd Biblical commandment, became commandment #2.
So what was in Holy Scripture a single commandment overnight became two commandments.
Take a look at the CJB. You’ll recall that our traditional 1st commandment is “Thou shall have no
other gods before me”, and the traditional 2nd commandment is “ thou shall not make unto thee
any graven image”.
But, in original scripture those 2 commands TOGETHER are actually just one long command…..the
original 2nd commandment. In essence, what the Church has called the 10 Commandments
consists of only NINE!!
Now, why did the Roman Church do this? The Church, by the time of Constantine, wanted
absolutely no connection between Jewishness and Christianity. They wanted to sever any
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relationship between the Jews and the new gentile Christian faith. They wanted to destroy any
thought, any principle, revise any history that kept any element of Jewishness in what had become,
by decree, an exclusively gentile religion. If they had kept the original 1st commandment, 1st word,
in the list of the 10, it would have created a problem for their anti-Jewish agenda, by acknowledging
that God gave these 10 Commandments, along with hundreds of others, to Israel (not to gentiles)
whom He had redeemed from the hand of Egypt. And, since it would be 1000 years before the
masses were permitted to even read, let alone own, Holy Scripture, whatever decrees the Church
published became the truth. By leaving any reference to Israel OUT of the 10 Commandments this
helped to cement the idea that Christianity was NOT for Jews.
So what we need to come away with is this: the term ‘10 commandments’ is a manmade name for
the list we find in Exodus 20, and it is also an unfortunate mischaracterization of what that list is all
about. And, that we need to slightly revise that list by putting the 1st Word back into our list of 10.
We also need to understand that due to an anti-Jewish agenda within the Church, dating back to
well before Constantine, some critical scriptural translations have been done in a somewhat biased
manner such as substituting “Command” for “Word”. Oh, for sure, there is a Hebrew word for
command…..and usually it is the word “mitzvah”. But, “command” doesn’t entirely capture the
essence of the word “mitzvah”, either. Mitzvah more correctly means a God given ruling. We’ll get
into that a little later.
While this is important enough in itself I tell you this because when we hit the next chapter of
Exodus, chapter 21, we immediately run into another phrase that is key to our understanding of
what is usually called “the Law”, that was about to be given to Moses on Mt. Sinai. And this phrase
while not necessarily mistranslated usually gives us the wrong impression, particularly in Western
society, of what the Torah is all about. The result is a generally negative view by the Church of the
Torah and what is commonly called “The Law”. And sadly this negative view even extends, to a
degree, to the whole of the OT.
So Exodus Chapter 20 gives us a record of the 10 Words given to Moses on Mt. Sinai. These 10
Words set the stage for all the so-called “LAW” that was going to be given to Moses and Israel…..
yet…..these 10 Words were also, decidedly, set apart and held up higher from all the rest. So if we
need to kind of re-think the notion of these 10 Words as being 10 “commandments”, then how can
we more properly characterize them?
I suggest we think of it as we think of our Declaration of Independence or our Constitution.

Contained within those 2 documents are several concrete, inviolable assertions and principles that
set up the framework for our nation and the system of government that would follow. Yet, none of
us would think of calling what is contained in those two documents “Commandments”. I think there
are 2 phrases, therefore, in common use in our American culture which express pretty well the
nature of these 10 Words given to Moses, and that are closer to what is meant than
“commandments”: and those phrases are “declarations” and “principles”. That is, the 10 Words
are the founding principles for all the “Law” that will follow. The 613 Laws (the first 10 being the
Decalogue, the Ten Words) that God will give Israel are, in essence, how you live-out the principles
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set down in the 10 Words. It’s almost as though the following 603 Laws are but extensions of the
10 declarations, the 10 founding principles, that God just gave Moses here in Exodus 20. The 613
Laws all operate within the boundaries of the 10 Words, just as all of our civil and criminal laws in
America MUST operate within the framework of the principles declared in our Constitution in order
to be valid.
In fact, it was a common understanding in Yeshua’s day that not only did all Law, all true Torah,
operate within the principles of the 10 Words of Exodus 20 but that the 10 Words themselves
operated subject to an even higher, more basic, principle. Does anyone remember what that higher
principle is? (Love your God with all you heart, mind, and strength; and love your neighbor as
yourself).
Look at Matthew 22:35-40. READ.
So, the principle of “love your God with all your heart, mind, and strength” becomes the basis for
the 10 Words. And, out of the founding principles of the 10 words comes the 613 Laws. Yeshua
Himself confirmed this. And, BTW, that highest principle (Love your God with all you heart….) is not
a principle formulated in the NT: rather it’s just repeated; it was first given to us in that form, in the
Torah in Deut.6:5. In fact, more than half of the NT is simply quotes from the OT.
With that as a background, starting next week we’ll begin to work our way through the 10 Words of
Exodus 20, which are the10 founding principles that will be used for all the 603 laws that will come
after.
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Audio Files MP3

Illustrations
Lesson 18 Chapter 20 continued 1
Today we continue a deep and detailed look at what among the Church is labeled as The Ten
Commandments. How could such a standard icon of the Christian Church as the 10
Commandments be labeled as controversial? That’s what we began with last week in our study of
Exodus chapter 20. And, what we discovered is that even the title “The Ten Commandments” is
itself not only made up and NEVER appears in the Bible, but the word “command” or
“commandments” also never appears regarding these instructions. The Hebrew word that is
usually translated as “command” or “commandment” is mitzvah. And mitzvah means “ruling”, such
as a judge ruling on a legal issue. A mitzvah is not technically the original law, it is NOT a
command.
Instead, the word dabar is used. And, dabar means, “word”. So, the Greek translation of this
Hebrew phrase is correct: Decalogue, meaning 10 words. This is not minor; because what the so-
called 10 Commandments amount to are statements of fact from the Lord; they are the
foundational principles from which all the following laws of Torah shall come.
The 2nd controversy we discussed concerned the numbering of the commandments or words.
And we found that in the original Scripture the first commandment was NOT “you shall have no
other gods before me”; rather it was “I am Yehoveh your God who brought you out of the land of
Egypt”. So, the first statement or principle of God is to identify Himself as YHWH. This was acutely
important and necessary because all gods had names, and one needed to know just WHICH god
was communicating his instructions. And so the god of the Hebrews gave the people of Israel His
name: Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh. We’re not going to get into some long argument about pronouncing this
name because there are varying reasonable opinions; but since the Jews stopped, about 300 BC,
pronouncing the Lord’s name the vowel sounds used have been lost so it is difficult for anyone to
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claim with certainty that they know how it was verbalized.
Be that as it may, the “you shall have no other gods before me” was the original 2nd
commandment. Sometime before the Babylonian exile, the Jews stopped treating the “I am
Yehoveh who brought you out of the land of Egypt” as one of the Ten Words. After Babylon the
Jewish sages began to once again include “I am Yehoveh your God……” as the 1st commandment.
At the approach of the 2nd Temple Period it was once again excluded, and back and forth it has
gone over the centuries. Later, Christians adopted the off-and-on Jewish Tradition and format of
making the 2nd commandment as the first but for entirely different reasons; the original 1st
commandment explicitly directed these 10 commands to Israel; and, since Constantine had
officially deemed the Church as a gentile religion the mention of Israel had to be removed if the
new anti-Jewish Church was going to consider the 10 Commandments as pertaining to Christians.
Well, the controversies don’t end there. Today we shall take up the actual commandments, or
better “words” themselves and delve into the meaning they originally held within the Hebrew
culture they were given.
Let me say right up front that we are going to be dealing with some difficult and sensitive subjects
over the next couple of weeks. It is my goal to discuss them in the most inoffensive and loving and
honest manner possible with you. However…..we cannot simply avoid the challenges these
principles represent, nor can we simply go on saying on the one hand how much we believe in
these Scriptural God-principles and on the other ignoring them. And neither can we determine to
honor our cherished and familiar Traditions……whether Jewish Traditions or gentile
Christian…..above the plain meaning and expression of the Holy Scriptures, especially when they
seem to conflict.
In some cases there will be what I believe are quite definitive answers and solutions; in other cases
there will be deep shades of gray that remain. But in all cases I want us to leave here today loving
the Lord and one another as much or more as when we walked in.
RE-READ EX. 20:2
The first Word:

Here God, Yehoveh, is making it clear to Moses and Israel just whom is speaking. Remember, at
that time the people of Israel still did not fully grasp the concept that there is but One God in all
existence. And, Yehoveh is also stating very plainly, that HE is the God of the Hebrews, that same
one who struck Egypt, rescued Israel from Egypt, and brought them here, to Mt. Sinai. And,
therefore, it is ISRAEL with whom He is making this covenant, not anyone else. But, we will find as
we study the Mosaic Covenant, that foreigners, gentiles, may JOIN Israel, and they are to be
considered as 1st class citizens. In other words, this covenant is with Israel and all who join
themselves to Israel. This is nothing new, frankly. This provision of non-Israelites being joined to,
grafted into, being adopted by, Israel was also part of the covenant Yehoveh made with Abraham.
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The Lord is also making something else very clear, and we all need to take note: those people
whom the Lord has redeemed have obligations to Him. Among those obligations are loyalty and
obedience to His principles and ordinances. This brings up a principle that we often forget: the
Torah commands, and all the Bible instructions (including those of our Savior) are ONLY for the
redeemed. To follow the Lord’s principles and commands without FIRST being redeemed is the
truest definition of legalism. But for a saved person to follow the Lord’s commands is the normal
and expected response.
There is another underlying principle at play here: as a result of our acceptance of the Lord’s
redemption, we take on certain obligations that the rest of the world does not have. Yehoveh says:
I brought you out of bondage, and now HERE is what I expect of you. I cannot tell you how it
depresses me that so many Believers honestly think that their redemption is the last “work” or
“obligation” they ever have to God. Because our redemption is not a work of ourselves or any man
in the first place: our redemption is a 100% work of the Lord.
RE-READ EX. 20:3-6
The second Word:

This must go down as one of the most important of all the commandments; and as the one that
might be the principle most consistently violated by God’s people throughout the entirety of the
Bible. And this is because the insidious nature of idolatry shows up in ways that neither the people
of the Bible era, nor we modern folks, expect.
Notice that there are 4 identifiable principles set down in the 2nd word: a) no other gods, b)
don’t make images or symbols of deity, c) don’t worship images or symbols, and d) there is
punishment for violating the previous 3 principles AND this punishment will go beyond you in time
and affect your children. Yehoveh telling Israel they are to have no other gods is NOT just some
quaint little saying. The Hebrew people ABSOLUTELY believed there were other gods in
existence….gods that were gods for other nations and peoples. At this time, Israel’s take on what
God meant by this, was that HE was to be the only God that they were permitted to have.
What is key to understanding the 2nd Word is that while the prohibition against making carved
images and representations certainly applies to any Deity, real or imagined, this statement
absolutely INCLUDES, and in fact may refer primarily to, the making of representations of the God
of Israel. And the reason for this prohibition against god-images is twofold: first NO representation
of Yehoveh can possibly be adequate or sufficiently holy. And, second the Lord is NOT of this
world and therefore nothing that a man could make from his mind or hands, and nothing that could
exist in a mere physical realm could ever capture God’s image. The Lord is NOT a part of this
creation. He is NOT physical. He is above all things as the maker of all things; His is NOT IN all
things. He is entirely different than any other being, or entity, or thing. Therefore any attempt at
representation of His image is pure folly, inaccurate, and here in Exodus 20 He labels it as against
His will.
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Now, this (the 2nd Word) confronts me personally…it hits me head-on (and it might you as well)….
and in some ways I wish it didn’t. We are told in these verses, rather plainly with no wiggle room at
all, NOT to make any representation of Deity (and most certainly NOT the holy Godhead) that
incorporates a depiction of anything in the heavens, anything that lives on the dry earth, or anything
that lives beneath the sea. This was a revolutionary concept for the world at that time, and the
Hebrews really didn’t know how to take this command. Every known god from the time Mankind
turned corrupt, right on up to the time of the Exodus, had some type of familiar visible
representation…..and in fact demanded such a representation….. based on some creature or object
that occurred in nature. Typically it was a star, or the sun, or the crescent moon, or an animal of
some kind…..and in many cases it was a human form, or a hybrid animal-and-human form. The
mind of that era thought that if one didn’t have a visible god-figure to worship, how could one
worship at all?
Although many times the animal or object chosen to represent a particular god was what the
people actually envisioned that god as looking like, as often as not it was that the form simply
represented some attribute or ability of that god. A bull represented strength. A frog represented
the life giving qualities of water. An eagle represented lofty majesty. Often if a god had multiple
attributes several different symbols would be used for the same deity. Symbols for the same god
could even vary from region to region and they might change over time and tended to reflect a
society’s cultural traditions.
But here for the first time is a god, Yehoveh, that makes it an unbendable instruction that absolutely
NO representation, no symbol, of any kind is to be made of His Person. Probably nobody in this
room would disagree with this interpretation of this commandment.
If we look back into history we’ll see that only RARELY does an entirely new symbol come along.
Humans have proven to be better copycats than creators. Most of the time one culture simply
adopts a symbol from another or earlier culture, perhaps making a minor change in a symbol so as
to make it his or her own, and then attaches a new meaning to it. Time passes and pretty soon the
new user of that old symbol loses any idea of where it came from in the first place or that it is by no
means their culture’s unique invention. Such is how it is with symbols, which for some reason
mankind simply cannot seem to do without. Men are visually oriented creatures.
Ishtar was the goddess of fertility (BTW, she is also, sadly, the source of the name and several
traditions for EASTER). She had many symbols but the most predominant one was the rabbit. In
general those who worshipped Ishtar did NOT believe that she was, nor did she look like, a cute
little bunny rabbit. Rather for rather obvious reasons the rabbit was simply an appropriate symbol of
Ishtar’s primary attribute: fertility.
Ishtar is but the Western European name for Astarte; Astarte is but the Greek name for the Biblical
Canaanite goddess Ashtoreth. They’re all one in the same. The Scriptures show us that this
imaginary bunny-god Ashtoreth was a constant problem for Israel because from time to time the
Hebrews would take up Ashtoreth worship and naturally Yehoveh condemned this practice (and
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Israel for worshipping her). Now, I doubt anyone would argue against this is a prime example of
what God is talking about in His prohibitive command against the manufacture and use of symbols
and images.
So far, so good; but, here’s where it gets sticky. As I was researching about the history of symbols,
particularly ones that used animal representations, it struck me: one of my favorite and most
precious symbols; one that I associate with my faith, is a fish….a sea animal. I started wondering
about how many of us have the fish-symbol on our cars, or around or necks, or on our
bookmarkers, or who knows where else? And, I thought, well, certainly that couldn’t possibly have
any connection with the meaning of the 2nd Commandment. After all we don’t worship that fish
symbol. But, the more I read and re-read the 2nd Commandment, looked it up and went over it in
the original Hebrew, examined Biblical scholarship documents about it; then went to Websites that
had various explanations as to the supposed origin of the fish symbol; reviewed numerous articles
in Christian publications explaining what the fish symbolized, and counter-articles refuting what
others claimed, the more confusing the whole issue became…..and the more the wisdom behind
Yehoveh’s principle of the 2nd Commandment started to become clear to me.
In the end I could no longer deny that the fish symbol I so dearly love might be something I’ve got
to reconsider; might it actually violate the spirit, if not the letter, of the principle of the 2nd Word?
We all know what fish symbol I’m talking about, so I don’t need to explain it to you. Therefore I
would like for you to consider this: have you ever seen that same fish symbol with little legs added
and the word “Darwin” written in the middle of it? It has become a popular anti-Christian symbol to
combat the Christian fish symbol. The idea is similar to capturing the enemy’s flag, desecrating it,
and then displaying it to humiliate the enemy. So, not to be outdone, some clever Christian came
right back with another new symbol that had a Big Fish with a cross in it, eating a smaller fish with
the word Darwin in it. One desecration deserves another, right? Although that’s pretty funny what,
exactly, does it demonstrate about the lofty position that this symbol holds in our thoughts and our
hearts when we’ll fight over it, and even have to get into a one-upmanship game over it with non-
Believers?
At the very least within the Church the fish symbol most certainly has come to represent Yeshua,
who, in case we have forgotten, is Himself God….the very same God who set down this principle of
no images. Now I’ve heard some Believers say that it doesn’t represent Jesus; it represents the
religion of Christianity in general. Well, I can accept that; and I think a lot of people see it as simply
a general religious icon that indicates the user of it as identifying him or herself as being a
Christian. But I can also tell you that millions, including myself have, either consciously or
unconsciously, to some degree or another looked upon that symbol as representing Jesus Christ.
And therein lies part of the problem: we create or use symbols that please us, symbols that we feel
very comfortable in justifying and rationalizing, and then don’t think too much about just what it is
that that symbol represents to others, or even, deep down, to ourselves. We can get awfully
careless and frivolous with these things in an effort to create an outward identity for ourselves.
Where most Believers get in trouble is not that we intentionally set out to offend the Lord by
sinning; rather, we take that first seemingly harmless if not completely well-intentioned step and
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then eventually look up and find ourselves a long way from the path of righteousness.
I’m sure you’ve noticed that many variations of those fish symbols have now been created. Some
are just the bare outline of the fish. Others have the word “Jesus” in English written in it. Still
others have the Greek Letters that transliterated into the English alphabet, are I-X-Q-U-S, in the
middle of the fish. BTW: Does any one here know what those letters actually mean? (answer) It’s
an acrostic. It takes the first letters, in Greek, of each word in the phrase “Jesus Christ, God’s
Son, Savior”, and forms a word. In other words, it undeniably identifies the fish symbol with
Yeshua. And, that word, in Greek, is Icthyus and it means…..FISH! So, it’s pretty hard to ignore that
a) that symbol is indeed of a fish, and b) that as concerns an awful lot of Believers, that fish as far
as they are concerned is representative of Messiah.
My point is not to single out the fish symbol, it is merely an example that is in common usage; so
catch your breath for a moment while I pick on something else. I’ve also heard many of my
Catholic friends defend their use of statues of Christ, in that they don’t worship those statues nor
do they think that somehow there is an essence of the Savior in those pieces of plastic. Perhaps.
But I can’t count the times I’ve personally observed people praying at that statue, kissing it, wiping
their tears onto it; or the number of times I’ve heard of an anti-Catholic desecrating one of the
statues and touching off a melee.
As we get to the study of the Wilderness Tabernacle in Leviticus, and look at the design of it and
the various altars and implements that were to be used in it, we will see that each one of the items
was God-ordained and given in detail, to be constructed precisely as instructed. Further, NOT ONE
of these items were ever designed to represent Yehoveh: not the Father, not the Son, and not the
Holy Spirit. None of these objects were symbolic of the Godhead. Some WERE representative, to a
degree, of His attributes of Holiness and Mercy among others. But their main purposes were to
instruct Israel about the Lord’s holiness and to depict a future reality….a foreshadowing of things
that would be accomplished by the Messiah. What we will notice when we study the Tabernacle is
that none of these symbols violated the principle of the 2nd Word: nothing in the Tabernacle used
representations of animals, or sea creatures, or humans, or stars or moons or suns to symbolize
God. Yehoveh Himself designed all of the Wilderness Tabernacle tools and implements and altars
especially for a purpose, which was the teaching of principles and the foreshadowing of future
events….NOT as representations of the Hebrew faith or of Him.
The problem, folks, is this: we would prefer to believe that we CAN in all of our modern
sophistication, make or buy and use our own representations of God or symbols of our faith
because we wouldn’t ever let ourselves look upon that symbol as an object of worship, or as
actually being God. Yet human nature is such that some element of that occurring is almost
unavoidable. The Israelites could NEVER seem to stop slipping back into idol worship.
But worshipping a symbol isn’t necessarily the ONLY issue that is the point of the 2nd
commandment. God didn’t say: I give you permission to go ahead and make these symbols of
faith and of Deity PROVIDED you will avoid worshipping them. He said: First, don’t make any
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symbols and second, don’t worship any symbols. He gave us those two instructions because,
above anyone or anything, He knows human nature. Our Creator knows that step one, making the
symbols, would inevitably lead to step two, worshipping the symbols to one degree or another.
Let me give you a familiar analogy that is readily accepted within most Christian denominations:
our Pastors warn us not to attach too much importance to our jobs or our wealth or our cars or
hobbies or anything. Why? Because the danger is that we’ll put the importance of those
things……the importance of even our families……ABOVE God. And we are told (and most of us
rightfully accept) that anything that we put above or even on the same level as the importance of
God in our lives is idolatry. Right? It is that these overly important things in our lives become our
gods. And when most of us hear our Pastors speak this we shake our heads up and down in
agreement because in our heart of hearts we know this is true. We hate it; we wish we could
control it. We didn’t intend to make our hobby more important than following God, but little by little
it became that way. We didn’t intend to make the earning of money more important than God, but
little by little it came to dominate our lives. And even when we do attach more importance to
earning and spending money than to God, we don’t LIKE to think of it as worship of those things,
but it is. It works the same way with symbols.
And, BTW, some of the oldest Hebrew teachings of the ancient Sages ever found agree that the
MAKING of the symbols and the WORSHIPPING of symbols are two separate instructions and
issues. Yehoveh knew that such symbols would be the source of disharmony, if not downright
anger or hatred, between people and nations who revered their FAVORED symbols, but opposed
they symbols of others that were offensive to them. Wars are started over religious symbols.
We even have battles WITHIN the church over symbols. The Protestant denominations constantly
criticize and demean the Catholic Church’s use of the Cross because it usually depicts Jesus on it,
and Protestants don’t care for the Catholic proclivity to fill their houses of worship with statues of
Jesus, Mary, and the Saints. The Catholics respond by jumping all over Protestants for use of the
bare cross or the triple cross and, interestingly, for the use of the fish symbol. Various Protestant
denominations constantly berate one another for using, or not using (as the case may be), the
triple cross, banners hanging in the sanctuary, and too many more symbols and icons to go into
now. Jews see the Cross as terribly offensive because it is, to them, nothing but a cruel execution
device used to kill literally millions of their people. Most Christians see the Star of David as being
an abolished or now meaningless Jewish symbol; or worse, as a defunct symbol of a people who
refused to accept Christ or even participated in killing him. Often we even attach the term SACRED
to our symbols….in other words the symbol itself takes on such importance that we actually attach
some measure of holiness to it because of what we say it represents; so is it any wonder that these
various symbols elicit such emotion and discord between opposing groups? And why it God speaks
against it?
Yehoveh knew that while a few among the stronger in faith might be able to make the symbols as
but something symbolic of their faith (without also making them objects of worship), the reality is
that a substantial number of worshippers are not so strong. God’s solution: don’t make them in
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the first place. He doesn’t see them as honoring to Him. Nowhere does the Lord define a symbol
of His Deity and then say now fight to the death to protect it. No matter how well meaning, or of
good intention, the making of these symbols might be the downside is often bigger than the upside.
Now I readily acknowledge that when it comes to obeying the LETTER of this God-breathed
instruction what is prohibited seems to be: 1) objects we see in the skies, 2) land creatures, and 3)
sea creatures as symbols of Deity. That DOES seem to leave the door open, perhaps, to a symbol
that does NOT employ any of the forbidden 3. So, if we just have to have symbols then perhaps we
ought to stick with the VERY few that we can unequivocally find in the Bible that are God ordained
to be used as representations of God’s attributes and foreshadows and principles. And the only
ones I’m aware of are those used in the construction and service of the Wilderness Tabernacle.
Yehoveh thought the issue of symbols was so important that He included it in the 10 Words, the 10
Commandments. I told you this was a sticky issue. And I want to make it crystal clear that I am not
judging or condemning your choice to wear an icon. I am saying that at the least there is a warning
here that while you may be able to resist the temptation to see it as but an outward expression of
your faith and in NO way a representation of God, how things like this are taken by others…..even of
your same faith…… are dangerous. I learned a long time ago to leave my crosses and fish and
American flags at home when I went abroad….particularly to Israel. Because while we understand
what we mean by these items, others have a rather different understanding and what might make a
good witness for the Lord here, don’t somewhere else.
In Ex. 20 vs. 5, still dealing with the 2nd Word, it says that God is a jealous God. Interesting use of
a word…..jealous. That has always kind of bothered me because frankly when we think of a man or
woman being jealous it’s a negative statement. In some ways when we harbor the emotion of
jealousy it reveals serious faults in us even if there might be reasonable cause for it. Yet, looking at
the word in Hebrew helps us a bit.
In Hebrew, the word is “Qanna”. And, it is most often translated into English as jealousy. It has a
sister word, “Qinah”, which also means jealousy. Here’s the difference between the two: Qinah is
used some 43 times in the OT, and it refers to human activity. Qanna is reserved explicitly and
EXCLUSIVELY for when referring to a characteristic of Yehoveh. Qinah is used to denote jealousy
of rival lovers, or envy of another’s wealth and possessions. It is, if you would, the HUMAN form of
jealousy in all its unflattering qualities. Qanna, on the other hand, is not so much about jealousy as
about being passionate; not the erotic form of passionate, but rather in the sense of great intensity,
of being impassioned towards an ideal. It is the Lord in all His unwavering righteousness. Used
here it is an expression that means that God accepts NO RIVALS, that He is utterly and absolutely
intolerant of sins against Him. Frankly we ought to never see that word “jealous” in that spot in our
Bibles, due to what it means to humans in our day. For it gives us an entirely wrong impression of
what is meant and ascribes a characteristic to the Lord that is considerably off the mark.
Continuing vs. 5, and on into vs. 6, God speaks of punishing the children of those who violate the
2nd Word, on into the 3rd and 4th generations, BUT……showing mercy to all who love God (love
meaning an intention to be loyal and obedient to Him) into the 1000th generation. First, the easy
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part of this: saying “into the 3rd and 4th generations” is a Hebrew idiom, just as “into the 1000th
generation” is an idiom. The first expression means that for sometime, but not forever, your
descendants will be adversely affected by your sin. The 2nd expression, about the 1000th
generation, means “forever”. Note that God’s wrath as a result of a man’s sin is for a short time
(3 and 4 generations), while His mercy and kindness is symbolized as being for a much longer
period of time (1000 generations).
Now another stark contrast is drawn here using absolute and powerful words: those who obey this
2nd Commandment love God, and those who disobey it hate God. Love vs.. hate. And we can
appeal by saying, ‘but, even if I have ignorantly violated this Word, I don’t HATE God, I love Him”.
The problem is that this command is, as are ALL of them, presented from God’s view not ours.
And our view is irrelevant. God says that as far as He’s concerned the one who violates this Word,
He sees as demonstrating hate towards Him. Man oh man that’s tough. But that’s how it is.
Yet He also sees the one who obeys this 2nd Word as loving Him. Does that mean that even a non-
Believer who consciously obeys this command, God views as loving Him? Yes. That’s exactly
what it means. See that’s the thing: loving God is not the requisite for Salvation. Trusting God, in
the form of Yeshua of Nazareth, is the requisite for Salvation. On the coming day of Judgment,
millions, probably billions of people who profess to love God (in their own way) are going to be
condemned for all eternity……because even though in their minds they loved God they didn’t trust
Him enough to accept the saving provision of His Son.
Conversely a Believer can be found violating this principle and also be regarded by Yehoveh as
hating Him. That is God can look upon a Believer as hating Him, even though that Believer is
eternally secured in Christ. Why? Because the ONLY relevant issue for Salvation is trusting Jesus.
Don’t get all hung up on the love/hate issue. Christians, for centuries, have had this mistaken
impression that Biblical love and hate are about feelings and emotions. From the Hebrew language
viewpoint love is expressed in action and so is hate. So what loving God amounts to is DOING
what He commands or avoiding what He prohibits, while hating God is the opposite.
RE-READ Ex.20:7
The 3rd Word is that we are not to use God’s name in vain. By the way, what is God’s name?
YHWH. God is not God’s name. God is just a general reference to Yehoveh. Let me repeat
something I’ve said time and time again: the vast majority of the time in our Bibles that we see the
word God or Lord the actual word in the original Hebrew is Yehoveh….God’s personal name. This
is NOT conjecture or opinion; it’s just the simple truth. What do I mean by vast majority of the
time? Something around 95%!! That’s right… for every 10 times you see the words God or Lord in
your Bible, more than 9 of those times, the actual word is Yehoveh, God’s formal personal name.
While we often think of the primary principle of the 3rd Word in terms of a prohibition against using
swear-words, that is not the entirety of what was meant by this… in fact that is a far too narrow
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sense of what is intended here. The Hebrew word that is usually translated as “in vain” is “shav”.
Shav indeed means vanity, but it also means falseness, or worthlessness, carelessness or
emptiness of speech. It means that using God’s name is to be done with great care, with the
highest reverence.
It is this concept of human carelessness that eventually led the Jewish people into prohibiting the
name of God to be spoken out loud altogether. In fact other than when copying Holy Scripture the
Tradition is that His holy name is also not to be written. Therefore it is common in Jewish writings to
see God written as G-d.
The Sages disagree a bit on exactly WHEN the prohibition against verbalizing the Lord’s formal
name occurred. The EARLIEST was probably the time of the Babylonian Exile, the latest about the
time of Alexander the Great (so roughly 500 – 300 BC). However, the Sages and Rabbis generally
agree that BEFORE that time the holy name WAS spoken and written. There is absolutely no
known document or oral tradition prior to the time frame I just mentioned about not speaking
God’s name. So, for a period of at least 7 centuries, and as much as 1000 years, Hebrews openly
spoke God’s name. And ancient Hebrew artifacts have been found (and are on display in the
Israeli National Museum) that have the Hebrew letters YHWH inscribed on them.
As much respect as I have for the intention of the Jewish people to reverence the Lord’s name by
not attempting to pronounce it, I don’t agree with the concept. I have studied this thing backwards
and forwards and I cannot escape the fact that the purpose of the 3rd commandment is primarily
NOT to invoke the Lord’s name frivolously as part of a vow. Because when you vow something
using Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh as surety of that vow, you have no choice but to accomplish that vow
regardless of the consequence or you have, indeed, taken His name in vein. The secondary
purpose is that one not commit perjury using God’s name as surety for your statement.
Further I contend that because the Lord has His holy name written over 6000 times in the Word;
and in several Scriptures it plainly says to call on His name or to do thus and so in His name, it is
just not comprehensible to me that we cannot do the very thing we are told to do: say His name. I
mentioned at the outset today that we cannot be sure just how to PRONOUNCE His holy name
because we’re not sure of the ancient Hebrew vowel sounds. But even if we DID know for sure the
vowel sounds not everyone would pronounce His name perfectly uniformly because of language
variations.
The principle of the 3rd word is NOT about mispronunciation of His holy name it is about misuse
of His holy name. All that said, I would ask gentile Christians to be kind, respectful, and sensitive to
our Jewish brothers and sister’s tradition of NOT saying God’s name. And, I would also ask our
Jewish brothers and sisters to not be personally offended by those of us who see nothing wrong in
an honest attempt to honor the Lord BY pronouncing His holy name, even if we don’t do it
perfectly.
Next week, we’ll take up with the 4th commandment; honoring the Sabbath.
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Audio Files MP3

Illustrations
Today we continue our extensive study of what is popularly known as The Ten Commandments of
Exodus 20.
Last week we studied two very controversial commands…..or more accurately translated,
WORDS….that of not using the Lord’s name in vein, and of the prohibition against making images
and symbols of the Godhead or any false god for that matter.
I think we beat both of those subjects to death last week so there is no need to review it. I do,
however, want to make one comment regarding the use of the Lord’s name. I mentioned that it
was not until a little before 300 BC that the Lord’s formal name, which appears 6000 times in the
Old Testament, stopped being uttered by the Jewish people. Yet there remains a serious
misconception about that prohibition that needs to be considered: the Talmud makes it clear that
the decision to stop saying or writing the “YHWH” that is God’s name has absolutely NOTHING
to do with 3rd Commandment. Did you hear that? The writings of Sages and then Rabbis from that
era and for hundreds of years after did NOT think that to utter God’s name was breaking the 3rd
commandment; rather it was an issue of proper reverence. Philo reports that in that same era it had
become tradition that one should NOT call their parents by their formal names, out of respect and
reverence for their parents. So, says Philo, that same concept soon carried over to not calling the
ULTIMATE father by HIS formal name. A more common view that was around in Jesus’ day was
that uttering aloud the name of God violated the ordinance of Leviticus 24:15 which says, “anyone
who blasphemes his God shall bear his guilt….” But, the writers of the Talmud reject the notion that
saying God’s name equates to blaspheming.
Rather this idea that it long ago became wrong to say God’s name because it violated the 3rd
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Commandment has become a sort of modern urban myth among the Jews; instead, it was simply a
matter of an attempt at reverence. So, what’s the difference you might ask? If it is thought that one
is breaking the law (the 3rd commandment), then to utter the name is a sin. If the issue is one of
proper reverence then it is more a matter of appropriate behavior (not unlike the argument over
whether or not it’s OK to come to Church in causal attire as opposed to your best dress clothing).
This week it really doesn’t get a whole lot easier because the next commandment concerns
observance of the Sabbath.
RE-READ EX.20:8-11
The 4th Word begins with “Remember the day, Shabbat, to set it apart for God”. It explains that
the Sabbath is the 7th day of the week, and tells us how we are to view the Sabbath, Shabbat in
Hebrew; and then this Word ends with this: “This is why Yahweh blessed the day, Shabbat, and
separated it for Himself .”
In the coming weeks, we will examine more elements of the Sabbath because it is a hot button for
sure among Believers, and a topic of interest and importance throughout the Bible. I want primarily
to give you food for thought about the Sabbath, because whether or not Christians are SUPPOSED
to observe the Sabbath has been debated by reasonable and brilliant biblical scholars for
centuries…and the debate continues.
Two questions are at the heart of the matter about Sabbath observance, in my opinion: 1st, are the
10 Commandments of Exodus 20 for the Church, or not? And, 2nd, WHEN and WHAT is the
Sabbath. Now, at the beginning of this lesson, I asked all of you a question; and that question was,
do you believe ALL the 10 Commandments to be valid. As I recall, pretty unanimously the answer
was that the Commandments WERE indeed valid, and that we did NOT have the right to pick and
choose. In fact, I don’t believe I’ve EVER heard any Christian denomination say that the 10
Commandments, all of them, are NOT for Christians. A copy of them hangs somewhere in every
Church.
So, then, why all the arguments about whether or not we’re supposed to do what this
Commandment says? A person recently gave me a teaching document they had received in which
the point of the teaching is that Christians have been relieved of the duty to observe the Sabbath.
But, if that is the case, how is it that we can all say so easily that we should obey all the 10
Commandments?
This leads us to the 2nd question of when and what is the Sabbath. Unless one has come to the
conclusion that we have the right to ignore the 4th Commandment, the 4th Word, of observing the
Sabbath, and that gentile Christians should have the Nine Commandments as our creed and not
the Ten, then I guess we need to know when and what the Sabbath is in God’s view.
One of the standard points of disagreement concerning the Sabbath is WHEN the Sabbath occurs.
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Let’s begin this thorny issue by seeing if we can all agree on this much: there are 7 days in a
week, and there is ONLY one 7th day of the week, each week, just as there is only one 1st day,
one 2nd day, one 3rd, etc. All throughout written history, even before official calendars, there has
been a unit of time measurement called a week; this consisted of 7 sunsets and sunrises, each of
which we call a day. It was relatively late in history before cultures started to give names to the
days of the week, and of course, the names varied depending on language. Prior to that, the best
evidence is that days were simply numbered: 1st day, 2nd day, and so on. The Hebrews to this day
continue to use the numbering, rather than naming, system of days except, of course for the 7th
day, which is given the name Shabbat.
While calendars can and do differ over the thousands of years since they were first invented,
amazingly no disagreement over how many days there are in a week, and there is but only one or
two rare instances in which is the first day or the last day of the week are moved One such
exceptional calendar is called the Runic Calendar, invented in the region of Sweden in about the
13th century A.D. It was created in order to take into account the Nordic god and goddess system,
but as Christianity was also established it also began to incorporate Christian Holy days.
Other than for the Runic and perhaps one or two other rare examples, all calendars, from every
region of the world, have been in tune when it comes to the beginning and ending of weeks. One
new exception is a modern standard initiated by the International Organization for Standardization,
a group that was formed a few decades ago to develop international business and manufacturing
standards……if you’re in manufacturing you’ve heard of the various ISO standards. They have
decided that for business records keeping, Monday is the 1st day of the week. The reason for their
change is interesting: since the Jewish Saturday Sabbath, and the Christian Sunday Lord’s Day,
together form what we all call a weekend, and usually are non-work days in the industrialized
world, the ISO decided that it was logical for business purposes to make the first workday of the
week, Monday, their new standard for the 1st day of the week.
Other than for those I’ve mentioned, I know of no situation where one calendar says this is the 2nd
day of the week, and another says no, our calculations say it’s the 5th, or some such thing. Now,
exactly when months and years begin and end HAVE been argued about, because they are based
on seasonal, agricultural, lunar and solar cycles. Some cultures, including the Hebrews, adjusted
their calendars occasionally by adding an extra month, or some extra days, to their standard year.
However other than for the two exceptions I quoted there is no record of a culture adjusting the day
of the week; that is, that for some reason the 3rd day becomes the 5th, or the 7th becomes the 1st,
or some such switch. The adjustments occurred ONLY as regards how many days there were in a
month or a year, and when that month and year began and ended. Think about leap year; every
forth year, when we adjust our calendars by adding one day to February, do we have two
Mondays, or two Tuesdays in that week; or do we move the day back from Thursday to
Wednesday or some such thing when we make that adjustment? Of course not, because the
amount of days there are in a month or a year, are completely independent of how many days
there are in a week.
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Therefore, what we call Sunday has for 1000’s of years, and continues to, correlate to the 1st day
of the week. The 7th day, according to our modern method of naming rather than numbering days
of the week, is Saturday. The point is: whatever issues have arisen over the centuries concerning
the proper day for Sabbath observance has not involved difficulties or disagreements or changes
in identifying which day is the 7th day of the week.
God says in Genesis that all was created in 6 days, and then on the 7th He rested. He also ordered
that the 7th day was to be called Sabbath, Shabbat, and set aside to be observed as holy. When
we come together on Sunday we are, obviously, NOT observing the 7th day, the day who’s name
is Shabbat…..the subject of the 4th Word. Rather, we are observing a law enacted by Constantine
and the Catholic Church in the 4th century AD, creating a day of Christian fellowship that would be
called The Lord’s Day. This is not speculation, nor is it criticism, it is simply well documented fact
acknowledged by historians and Bible scholars alike.
After our lesson a week or two ago in which I quoted some Catholic scholars concerning Sunday
worship, someone told me that that didn’t interest them, because why would it matter to
Protestants what the Catholic Church says or thinks. Well, the fact is that almost ALL the major
traditions present in the modern Protestant denominations, INCLUDING Sunday Worship, are of
Catholic origin. We have been following Catholic edicts all our Church lives, we just weren’t aware
of it.
The Lord’s Day, Sunday worship, was created in honor of Christ’s resurrection on the 1st day of
the week. Though Christ’s resurrection day, the 1st day of the week, is NOT ordained in the Holy
Scriptures as a weekly day of meeting, there is certainly no prohibition that I’m aware of, of the
Church meeting on the 1st day, or EVERY day of the week if we chose to. But, the Lord’s Day is
simply NOT the Sabbath as defined by Yehoveh in the Bible. And, by the way, I recently talked with
a young local pastor in his 30’s, who recently graduated from a Baptist Seminary, and what I just
told you is exactly how he was taught. The Seminary students were cautioned to always call the
Sunday meeting day the Lord’s Day, and NEVER call it the Sabbath, because Christians generally
do not observe the Biblical Sabbath. But, he also related to me that when he asked WHY we don’t
observe the Sabbath, a traditional Christian commandment, his professor told him that that
discussion would have to happen in private…. which, BTW, never occurred.
I stand before you today not to tell you what to do in regard to Sabbath, nor to condemn the
mainstream Church, nor to force my personal view of the matter upon you.
However, if you DO believe you’re to follow all of the 10 Commandments, then the question we
are ALL forced to face is, when is the Sabbath? If you’re an Evangelical Christian, then you are a
member of set of denominations that SAYS unequivocally that the 1st day (Sunday) is NOT the
Sabbath, but is instead a day of traditional fellowship called The Lord’s Day; and this is because
church doctrine completely agrees that the Biblical Sabbath is the 7th day (Saturday in modern
terminology) NOT the 1st day.
As an example of this, on the Southern Baptist Convention’s Website, called “The Baptist Page”,
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is a decree concerning the basic doctrines of the Baptist Church. Under the heading “Doctrines
which we hold in common with other denominations”, is a long listing of beliefs. The 8th doctrine
listed is as follows: We meet “ In the sacred observance of THE LORD’s DAY for His worship and
His work”. As ANY Bible scholar or theologian from ANY Christian denomination or from any
Jewish sect will tell you, The Lord’s Day and the Sabbath are two entirely different
observances…the Lord’s Day is not a new or modern or alternative name for Sabbath. There is no
mention of the Sabbath being observed by Baptists on the Baptist website.
Now, I don’t tell you all this to upset you, or confuse you, or worry you. I tell you this because of a
key Biblical phrase concerning the Sabbath, the 7th day: it was a day blessed by God. In fact, in
other sections of the Bible, you’ll find it says that those who observe the Sabbath will receive a
blessing that those who don’t, won’t. For no other reason than that, I urge you to go to God in
prayer concerning the Sabbath and ask Him directly what He wants to tell you about it.
Now, just a little more and we’ll move on. The Church, which has for centuries openly admitted
that it is not observing the Sabbath, often responds to the glaring contradiction of how we
Christians can STAUNCHLY insist on the one hand that we believe in the validity of all 10
Commandments for our lives, but on the other that technically we do NOT observe the Sabbath,
deal with the matter by declaring that Sabbath can be any day we choose…. if we wish to observe it
at all. That is, that the Sabbath can be the 7th day of any rolling 7 day period that we choose. So, if
we choose to coincide our own chosen Sabbath day with the Lord’s Day, Sunday, the entire
better. The problem is, this philosophy makes the Sabbath OUR Sabbath. The fact is, nowhere
does the Bible, OT or New, declare anything but that the Sabbath is the LORD’S Sabbath. It may
be for our benefit, but it belongs to Him. It is His.
So, let’s address where the Church belief comes from, that we have the freedom to select our own
personal Sabbath, or disavow it altogether.
The way I’d like to approach this is first to tell you where it DIDN’T come from…Constantine and
the Catholic Church NEVER cited nor even implied a scriptural basis for changing the Sabbath. In
fact, what they explicitly said was that the Sabbath was to be abolished because it was a Jewish
celebration. There was to be no more Sabbath keeping at all…not for the Jews, not for the
Christians, not for anybody. Rather the church and state governments would choose the 1st day of
the week, Sunday, as a more proper day of weekly meeting for Christians, with the reasoning that
the 1st day of the week was the day of Christ’s resurrection. And, again as explicitly stated in the
records of that fateful series of Church meetings called the Council of Nicea, Sunday was chosen
because it was already, throughout the Roman Empire, a day of meeting and worship for the
largest and most influential religious group in the Empire, the Mithrains…..Sun worshippers…..who
had named the 1st day of the week after their deity the Sun god…..hence the name, Sun-day.
The Catholic Church says they have the authority to abolish the Sabbath because the Pope has
the authority from God to do anything he decides is best…..including amending Scripture. But,
Protestants who do not acknowledge the Catholic Pope’s authority to do such a thing have taken a
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different route. The idea that Protestant individuals can choose to honor the Sabbath or not, and if
we decide to, we can choose any day we want, and change that as often as we want, is usually
based on a much misunderstood couple of verses written by Paul, in Col.2. Let’s take a look at
these verses, in their context, and then I’ll make just a couple of points about it.
READ Col.2:16-23
There is an old story about 3 blind men being guided up to an elephant. Their guide asked them
each to reach out and touch the elephant, and then to describe from what they felt, just what an
elephant was. The blind man who stood at the rear of the elephant reached out and by chance
grabbed the elephants tail…..so he said an elephant was very much like a snake, long and slender.
The 2nd blind man stood at the front of the elephant and when he reached out he happened to
grab the elephants trunk…..so he said an elephant was long and round, sort of like a fire hose. The
3rd blind man had wrapped his arms around the elephant’s leg….so he said an elephant was much
like the trunk of a large tree. The moral of the story is that reality for humans is all about
perspective and context.
We have that same problem when we take selected verses out of the Bible and look at them
without remembering that they are part of a whole. When we do that, our perspective will probably
contain an element of truth to it, but the overall meaning is distorted. This is why I stress the
principles that Yehoveh has been establishing, and we’ve been identifying, all through our
teachings in Genesis and Exodus. Because, if we come across some Scripture verses which (when
removed from their context and held up as stand alone thoughts) seem to contradict or violate any
of those principles, then we need to look again because we’re misunderstanding the meaning of
those verses. God does not contradict God. The Old Testament does not contradict the New.
Now, the debate over these verses in Colossians stem primarily from overlooking the basic
principles Yehoveh had long ago established; so, by our taking a step back and looking at the
Sabbath issue from a wider view, here’s the questions we need to ask ourselves in order for us to
rightly discern what Paul is attempting to explain.
Question #1 and perhaps the overriding question above all others: does Paul EVER contradict
Christ?
2nd Question: did Paul EVER disobey standard Jewish Law of his era?
3rd Question: whose rules about eating and drinking, festivals, new moons, and Sabbaths is being
talked about in these verses?
1. Does Paul EVER contradict Christ? Well, if we accept the traditional church doctrine that
Shabbat is either abolished or optional or can be change at our whim, we’d have to believe
he did contradict Yeshua. The problem is, if that’s so, where does that put us? Does that
mean we are now left to decide between believing either Christ or Paul? No. Because Paul
does NOT EVER contradict Christ. I don’t mean to be harsh, but if we have decided that
Christ and Paul did contradict each other, then why are we even here today? I say let’s
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throw our Bibles in the trash and go home, because that would make this book of Scripture
anything but accurate and infallible.
Look, we can slip and slide all over the place in deep pursuits of difficult Scriptural Truth: but most
Scripture is very straightforward and explicit. Christ says plainly in Mathew 5:17 “ Do not think that
I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill”. We here
in Torah have looked at this Scripture over and over again. Jesus just SAID He did NOT abolish
the 10 Commandments, or the 613 laws, or ANY principle contained in the Torah. And, Yeshua
goes on to say that not the minutest point about it will change until heaven and earth pass away.
Now, how in the world do we turn right around and interpret a handful of difficult passages to mean
the Sabbath (which is a central theme of the Law and the Prophets) has been abolished, or that
it’s no longer the 7th day, or that we can make it anything we choose.
So, if Christ was telling the truth, then what has been erroneously taught as Paul’s contention that
virtually ALL of God’s self-ordained memorials, including Sabbath, are abolished or changeable,
can not possibly be correct, can it? We can’t have it both ways. This would be the classic example
of Biblical contradiction. Worse, it would be a classic example of the disciple challenging his
master. Christ can’t say it’s not changed or abolished, and then have Paul turn right around and
say it is changed and abolished. And, certainly, that is NOT what Paul said.
1. Did Paul ever disobey the Jewish Law? Well, if he actually DID teach that the Sabbath is
abolished, or that the God-breathed ordinances concerning Shabbat are no longer
applicable, then he has not only disobeyed Jewish Law, but he has disavowed the very
SIGN that God gave to Israel for the Covenant of Moses.
We like to argue today that while Jews…even if they believe in Christ as Messiah….may still be
subject to the Torah, certainly GENTILE Believers are not. Let’s pretend for a moment that this
was so (which, by the way, it is not). It still wouldn’t apply here because Paul was a Jew, NOT a
gentile!
So DID Paul disobey Jewish Law and say that some things from the Torah were now abolished?
He says in the New Testament that he didn’t. In Acts 25:8, Paul said to the Jews in Jerusalem, “I
have committed NO offense against the law of the Jews”. He goes on to say in Acts 28:17, “I have
done NOTHING against the traditions of the fathers”. In other words, not only did he observe all
the straightforward Scriptural commands, he ALSO obeyed the Jewish oral law traditions. No
wiggle room here at all. There was no more important tradition and observance in Jewish Law and
life than Sabbath observance….the Sabbath and the Temple were the centers of Jewish life. So if
we’re to believe Paul is running around telling his new converts, Jews and gentiles, that they can
just stop observing, or change, Sabbaths, and Biblical Feasts, and so on, then Paul is, at the least,
a very conflicted man. But, he would also be committing an offense against Jewish Law that carried
the death penalty with it and he would be contradicting the plain words of His Lord and Savior,
Yeshua.
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So, assuming that Paul was being truthful in Acts that he had NEVER broken Jewish Law or
Jewish traditions, there is absolutely NO WAY that we can construe what he said in Colossians as
meaning that he is telling everybody that the Sabbath can be anything you want it to be…..even
abolished. If he DID lie about not breaking Jewish Law (just so his ministry wasn’t interrupted) then
why would we believe ANYTHING Paul said? The answer is easy: Paul didn’t lie. He never said
Sabbath could be changed or abolished. In fact, in Heb. 4:9 Paul says, “So there remains a
Shabbat keeping for God’s people”.
1. Who’s rules about eating and drinking, Sabbaths, New Moons, etc, was Paul
referring to? Because if it’s God’s rules Paul is saying to ignore it’s one thing, but if it’s
mans’ rules about these sorts of things it’s an entirely different matter. Well, let’s look at
the context of Col. 2. Starting with vs. 16 it states…..so don’t let anyone (any man) pass
judgment on you……
Vs.18 Don’t let anyone deny you the prize…… such PEOPLE are always……
Vs 19 They (people) fail to hold to the Head…..
Vs 22 Such prohibitions are concerned with things meant to perish by being used, and they are
based on MAN MADE RULES AND TEACHINGS. Man made. Not God made. Are we to think that
Paul is now saying that the laws of Torah were NOT given to Moses by God, but instead were man
made? Of course not.
Here Paul sets the context of this entire teaching; it is that these Believers can ignore MAN MADE
doctrines; but, most certainly NOT God’s teachings. Remember, the Sabbath, the 4th Word is not
a man-made TRADITION. Men did not institute the Sabbath; God in the Torah instituted it. But,
men did add hundreds of rules about the Sabbath, and Biblical feasts, and New Moons, and
THAT…..along with pagan rituals that often mimicked Hebrew rituals is what Paul was condemning.
What Paul was fighting, as did Christ, was the mountains of Jewish tradition that was being heaped
on the people AND the now commonplace melding together of various pagan traditions with Jewish
Traditions because 90% of the Jewish population lived scattered throughout the Roman Empire
and had great interest in being tolerant and accepted by their gentile neighbors. These traditions
and observances in many cases flat out replaced Holy Scripture. Members of various Jewish sects
had taken to following Paul around on his travels, trying to recruit his converts into the various
Jewish Messianic sects (denominations) that had quickly sprung up; and each had there own set of
do’s and don’ts, what you can eat, what you can’t, just exactly HOW one is to celebrate Shabbat,
New Moons, and so forth. The most minute details of their lives were being controlled by volume
after volume, literally 1000’s, of man made rules all said to be explaining Scripture. When in fact,
these were primarily manmade doctrine that was REPLACING Scripture.
So, Paul is not railing against God’s Torah in Colossians, he is condemning man-made rules and
doctrines, some pagan, some misguided Tradition, which he plainly says.
Ah….but there seems to be one final out for the gentile Church. There are those who would say,
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yes, yes, that’s all fine; but the Sabbath is for Israel, not for gentile Believers. For you, I have two
things to consider: first, the 10 Words were indeed given to Moses and Israel, weren’t they; since
that is so, then why do you, and the Church system in general, regard them as valid for we the
gentile Church? Isn’t that just a tad schizophrenic? Second, I’d like to quote Paul in Galatians and
Ephesians who goes right to the heart of the matter:
Galatians 3:16 “Now the promises were to Abraham and to his seed…..”
Here is just one of dozens of places in the Bible, OT and New, that establishes that all the
promises, covenants, God would give, He gave to Abraham and/or to his seed; nobody else. So,
who is Abraham’s seed? Israel. Hebrews. Abraham’s descendants. So, since that’s the case,
then how can others and I claim that we, as gentile Christians are mysteriously part of that same
group that we get all the benefits, and are subject to all the principles, of Israel’s covenants?
Here’s the answer to that.

Galatians 3:26-29 “For in union with the Messiah, you are all children of God through this
trusting faithfulness; because as many of you as were immersed into the Messiah have
clothed yourselves with the Messiah, in whom there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave
nor freeman, neither male nor female; for in union with the Messiah Yeshua, you are all one.
Also, if you belong to the Messiah, YOU are seed of Abraham and heirs according to the
promise”.
Let’s look at Ephesians 2:11-13

“Therefore, remember your former state: you Gentiles by birth…called the uncircumcised by those
who, merely because of an operation on their flesh, are called the Circumcised….at that time you
HAD no Messiah. You were estranged from the national life of Israel. You were foreigners to the
covenants embodying God’s promise. You were in this world without hope and without God. But
now, you who were once far off have been brought near through the shedding of the Messiah’s
blood”.
We simply cannot get around it; WE gentile Believers are MADE seed of Abraham by means of
having been joined to Israel’s covenants; and we’re joined to Israel’s covenants by means our
faith, our trust, in the Savior, Yeshua, Christ Jesus. We Gentiles by birth, foreigners, have been
brought into Israel’s covenants. That’s how we’re able to partake of those covenants. Does that
make us physical Jews? Of course not! Because, once again, we see this awesome duality of
Yehoveh’s universe appear: there is both a physical side and a spiritual side to God’s dealing with
men. When Paul says there’s neither Jew nor Gentile, male nor female, etc., that certainly doesn’t
mean that physically the world suddenly became Unisex, that there was no more anatomical
distinction of the sexes and that there was no more race of the Jews, or that gentiles became Jews
or vice-versa. Just our observation of the world around us makes that clear. But, on the spiritual
level, Christ broke all distinction IN HEAVEN, in the spirit world, among people, no matter what that
distinction had been…color, race, sex, nationality, rich or poor, slave or free, Jew or gentile. From a
spiritual point of view Yehoveh sees all Believers as bonded, grafted, adopted into the promises he
gave to Israel, by means of our trusting Christ, our union with Jesus. See, we’re not grafted into
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Christ: our union, by faith, with Christ grafts us into the covenants of Israel.
So why does the Sabbath apply to us? Because we are part of Israel….spiritual Israel….not physical
Israel. Paul calls “spiritual Israel”, the “Israel of God”. We Believers get the benefit of, and are
subject to, all the spiritual principles of the Torah, but not necessarily all the Hebrew-cultural
rituals. Christ’s sermon on the mount was mainly about two things: discounting the traditions of
men, and reaffirming the PRINCIPLES behind the Law that had been obscured by all those
traditions of men. Yehoveh says the Sabbath is an eternal spiritual principle; it is woven into the
very fabric of the universe; and now its benefits belong to every believer. And, God established a
particular day as the weekly Sabbath, blessed it, and made it Holy. Let me say that again: Sabbath
is a GOD established day, not a man-established day. The Sabbath may be FOR man, but it is not
OF man. Christ’s death was FOR man, but it was not OF man. We can’t anymore change the
terms of the Sabbath than we can change the terms of our redemption.
Frankly, I’m not even sure what all the consternation is about when it comes to recognizing that we
ought to observe God’s Sabbath. Observing the Sabbath is not difficult, it doesn’t mean you must
give up Sunday Church, nor that you do Church twice (once on Saturday and again on Sunday). It
can be as simple as on Saturday stopping your regular work, focusing your family on Yehoveh and
His Word, and relaxing and enjoying one another and reveling in this day of physical AND spiritual
renewal. Sabbath is a VERY family oriented day. You don’t have to eat special food nor recite
specific prayers or wear a prayer shawl. But, if you would LIKE to, you have perfect freedom to do
so. You don’t have to stay home and you don’t have to turn off the TV. But, if you feel that’s the
direction God is leading you, then you have perfect freedom to do so. I don’t know anyone who
observes Sabbath who won’t tell you that their lives have been blessed, and they and their family
are all the better for it as a result.
Whatever you decide to do, just please remember this: the Sabbath is NOT a salvation issue, in the
sense that Sabbath observance plus trust in Messiah is what saves; for it is trust in Yeshua, and
nothing else, that gives us our redemption. Whether you observe the Sabbath, or don’t, it has no
bearing on your Eternal Security. And, I’m also not telling you to stop going to Church and Bible
Study on Sunday. The Biblical Jews met several days during the week:1st day, 4th day, and 7th
day Shabbat were kind of typical for meeting. What I’m telling you is that Sunday Church, what we
call the Lord’s Day, and the Shabbat, are two different days, and two different observances. One a
manmade tradition that didn’t even exist before the 4th century A.D, and one God ordained upon
the Creation of the world. I would like to end this discussion on Sabbath by reading to you Isaiah
56:1-7.
READ ISAIAH 56:1-7

This won’t be the last time we discuss the Sabbath, because we’re going to run into again several
times in the Torah.
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Audio Files MP3

Illustrations
As we move forward in our study of the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments, we have finally
moved past the more controversial parts and get into areas that are a bit more comfortable. So,
you can relax.
RE-READ Ex.20:12
The 5th Word enjoins children to show proper respect, and give proper care, to their parents. It also
gives us the reason we should be obedient to this principle: that our days in the land may be
prolonged. Now, depending on your translation, you may say, well, that’s REALLY Jewish,
because God is obviously referring to the land of Israel when He says “land”. And, certainly that is
one aspect of the meaning here. But, as we are now (hopefully) coming to understand, that even
though Yehoveh gave these principles in the Covenant of Moses to Israel, these principles aren’t
JUST for Israel; in reality they are about how the universe that God created is intended to operate.
To sharpen the point just a bit more, these are the principles by which REDEEMED humans are to
live. Let us never forget that Israel was God’s choice, by His grace, to be the receiver and keeper
of God’s Word for all mankind…..not just for themselves.
The word used here in vs. 12 for land, in Hebrew, is Adamah. And, yes, it is related to the name of
the first created man, Adam. Most often Adamah simply means earth, as in soil, or ground, dirt, but
can mean earth as in our planet. Sometimes it has been translated into country or land, (like in the
land of Canaan), but that really gives us the wrong impression of the meaning. For instance, when
the bible tells us Moses was standing on Holy ground, in Hebrew it was standing on Holy Adamah.
The idea is that, generally, adamah is NOT to be taken as a reference to a specific region or
country. Often we’ll see Israelites in the Bible refer to the land of Israel as just “the land”. But an
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entirely different Hebrew word is used in that instance: eretz.
What I’m trying to demonstrate is that Yehoveh is saying that we will receive the blessing of a
longer and more abundant life on earth by treating our parents with the love and respect and care
God expects of us. In fact, this is our duty.
Part of the reason for this principle is the centrality of family in the Lord’s plan for mankind. Family
stability is maintained by the proper observance of the authority structure that God set up for
families, with the parents at the top of that hierarchy. The violation of this command brings family
disintegration; the violation of this command as becoming a society norm brings national
disintegration. In the book of Ezekiel (22:7) Ezekiel blames the breakdown of the family as one of
the prime reasons that the Lord allowed Judah to be exiled to Babylon.
RE-READ Ex.20:13
The 6th Word is a prohibition against the killing of human beings. But, to understand the rather
narrow sense this commandment is to be taken, underline the word “murder”. This commandment
is not about the general sense of killing. In Hebrew the word used here is “ratsach”. It refers
to unjust killing and ONLY unjust killing.…. whether intentional or unintentional. It does not mean to
“execute” as in carrying out a completely lawful judicial sentence. It does not mean killing an
enemy in battle, or killing an intruder in defense of yourself or another. Murder is a very good
translation for the word ratsach, and the way the Western world of today thinks of Murder or
manslaughter is exactly as this verse intends.
Now, the next question is, what exactly is just versus unjust killing of a human being? Well, that’s
one of the many topics that Yehoveh is going to explain beginning in Chapter 21, in the regulations
and ordinances that will follow…..what is commonly referred to as the Law, the 613 laws of the
Hebrew civil code. We’ll discuss that when we get to it.
Here’s the thing about murder: God says that ONLY He has the right to take human life. However,
the Torah specifically gives human government the task of determining the guilt or innocence of a
person accused of this crime, AND He delegates the task of extracting the blood for blood penalty.
Genesis 9 sets up this dynamic as concerns the Lord’s rationale for capitol punishment: “Whoever
sheds the blood of a man, by man shall the guilty party’s blood be shed”. Why is the unjust killing
of a human so serious? Again in Genesis 9 we are told, “In God’s image did God make man”.
Man is derived from God so for a man to be killed is very serious and God’s justice requires the
ultimate penalty.
What is so ironic is that as history moves along mankind thinks of himself as becoming more
civilized and humane, and so most societies have now abolished the death penalty. This is a direct
rebellion against God’s laws and principles and in fact by NOT taking the murderer’s life
according to the Lord’s justice system human life is CHEAPENED. Let me make something clear:
the Bible gives man absolutely no latitude to commute a murderer’s death sentence.
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But this practice of commuting death sentences to imprisonment (or even the payment of ransom
to the victims family), or abolishing capital punishment altogether is not a modern phenomenon;
during the 2nd Temple period (at the same time Yeshua was alive) imposition of the death penalty
by the Sanhedrin was rare. It is popular in Christian circles to say it was because the Romans had
taken away the right of the Jews to carry out executions; but that is too simplistic. In reality records
show that all the Jewish court had to do was to go to the local Roman authority with their decision
in a capitol offense, the Roman governor would review the case and unless he had serious
reservations (and as we see with Jesus’ execution sometimes it didn’t matter if he DID have
serious reservations), the Romans would approve it and then carry out the execution for the Jewish
religious authorities. In other words the Jews were absolutely able to order the death sentence; it’s
just that the Romans had to concur on the decision and be the agents to carry out the penalty.
The Jews had for a long time decided that mercy was the better avenue and often commuted death
sentences for murderers. In the Mishnah tractate Makkot we’ll find a statement that the opinion of
the Sanhedrin was that to hand down a death sentence even once every 7 years was too much. A
Rabbi who commented on that statement (Rabbi Ben Azariah) says that once in 70 years was too
much. Rabbi Akiva says had he been on the Sanhedrin he never would have allowed ANY death
sentence under any circumstance.
Rabbi Gamaliel responded to this perverted mindset that had the Sanhedrin adopted the view of
those most radical Rabbis and NEVER gave out the death sentence, the amount of innocent blood
shed in Israel would have increased dramatically. Is that not what we’ve seen in the US where the
death penalty has been abolished in many states and the legal system makes extracting it almost
impossible in states where it is allowed? Bloodshed has not decreased by commuting death
penalties, it has increased.
The Lord’s principle is that to take the life of a murderer is to actually PROTECT life, innocent life.
RE-READ Ex.20:14
Now, depending on your version the 7th commandment is either verse 14 or it is part of verse 13.
The 7th Word that a married person should not commit adultery. Now, while we won’t go into
depth with this (although we probably should), I do want to talk about this commandment for a bit,
because it sets up a God-principle that most of us don’t entirely grasp. The first thing to
understand is that the entire concept of adultery, by definition, ONLY occurs within the institution of
a marriage; outside of a marriage, adultery has no meaning. And, marriage is not only an important
element of God’s plan for mankind, but it plays a role in God’s relationship with mankind.
The whole concept of a marriage is that a “union” occurs; as concerns human-to-human

relationships, scripturally, this marriage union is between a man and a woman. While we too often
think of marriage as a physical or sexual matter, or in our American society as a financial or legal
matter, in fact the union God is talking about in the 7th Commandment is PRIMARILY a spiritual
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union. Certainly, in the present world the physical aspects of marriage exist, and not the least
reason for it being the propagation of the human race. But that will end in the not too distant future.
The reason I say this, is that from Yehoveh’s perspective, the sin of adultery is less about a
husband or a wife having a physical sexual union outside of their marriage than it is about our
spirits entering into an unauthorized union with another. God has authorized that a man and a
woman, before Him, may be joined in every level of union between themselves; but ONLY between
themselves. The only other union allowed within that marriage is with God, through Christ (One
could argue that a kind of 3rd union is permitted, that between the married couple and the body of
Christ, the true church. But, that union is NOT quite the same thing, which is why it is spoken of in
terms of unity, not union.)
You’ve probably noticed that our union with Christ is often spoken of in the Bible using marriage
terminology; and the use of that marriage terminology is NOT an analogy NOR is it an illustration. It
is absolutely real, and that fact should also help us to be more aware of how we are to consider the
essence of marriage from Yehoveh’s point of view, and how we are to consider the nature of our
relationship with Christ. Just as earthly marriage IS a man and a woman coming into union with
one another, Salvation IS our being in union with Christ.
Now let me flesh that out just a little more. In the future there is going to be a glorious marriage
feast, often called The Marriage Feast of the Lamb, in which Christ’s bride, the Church (meaning
all believers), will enter into marriage with Him. This tells us that even though we are immediately in
union with Christ upon our acceptance of His Lordship (i.e., when we are Saved), we are not yet
FULLY into a FORMAL and COMPLETED marriage-like union with Him. So our union and unity
with Christ is going to someday become even MORE complete at the end of this present age than
it is today. At first that statement may sound like double-talk. How can it be that we’re kinda
married but kinda not to Yeshua right now, with the marriage becoming fully complete later? While
that concept might bother us a little, it would have made perfect sense to the Hebrews of Christ’s
day. Because just as today where there is FIRST an engagement to be married, a betrothal before
the actual wedding ceremony occurs, so it was then. Back then betrothal carried with it a far more
serious and tangible promise when the engagement occurred than it does now. As the right
situation arises, we’ll study more in depth all the ceremonial aspects of Hebrew marriage, which
are not just interesting but quite instructive. For now just understand that at the moment of betrothal
a Hebrew man and woman were treated as though they were married; that is, the union, to a
degree, began upon engagement. A Chethubah, a legal marriage contract, was drawn up and
agreed to and it was immediately effective upon betrothal; and an engaged couple could not
become UNengaged without a formal legal divorce decree. Unfaithfulness during the betrothal
period was considered adultery; upon betrothal even the property of the woman was considered to
belong to her fiancée unless he renounced the rights to it. All that remained after betrothal for the
marriage to be 100% completed was the consummation of marriage, physical union, which
occurred AFTER the ceremonial wedding feast.
We who are Christ’s are currently in a state of betrothal to Him. We are in the marriage
PROCESS. Right now, Christ is with us in Spirit, and so we are in union with Him in spirit; but upon
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the Marriage Feast of the Lamb He will be with us in PERSON, and so we will be in union with him,
in person. So even during our CURRENT, earthly time of betrothal to Christ for us to come into
union with something that is forbidden, for us to come into a state of unfaithfulness to Christ, puts
us in a state of adultery in our relationship to Christ in Yehoveh’s eyes.
The NT Greek word “moichos” (moy-kos) which is typically correctly translated “adultery”, MUST
be understood in its OT Hebrew sense in order for us to fully understand what God is telling us
about adultery. When the Hebrews spoke of adultery, they meant faithlessness to your union
partner. It did NOT have to be an overt act of having sex with another to be considered adultery,
although most often that is what occurred. What constituted adultery, and the proper proofs and
punishments for it, changed considerably over time. During the time of the Patriarchs, adultery
required the wife to have had sex with another man. No proof other than the husband’s suspicions
were needed, and he himself could put her to death. The Laws of Moses brought the requirement
for conviction to a minimum of two witnesses. By the time of Christ much proof was needed, a court
of law would rule on the matter, and death was still one of a range of possible punishments, but
more often a public humiliation of some kind was the penalty. Not long AFTER Christ, the death
penalty was removed for the sin of adultery because it had become so rampant that it was almost
impossible to police; and the number of women that would have been executed was so huge as to
make carrying out the death sentence unthinkable. During ALL Biblical times, adultery was
considered a PURELY female crime and sin….men were not subject to it. Of course, Christ made
clear that that most certainly was NOT God’s view of it and in Leviticus we see that men and
women were subject to the same consequences.
Faithlessness of a women to her union partner in the form of fraternizing with another man, or
taking another man’s side in a disagreement against her husband, was at times adultery in Biblical
times. So adultery as concerns God, carries with it this broad sense of one’s faithlessness to
Yehoveh on a spiritual level; and even includes the idea of drawing another person along with you
into this faithlessness, because it takes two to tango, doesn’t it?
The thing is there are certain unions available to mankind that we are prohibited from entering into,
especially if we wish to also be in union with Christ. In other words there are some unions that are
mutually exclusive. The Scriptures explain that in essence WHAT or WHO we are in union with,
defines how God sees us. So an obvious example would be that if we come into spiritual union with
Satan, we could not also be in spiritual union with Christ….those two unions being mutually
exclusive. There are other forbidden unions, all of them destructive, and Paul provides a list of
them in 1 Cor.6, but that’s not our purpose so we won’t be dealing with each of those. The point is
that our union with Christ is MOST similar to our union in human marriage, from God’s viewpoint.
Therefore, for a Believer to join into a forbidden union while in union with Christ, or for a husband
or wife to enter into a union outside of their marriage, the bible will use the same term for both:
“adultery”. So, we need to understand the serious nature of this particular sin in a MUCH larger
context than we typically think of it.
Now, I’m sure some here would like to discuss a little about the modern “adultery” aspects of
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divorce and remarriage. I really don’t think this is the appropriate lesson for that, but I would like to
make just a couple of brief comments about it. First, committing adultery, whether by being
unfaithful to a spouse, or perhaps (depending on your theology) by getting a divorce and then
remarrying, is in neither case an unforgivable sin. There isn’t a sin that we can commit that
Yeshua hasn’t already paid the price for. And, also please grasp that in the common meaning of
the state of adultery in the Bible, it had to do with a married woman living with a man other than her
husband…..which was looked down upon by society. That is, she had never obtained a legal
divorce, typically because it was the husband’s prerogative to grant her a divorce or not. Men, on
the other hand, commonly divorced their wives for the purpose of being with another woman….. that
is, they simply tired of the woman that was their wife and sought another. While this was socially
acceptable in those days, it was NOT acceptable to Yehoveh, and Yeshua spoke at length on this,
trying to make that quite clear.
Second, the Bible struggles greatly with divorce and remarriage. Paul goes to some length to deal
with the matter, and provides certain guidelines for it…. Some of which He says is from Christ, the
remainder being his personal opinion. Yet, He (and Jesus) makes it clear that the reason for even
addressing the issue of divorce and remarriage is that Yehoveh is well aware of the current
hardness of mankind’s heart, and that while He is in no way excusing divorce, He has made
provisions so that we do not sin even further should our marriage go into the ditch.
See, this is the context in which Paul made his statement about how it is better in some ways that,
IF you can, to not be married….. because there is this conundrum that the present corrupt state of
mankind faces in which single people may be unable to remain celibate (to avoid fornication), yet
married people may be unable to remain faithful to each other (to avoid adultery), or even to be
able to get along well enough to attain sufficient peace to stay married. And, in both cases, when
we fail, it affects our relationship with Yehoveh, which is what Paul is so concerned about. The
problems we face today in this regard are NO different than in Christ’s day.
And, finally, we should see the grace of God in all this. For Pete’s sake don’t think that if you are
divorced and now remarried that you are in an unauthorized union and, in order to get right with
God, you should end it. Was it sin that put us in that situation in the first place? Oh, yeah. And, that
is what both Christ and Paul were getting at, because many divorcees, men in particular, felt no
remorse at all over divorce. Their thought was that under the laws of Moses (and some later
Traditions) there were legal procedures established for couples to divorce. So if they scrupulously
followed those legal procedures it was all fine and well with Yehoveh. Wrong. If you are divorced
and remarried, have you sought God’s forgiveness for it, and all that led to it? If you have, then
accept His forgiveness, and acknowledge Christ’s complete payment on your behalf for that
transgression, and move forward with gratitude for the wonderful mercy he has shown by giving
you a new union, within which you can operate the way men and women were designed and meant
to operate, even though His intent was that we should never need another other than the original
union. Man, THAT is God’s love. THAT is why we NEED Christ.
The bottom line is that while on the surface the way we typically think of adultery is as an issue of
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the flesh, which it most certainly is, in reality it is also a very important spiritual issue…..here’s that
duality again, the physical and the spiritual existing simultaneously… and adultery revolves all
around forbidden “unions”. So we must be clear that this 7th commandment deals not only with
our human marriage relationships but also our relationship with Yehoveh, and more specifically
Yeshua, to whom every Believer is betrothed.
RE-READ Ex.20:15
This is another one that may show up as verse 13 in your Bible. The 8th Word about stealing is
pretty straightforward, so there’s no need to dwell here. It means exactly what it says. Yet, the
Hebrew word for stealing, ganab, also carries with it the idea of stealth……sneakiness. So the idea
here is that getting something that does not rightfully belong to you by means of being sneaky or
deceptive is just as much stealing as it is walking into a 7-11 and sticking a Twinkie into your
pocket. Obviously, putting that food into your pocket is a crime. But in God’s economy obtaining
something by means of deception, even if it is technically LEGAL and therefore not a prosecutable
crime, is also stealing.
RE-READ Ex.20:16
The 9th Word: Now, this is often just presented as “do not lie”. And, certainly, that is part of this
Commandment’s meaning. But, this Word is written with a legal/judicial sense to it, and speaks
primarily to the idea of saying something falsely against someone in a court of law. And that fits
very well with the framework of the Torah, the Law. That is, that all of the ancient Hebrew Sages
saw the Torah as being about God’s justice. So, the context of this Word is very much the same
thing as perjury. That is, in a trial if you give false answers, or you accuse someone falsely,
knowing full well that the accusation is not true, then it is YOU that is guilty. Just as we are to be
VERY careful when we occasion to use God’s name, we must also be very careful what it is we
say about other people….. particularly if it is negative in nature. When we gossip, or accuse
someone of something that we have no firsthand knowledge of, we are in danger of violating the
principle of this 9th Word.
RE-READ Ex.20:17
The 10th Word is that “you shall not covet your neighbor’s house”, or his wife or his servant or his
animals or anything else that belongs to him. Now, in plain language, to covet means to want
something REALLY bad. That you’d do just about anything to get it. Or, that someone has it and
you don’t makes you so envious you can hardly stand it, it makes you bitter. Or, even more
commonly, that someone has something that you don’t, is unfair to you…..because you deserve it
more than they do. Now, the list of items in this Word that one might be tempted to covet, while
completely literal, is also very much in the context of ancient Hebrew life and culture. In tribal
cultures, like Israel, the typical PAGAN way someone gained (which BTW Yehoveh was trying to
move Israel away from) was by taking what belonged to someone else. Usually it was from outside
your own tribe that you took, but not necessarily. The reference to slaves, or man and
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maidservants, is mostly about property and wealth. Servants were generally purchased, or they
had willingly indentured themselves (sometimes called bond-servant) to you for a period of time, in
order that they might pay off a family debt, or to learn a trade, or because they were so poor it was
one of the few ways they could survive. But, the taking, the kidnapping, of someone’s wife,
children, and slaves was also a common pagan method of increasing your own personal power by
increasing the size of your family or tribe. And, BTW, this practice is not a dead one; we’ll find it
still occurring today within tribal cultures of Africa and Asia.
The mention of the animals is again about wealth. Since the Israelites were primarily herdsmen,
now, the animals represented whatever wealth they owned. The more animals you had, the
wealthier you were.
And, in all fairness to these 3 million wandering Hebrews, what else did they have to occupy their
thoughts, day and night, than wanting what someone else might have that they didn’t? They didn’t
pack up and wander every day. After Mt. Sinai, they only moved a few more times. During their 40
years in the Wilderness, they stayed several months in one spot, until pasture or water gave out, or
by God’s direction they moved. Once settled, there would have been an awful lot of idle hours to
just sit and think. And, people being people, especially as dissatisfaction of their situation would
creep in, what else did they have to WANT out there in the barren desert, other than what one of
their neighbors had? We are well aware, or at least we should be, that in a welfare society, where
there is much idleness, coveting what others have becomes a national pastime.
Well, that completes our look at the 10 Words, which are the10 principles upon which God will
base all other commands and instructions that He will give to mankind. So, this is just the
preparation for what is about to come.
RE-READ EXODUS 20:15-23 (some Bibles may be 18-26)
What a day it had been for Israel! The mind-bending physical phenomena that had been shaking
the mountain, smoke billowing upwards from its summit, the thundering sound of Yehoveh’s voice
as He presented the principles of His justice system for ALL of Israel to hear, and the shofar notes
echoing off the valley floor all served to put a reverent fear of God into the people. Could it have
been that just as Peter felt he could not possibly stand in the presence of God when he finally
understood whom Yeshua was, so it was for the Hebrews….. that their legs were barely able to hold
them upright long enough for them to back away from the Holy mountain?
So, the people asked Moses to speak to God FOR them, and for God to speak to Moses, and then
Moses to relay to them what God had said. Unfortunately, this was not entirely a spiritual “fear”
that caused them to ask Moses to intervene. And, Moses instantly recognized this and told the
people in vs. 17 not to be afraid; for there were three reasons Yehoveh had come to them in this
awesome display of power and glory: 1) to test, or to try, them…. To put Israel on trial. Here the
Hebrew word for trial is nacah, and it imparts the idea of the Hebrews as being the objects of
Yehoveh’s justice system. Too much we get the mental picture of the phrase “being tested” or
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“trial” as a series of challenges or obstacles thrown in our path by God, seeing how we react to
them; and then, depending on how we do, we are judged. While there are, at times, challenges and
difficulties in our lives that Yehoveh allows us to contend with, that’s not the primary thrust of this
idea; rather, it is that the Lord is steadily teaching His way of justice to His people: both how to live
it and how to administer it. The 2nd reason is that the people should have an AWE of God, not a
dread of God. The idea is to have a reverence for His Holiness. Those that love God NEVER need
to have a horror of God……but those that do NOT love God, most certainly should be afraid. And,
3rd that the Hebrews learn not to sin. God, through the 10 Words He just gave them and the
coming series of 600+ “laws”, is teaching the people just what His Holy nature is all about, what
His standard of justice and righteousness is….. not just so they can develop a philosophy about life
like their pagan neighbors, or to make religious doctrines, or to have intellectual discussions about
it. Rather, that the people He sets apart for Himself do not offend, do not transgress against, the
Most Holy One who does the setting apart according to His grace.
Next, Yehoveh tells Moses to remind the people (and frankly, I think this was more for the benefit of
future generations and not those who were there) that it was God Himself that spoke these words,
and NOT just to Moses. ALL heard it. It was done most publicly so that there could be no doubt that
this was God’s way, not Moses’.
Yehoveh seems to once again be addressing the matter of “other gods”, and making images. Is
He just repeating Himself…..repeating the 2nd Commandment? I don’t think so. The 2nd Word
certainly said “no other gods”, but then went on to talk about making symbols and images and
representations…..of HIM. And, this fits very well with the earliest Hebrew thought on the matter,
and was confirmed in the building of the Wilderness Tabernacle that NO images of His person did
He instruct to be built, and certainly none were made.
He goes on to institute another important principle: Yehoveh will determine just where altars to Him
are to be built, and HOW they are to be constructed. There is ONLY one purpose for an altar:
sacrifice. An altar is NOT a simple monument, a remembrance of a person or an event. It’s not a
podium where someone speaks or performs. Whether of the heathen or of the Godly, an altar is a
place where worship of a deity takes place and sacrifice to that deity occurs. And wherever it is that
God decides an altar shall be placed, there, presumably in conjunction with a proper sacrifice, God
will bless His people. But ONLY there, not just any place the people should choose. And, He
doesn’t want an altar site built in a grand fashion; because we ALL understand, deep down, what
really happens when we attempt to build fabulous edifices to Yehoveh…..we wind up building
fabulous edifices to ourselves….our own efforts…. our own talents and gifts….our own
prosperity…..surroundings that please US. Yehoveh says here to simply pile up some dirt to
sacrifice upon. And He also gives the Israelites permission to build an altar of stone, if they choose.
But it must be simply stacked stones, just as they pick them up from off the ground. Because to
take a tool to that rock to attempt to make it better than it occurs naturally, in God’s eyes,
PROFANES that altar. Well, if EVER there was an instruction from God that has been ignored by
Hebrew and Christian alike, it is this one. Don’t we build the most wonderful, fabulous cathedrals,
churches, and synagogues FOR Yehoveh…..we decorate them with the finest materials and do our
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best to keep them immaculate. And let’s not confuse the Wilderness Tabernacle that would be
built with expensive materials, and later the Temple (which was just the permanent version of the
Tabernacle), with what God is talking about here. The Tabernacle was built as a teaching tool and
place where God would dwell with man. Everything about the Tabernacle would have great
significance; prophetic significance….it was even in some ways modeled after Yehoveh’s heavenly
abode. In our day, God no longer wants temples of stone and wood and gold and silver. WE are
His temple. Just as all He wanted here in Exodus was the dust of the ground as the place of
sacrifice, so He wants the simple dust of the ground from which WE were created as the place
where His Spirit lives with man. The places where we gather to have fellowship and communal
worship are NOT modern day equivalents of the Tabernacle or the Temple…..God didn’t even want
a permanent Temple to be built…..He only did so because King David was so insistent that he build
one. No, I think I can say unequivocally that Yehoveh would rather we serve Him with our
obedience than with magnificent structures; that we would use all that money and time it takes to
build and maintain beautiful buildings instead to feed the hungry, heal the sick, bless His people
Israel, and take the gospel to the world.
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Audio Files MP3

Illustrations
Chapter 21 of Exodus begins with these simple and straightforward words from YHWH: “ Now
these are the rulings you are to present to them.....
Well, maybe not so simple after all; Exodus 21 is one of those chapters that has to be looked at
very carefully because some subtle ideas and notions are presented that can greatly affect
everything that comes after it. Therefore, before we even read it, we’re going spend this entire
lesson discussing what to look for.
The subtleties begin with the very first word of chapter 21: in the original Hebrew the word is
ve-‘elleh, which MOST literally means “and these are”; the key word being “and”. Why is it
important to replace that one little word “now” with “and” or to add the word “and” back in to
some versions where it’s missing? Because as Rabbi Ishmael says in the Mekhilta, the
term ve-‘elleh is always a connecting term in Hebrew. That is, it indicates that what is about to be
said is but a continuation of what has just been said. The context for what is about to be spoken
has been set in what came just before the word “ve-‘elleh”.
We’ve talked about this before and I’m not going to repeat it except to remind you that the
Scriptures…..OT and New…..were NOT written with chapter and verse interruptions and markings. It
was far into the future after the Bible was written, in the 13th century AD, when the Archbishop of
Canterbury (Stephen Langton) saw the advantage of breaking the Bible up into bite-sized chunks
for easier study. And for all practical purposes it was his system of chapters and verses that is still
in use today. About 200 years later a Rabbi did something similar (but ONLY for only the Old
Testament) because he felt that Bishop Langton’s chapter and verse marks ruined the flow of the
Hebrew, and Jews well knew that. Therefore, depending on the version of Bible you have, you
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might have some OT chapters longer or shorter than other versions, and some verses not
numbered the same as in other versions.
The point is that chapter and verse marks are artificial and arbitrary. The case before us is a
perfect example of this: we have just concluded studying the 10 Commandments of Exodus 20,
and now we get this statement to start chapter 21 that “these are the rulings you are to present
to them…” It has been the common gentile Christian premise that because of those beginning
words of chapter 21 that what exists in Exodus 20 (the 10 Commandments) is therefore completely
disconnected from what begins in chapter 21……the laws and rulings that form the Jewish Law; that
the context of Exodus 20 is at and end, and a new context begins with the initial words of chapter
21. It is this erroneous view that has allowed the Church, for centuries, to somehow disassociate
the 10 Commandments from all other rulings and laws of the Torah. That is, we have a Church that
says the Torah and the Law is abolished but at the same moment validates the continuation of the
10 Commandments. Yet what we see is that in reality the 10 Commandments are plainly and
literally but the first 10 laws, even though they are at the same time the grand principles under
which all other law will be fenced in. It is much like the Preamble to our Constitution; the Preamble
is NOT a separate document with a separate thought process apart from the Constitution. Rather,
the Preamble is but the opening words of the Constitution, and it sets up the basic context and
principles by which everything that follows it MUST be fenced in.
Let’s move on to the next significant point contained in the opening verse of Exodus 21, and it
concerns the word “rulings” that is most typically found in there. If you look from Bible version to
Bible version, in place of the word “rulings” you may find the word laws, or ordinances, or
judgments, or rules or statutes. And, these all have roughly the same sense in our modern way of
thinking: that what is to follow is a written legal code of behavior; a civil code of 613 laws for the
community of Israel that is most often referred to as “The Law”.
The original Hebrew word that is usually translated law, rule, or judgments, is Mishpat…that is,
putting the original Hebrew word Mishpat in vs. 1 makes it read “Now these are the mishpat you
are to present to them (meaning Israel)…” So, God characterizes all that will follow vs. 1 as
“mishpat”. Even though this civil code is almost universally referred to as “The Law”, the term
“law” as we think of law, is NOT what mishpat means.
It is the important meaning of this word Mishpat, and another Hebrew word that often accompanies
it, “tzedek”, that we are going to spend some time examining today because Mishpat and tzedek
contain within them some powerful, divine concepts that the Christians have not fully understood.
This misunderstanding, coupled with the ever-present anti-Jewish bias that has been literally built-
in to the Church practically since its inception, has brought about a persistent negative view of the
OT, which wrongly colors our perceptions about how the Torah relates to the Covenant of Christ.
Before we can better understand the uniquely Hebrew concepts of mishpat and tzedek, we’re first
going to have to understand a couple of basic premises of the ancient Hebrew mind because they
are nearly the opposite of the way that gentile Christians think. In fact, if you’ll pay close attention
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to what I’m about to tell you, you will have a far greater understanding of the NT in general and the
book of Romans in particular.
I’ll begin by using an (admittedly) overly simplistic illustration: An often-quoted Christian cliché’
about the mindset of too many modern day Believers is that ‘we are so heavenly minded that we
are no earthly good’. That is, some Believers are so concerned about what happens once we
enter eternity and begin living with God in heaven that our time here on earth becomes
secondary…. our physical lives being almost irrelevant, good deeds and duties to our fellow man
are set aside, we are just in a waiting period as compared to what lies ahead.
The OT Hebrews, on the other hand, paid little attention to heaven or eternity, at least as it
pertained to a place that THEY might someday exist; instead, all of their attention, particularly as
concerned their relationship with Yehoveh, was focused on their earthly lives…..all that happened
before they died.
There is very good reason for the ancient Hebrews to have felt that way. It might surprise you to
know that in the OT we’ll find almost nothing about what happens after someone dies. There is
precious little discussion in the OT that addresses even the possibility of an afterlife. One of the
questions I am constantly asked, and I’m sure other Bible teachers face the same inquiry, is ‘what
happened to the OT people, Hebrew and otherwise, who died’, since Christ was yet to come?
Well, while the subject of death and the afterlife is of supreme interest to we Christians, it wasn’t
nearly so dominant to the OT Hebrews; and that fact has much to do with just how the Hebrews
viewed all that God told them on Mt. Sinai, and what we see written down in the Torah. In general
the ancient Hebrew view was that death is a natural end to existence just as birth is a natural
beginning. Now, they certainly did NOT look forward to death anymore that we do, nor did they
take it simply matter-of-factly or casually. But, they also didn’t give much thought as to what
happened, if anything, after death. Their main concern, as regarded death, was that they didn’t
want to die until they’d lived-out the fullest possible term of a natural life span. Their fear had little
to do with what happened AFTER death; rather it was to avoid being “cut off”; cut-off being the
Biblical term for a premature death that might come from sickness, or being killed in battle, or an
accident, or being murdered, or even as a judgment from God. And, “cut off” was also what was to
be the destiny of the wicked….that is, their wickedness was to be rewarded by a shortened life.
Conversely, when we hear the Biblical phrase, “they breathed their last and were gathered to their
fathers”, it simply means that that person had lived to a ripe old age, which was all they really
hoped for. But, it also indicated that they held onto vestiges of Ancestor Worship and that some
essence of their being MIGHT, in some undefined way, commune with their ancestors after they
died.
So, premature death was generally seen as the consequences of, the punishment for, unrighteous
living…..that is, disobedience to the Law, up to and including downright wickedness. No further
consequence for sin (beyond physical death) was contemplated, because in general, death was
seen as the end of existence.
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Sheol, to the ancient OT Hebrew mind, was the place of the dead. It has often been described by
Pastors and Bible Teachers as but the OT version of the NT term, Hades, which is usually
considered to be Hell. Now, from a theological standpoint, it is certainly arguable that technically,
they may be correct. However, from a standpoint of what the ancient Hebrews actually thought
about it, that’s incorrect. Sheol, to the OT Hebrews, was basically the grave. Death and the grave
was a mystery for them, and while there is the slightest hint that in some abstract way there might
be “something” after death, they had no clue what it was. However the Hebrews, after Babylon,
lets say 550 BC and forward, did eventually develop some ideas that perhaps a different kind of
existence began after death, but it was certainly not a better life than the one they left….the one
they had before they died. Whatever fuzzy view they did have about what happened once their
lifeless bodies entered Sheol, their graves, these thoughts are scattered throughout the OT, in tiny
snippets, and are difficult to piece together. But, most certainly, there was NO concept of living an
eternity in the presence of God Almighty OR of ‘going to heaven when we die’; in fact, the general
thought we find in the OT is that Sheol, the grave, permanently separates the dead from Yehoveh.
Those “separation” thoughts are what has led some Christian teachers to claim that Sheol was the
OT version of Hell, a place of punishment for the unrighteous……and I feel certain they are wrong,
because the OT states that ALL descend to Sheol…..which, once again, is basically a concept
whereby all die and all go to the grave. Sheol, therefore, was viewed as the great common
denominator for all mankind…. righteous OR wicked, all men died and their existence ceased. So,
what mattered, was life.
Now, this is a very stark contrast to what the entire rest of the ancient world believed. Other than
for the Hebrews, virtually every culture ever archeologically uncovered had some kind of extensive
cult of the dead. We’re all fairly aware that the Great Pyramids were built as much as a protective
place for the Pharaohs to live their afterlife in peace and comfort as anything else. A fully
developed Underworld myth, the spirit world of the dead, even belief in reincarnation was standard
operating procedure for the entire ancient world…..except for the OT Hebrews.
What mattered to the OT Hebrew, therefore, was what happened during his lifetime. They believed
that life, physical life, was the beginning and apparently the ending of your existence AND….now
this is the key…… your ONLY time to serve God. However, by the time of Chris, much Hebrew
doctrine and tradition had developed on death and afterlife, even the concept of resurrection; the
term, in Hebrew, that was used to encompass BOTH life after death AND at times a new world
after Messiah comes, was “olam haba” (in English,” the world to come”). While we won’t find
much on the subject in the OT Scriptures, we will find it in books that were REMOVED from the
Bible by we Protestants only a couple of hundred years ago…..the Apocrypha. That’s right, there
were several other books included in the Bible but they were removed by the Protestant Church at
around the same time as our Revolutionary War and the Declaration of Independence.
The books of the Apocrypha span the time from the end of the OT, about 400 BC, to the beginning
of the New. And, as might be expected, we find in those books much disagreement over which of
the many influential Rabbis had the proper view of death and afterlife. Why so much
disagreement?…… because the source of these views had very little to do with Scripture, and far
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more to due with men’s thoughts and philosophies. But even then……we must realize that the
afterlife STILL held only a minor place in the minds and purposes of the Israelites, except in times
of extreme persecution, such as under Antiochus Epiphanies in the 2nd century BC, and under the
Romans before, during, and after Christ’s time. The here and now was everything for the OT
Hebrews…..and even after they developed an interest and some theology on death and beyond, it
still didn’t dominate their thoughts or dictate their lives, in general. And, what is so important to
understand is that the notions of death and afterlife that developed shortly before Christ was born
were generally not Biblical…..they were based on newly developed manmade traditions, and heavily
influenced by Greek thought which was now pervasive in much of Judaism.
Now, based on what I just told you, if you were a Hebrew in OT Biblical times, particularly from the
time of Moses onward, how would YOU have lived your earthly life? A life that, as far as anybody
knew, ended at the grave with no real thought of anything further. If you loved God, you’d probably
see to it that the 70 or 80 years you were alive revolved around your relationship with Yehoveh;
and if you were very serious about the lordship of Yehoveh you’d do all you could to be righteous
before God because once you died you believed that your relationship with Yehoveh permanently
ended. You had no more opportunity to please God, or even communicate with Him. Being
righteous, and pleasing Yehoveh, meant being obedient to Him…in fact, that’s exactly what we
were told in the 10 Commandments. So the ancient Hebrew worked diligently to please Yehoveh in
their every day activities, in every phase of their lives. This was their goal and their life’s purpose.
Now, contrast that ancient Hebrew mindset with our modern Christian view. I think its fair to say
that perhaps our primary goal today, as Believers, is obtaining Eternal Security; that is, that we are
assured, unequivocally, of having an afterlife, and that it will be far better than our earthly lives, and
that it is forever, and it will be in the very presence of God. So, Christians tend to focus on the hope
of an eternal future with God, as a reward for an important decision that we make while alive….. to
accept Yeshua as Lord and Savior. On the other hand, ancient Hebrews looked primarily to the
present…. because, generally speaking, they felt that the present life was all there was. That
whatever reward they might receive from Yehoveh occurred during their lifetimes, based on their
daily obedience and decisions, and that the most tangible reward was to live a longer life.
Can you see how these two very different views held by Christians, versus the OT Biblical
Hebrews, on life, death, and afterlife, make such great impact on how we each accept our duties to
God; or even how important, or unimportant, we view our absolute obedience to God’s commands
in our daily walk? It also makes an enormous difference on the meaning we attach to God’s
principles, and to His Word.
These two different views also extend to how Hebrews and Christians each think of salvation. Even
today, when you say “Salvation” to an observant Jew, it means something totally different than
what we think Salvation entails…again, NOT how you get it, but what it IS. While it is not
unanimous, in general the Hebrews thought, and continue to think, of salvation as an accomplished
fact by means of their forefathers. That is, God in all of His Grace and Mercy, established the set-
apart group, the saved people, through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and therefore if, by God’s
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Grace, you were fortunate enough to be a member of that set-apart group, the Hebrews, the
Israelites (expressed sometimes in the Bible as the seed of Abraham), you were saved. Saved
from what? From not being a pagan.
600 years after the covenant of Abraham first established the set-apart people came the advent of
a new covenant from Yehoveh, the Covenant of Moses. Upon the covenant of Moses, one’s intent
to be obedient to that New Covenant, what is commonly called the Law, was what kept you in the
set-apart group…..kept you saved, kept you from being a pagan. So, for the ancient Hebrew being
saved happened by first being a member of the group whom God set aside as His own special
people, the Israelites, the Hebrews, and then by remaining in the group by means of your
dedication to obeying the Law. Being born a Hebrew, and being a part of the Mosaic Covenant
through obedience to the law was your REWARD, so to speak. That is, simply being part of God’s
people, being part of Israel, was what salvation consisted of. Nothing more. The thought of any
additional future reward after your life was over was simply not part of salvation by the thinking of
those who wrote the OT Scriptures.
Again, contrast this with the Christian viewpoint that Salvation is mostly about what happens
AFTER we die. For us, Salvation has to do with forgiveness of sins in this present life, obtaining a
righteousness based on what someone ELSE did (Jesus Christ), and as a result we receive an
afterlife, for all eternity, with Yehoveh. Our reward takes place PRIMARILY in the future, in a spirit
world, after we die.
With all of that as a background, perhaps we can NOW better understand the mind of the Israelites,
those ancient Hebrews, and all their descendants, in their fervent desire to follow the 613 Laws of
Torah in their short life span on earth. The type of righteousness we Christians seek is mainly to
get us into Heaven; the type of righteousness Hebrews hoped for was, in some ways, a day-to-day
earthly issue, with the primary reward simply knowing that you were obedient, and therefore
pleasing to Yehoveh, and thus remaining part of His set-apart people.
Part of my purpose and goal in this Torah class is to reveal the Word of Yehoveh to you within the
mindset and culture of the people God gave it to in the first place. Outside of that mindset we get
some distorted ideas of what was going on in the Bible AND what God intended for us to learn. So
this overall view of life, death, and generally the absence of any afterlife (and if there was an
afterlife it was apart from Yehoveh), greatly affected the OT (notice I said OLD TESTAMENT)
Hebrew concept of exactly what God meant by the foundational words Mishpat and Tzedek, which
in turn affected just how they viewed what the Law WAS, what it was FOR, and how they were to
relate to it. And it was VERY different than how Christians have been taught to see it. The
Hebrews, in general, did NOT have a works-righteousness approach to their faith; rather, it
involved an obedience-righteousness approach, stemming from a recognition that it was
Yehoveh’s grace that made the Hebrews His chosen people and that it was any individual
Hebrew’s great fortune to be a Hebrew. That is a FAR cry from the rather mean spirited
accusation of legalism that the Church constantly hurls at Biblical Hebrews.
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Oh yes, Tradition…manmade doctrine… had really muddied the waters by the time of Christ, and as
a result most Hebrews rejected, and continue to this day to reject, both their need of true Salvation
and the One who was sent to save them. But, it wasn’t because they thought that their own form of
righteousness earned them eternal life with God….. most didn’t think such a possibility even
existed, and what few did believed that simply remaining true to the Covenants of Abraham and
Moses already HAD assured them of such a future. And, BTW: manmade doctrines have also
muddied our Christian waters. So, let’s not feel too high and mighty, and kind of scoff at those
ancient Hebrews as primitive and ignorant.
Now, let’s see if we can begin to determine what those two CRITICAL and central words mishpat
and tzedek mean. Remember, mishpat is how God characterizes the body of so-called laws He
was about to give to Moses and Israel, beginning in Exodus 21. Most of the time Mishpat is
translated in our Bibles as “judgments or rules”, and tzedek as “righteous” or “righteousness”. So
in our OT’s, most of the time when we see the English word “judgment or rule or justice”, the
Hebrew being translated is one form or another of the word Mishpat. When we see “righteous” or
“righteousness” in the OT…… the Hebrew being translated is almost always a form of the word
“tzedek”.
Now, we could probably spend the entire session just wrestling among ourselves as to what the
word “righteousness” in ENGLISH means to us…..that is, just how might we each define it? Well,
so as to avoid that, let me just ask you to accept as fact that in the modern Church environment
righteousness, tzedek, has come to indicate “piety, holiness, perhaps even Godliness”. These are
all very spiritual terms….that is, very spirit oriented, as opposed to soulish or a condition of our
flesh. And this is because we Christians see our spirit lives as somewhat separate from, and more
important and more dominant than, our physical lives.
Think back, now, to what we have just learned about the ancient Hebrew mindset. Since they were
more concerned with their physical life, the here and now, believing there was nothing discernable
beyond the grave, they were therefore more concerned with living out their faith in God in everyday
activities and dealings with their fellow man. So rather than see “righteousness” as the kind of lofty
spiritual goal as we Christians do, they saw it in an everyday practical down to earth matter of
personal behavior and decision making. And, therefore, to the ancient Hebrews a man’s
righteousness, his tzedek, revolved around him being fair and equitable in all his dealings with
others…his family, his friends, his business associates, his customers, even his enemies. So
righteousness to the typical OT Hebrew meant being fair and just to his fellow man. And where did
they learn what the standard for being fair and just WAS? The Law. The Covenant of Moses. Their
intent was to be fair and just with their fellow man according to what Yehoveh wrote down (through
Moses) in the Torah.
So while Christians view a man’s righteousness as more of an intangible, internal spiritual

condition, the OT Hebrew saw his righteousness as all wrapped up in his fair and just behavior and
attitude. The Christian wants God to see our holy, internal condition, created as a result of our
union in Christ, as righteous; the Hebrew wanted God to see his fair and just external activities as
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righteous.
So which of these seemingly opposite viewpoints is the proper view of Biblical, God defined,
righteousness, tzedek? Were the Hebrews right, that righteousness is embodied within our fair
dealings with our fellow man? Or were they wrong, and we Christians have it correct, as
righteousness being ONLY a condition of our spirits, produced by Christ? Well, actually, what I
think we’re going to discover is that both are right, and both are wrong. Because God has a
definition of righteousness that is not MAN based, but God based. So generally speaking neither
the Hebrew nor the Christian faith can claim that they are fully representative of God’s viewpoint of
righteousness, yet each does exhibit SOME of its elements.
Let’s pause our discussion of tzedek momentarily and turn our attention back to the Hebrew term
“Mishpat”; because what is almost universally termed the Law, by both Hebrews and gentiles,
Yehoveh calls His “Mishpat”. So what exactly is that supposed to mean to us?
Scholars have wrestled with that for eons. Martin Luther was also fascinated with the word
Mishpat, and, quite interestingly, he often translated it to mean, “to keep God’s Word”. At other
times he translated mishpat as “to do justly”. Still that’s not fully satisfying, nor does it
encompass the word’s meaning; but we’re getting closer. So, as an example or illustration, let’s
take a look at an incident with Abraham that, I think, validates and perhaps expands Luther’s
definition of mishpat, which is getting us closer to the truth.
Turn to Genesis 18:19

“For I (Yehoveh) have made myself known to him (Abraham), so that he will give orders to his
children and to his household after him to keep the way of Yehoveh, to do what is right and just, so
that Yehoveh may bring about for Abraham what He has promised him”.
Let’s focus on the phrase, to do what is right and just; in Hebrew, this reads, “to do tzedek and
mishpat”. Aha; here we have a terrific case of Scripture defining Scripture because we are told in
the half-dozen words just before the phrase “to do tzedek and mishpat”, exactly what that means;
it means, “to keep the way of Yehoveh”. So, by doing tzedek and mishpat, doing what is right and
just, one is keeping the way of Yehoveh; at least it is in this instance with Abraham. And, that fits
pretty well with how Luther saw it.
Let’s summarize to see what we know so far: tzedek and mishpat at least partially involve
keeping the way of Yehoveh. The way of Yehoveh is taught to man in detail in the Covenant of
Moses. And the way of Yehoveh is characterized as being “just” and “right”, as in righteous. Yet
the way of Yehoveh is in no way characterized as a harsh, rigid, merciless self-justifying law code,
nor is it negative or punitive.
Now let’s look it this in another context; if we were to start thumbing through the prophets Isaiah
and Micah we would see the word “judgment” used a lot (around 50 times, depending on your
Bible version). I don’t think I’m climbing too far out onto a limb to say that the word “judgment”
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carries a harsh sense to it in our way of thinking. That is, wrath or punishment (even divine
destruction) might be good synonyms for the Biblical term “judgment”. While that is certainly not a
unanimous Church view it is the generally accepted train of thought that due to the frequent
appearance of the word “judgment” in the Hebrew Scriptures, the OT must be all about God’s
wrath while the NT is all about His grace and mercy.
600 years ago when the Bible was first translated to English (even before the KJV) the word
judgment was a rather benign and neutral term…that is, it was neither particularly negative nor
positive, nor did it indicate something harsh or severe. It was meant, in those days, more in the
sense that if someone asked you your opinion on something and you responded, “Well, in my
judgment, I think thus and so”. By the phrase “….in my judgment” you certainly didn’t mean, “in
my wrath….”. You just meant that you had come to some kind of conclusion or decision on the
matter.
So most of the harshness that we think we see in the OT, which primarily comes from the frequent
use of the word “judgment”, is actually a misunderstanding of the sense of the word
“judgment” (mishpat) itself. The truth is that most of the time when the word judgment occurs in the
Bible it actually is meant to have a very joyous, redemptive tone to it…… almost the complete
opposite of how we typically have been taught to see those passages.
We’ve already seen that ancient Hebrews saw man’s righteousness, tzedek, as meaning fair
dealing in God’s eyes, while we Christians take it to mean that we have a spirit of holiness in us.
But……and please catch this….. both the Hebrew and the Christian view of those ideas of
righteousness are all about OUR righteousness, MAN’s righteousness. What we need to do now is
try and determine what God’s righteousness is. And what we find is that we need to take GOD’s
righteousness as, above all, being all about salvation; that is, in the Bible when
righteousness/tzedek is “of God”, it is referring to His saving will, His saving purposes, and all that
happens at His direction to create a set-apart people for Himself….a saved people, a sanctified
people, a redeemed people.
But since that definition of righteousness concerns ONLY GOD’s righteousness (not Man’s) then
what is righteousness when it is referring to MEN, from God’s viewpoint? Well, men are the
objects of God’s saving will, right? God’s saving will is intended FOR US, it is directed AT
us…..mankind. So a righteous man is one in whom God’s saving will is being carried out……God’s
saving will is happening in that man just as God intended……we would say today, since Christ, that a
righteous man is, therefore, a Believer; one who has accepted God’s saving will for his own life .
Well, if in God’s eyes righteousness, tzedek, is all about salvation, then what is mishpat about?
And, why are those two words, mishpat and tzedek, usually so connected in Scripture? Mishpat is
the detailed standard of what is right and good according to God under His system of justice. So if
a man is doing God’s mishpat, it means that man is behaving according to the standard of right set
as ordained by the Lord as part of His saving will. Remember how Luther translated mishpat: “to
keep God’s Word”? He was really on to something. The only difference I would have with that is
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that I would add the word “saving” to Luther’s definition….that is, mishpat generally means ‘to
keep God’s SAVING Word’.
Let’s see if I can illustrate that just a little. Take a look at a passage in Isaiah which is clearly
recognized as being about salvation, and we’ll apply what we’ve learned.
Go to Isa.1:27
“Zion will be redeemed with judgment; and those who repent by righteousness”.
Many versions will say ‘redeemed by justice’. But whether the word used is justice or judgment
this passage is all about salvation; it is NOT about some punishment or wrath of God. Yehoveh is
not going to redeem the people of Zion (BTW, Zion is just another word for Israel) by visiting wrath,
divine judgment, upon them. Rather, He is going to exercise HIS Mishpat, His saving will, which is
HIS form of justice, upon them. And the Lord’s saving Will, His idea of Justice, His mishpat is that
mankind will not pay the due penalty for our sins against Him. Rather Yehoveh HIMSELF, in the
person of Jesus Christ, is going to pay the price for Mankind’s sin. That is God’s mishpat……that is
God’s form of justice…..that is God’s saving will.
Now catch this: the picture that is forming shows us that GOD’s mishpat, His righteous justice, is
ALL about His saving will… from Genesis to Revelation. And long ago the Church developed a term,
which we’re ALL familiar with, to be used when referring to God’s saving will that is revealed in
His saving Word…..and that term is “the Gospel”. Let me say that again: the term “Gospel” is what
the Church has chosen as a title for all this is God’s salvation. But “Gospel” as we commonly use
it today, is really just a Christian sound bite because if I asked 10 of you what the term The Gospel
means, I’d get 10 different answers even though they’d all revolve around Christ and Salvation.
The scholarly definition of the term “the Gospel” is that it is “the revealed Word of God’s plan of
salvation for all mankind”. I think we can all agree with that. What this all comes down to is that
mishpat, when it is used in the context of the Lord’s mishpat (like in the Torah) is nothing more nor
less than the OT term for the Gospel.
Let’s begin to pull this altogether by looking at Isa.42:1-4. This is an obvious prophetic reference to
Yeshua. Now follow along with me in YOUR Bibles as I read it. (READ THE VERSES).
OK, let’s read it again, and each time we encounter the words justice or judgment, which in the
original Hebrew is mishpat, I’m going to substitute the word Gospel….a word familiar to us, and a
word which paints a picture that we all pretty well understand. Watch what happens.
“Here is my servant, whom I support, my chosen one, in whom I take pleasure. I have put my Spirit
on him; he will bring the Gospel to the gentiles. He will not cry or shout; no one will hear his voice in
the streets. He will not snap off a broken reed or snuff out a smoldering wick; he will bring forth the
Gospel of truth. He will not weaken or be crushed until he has established the Gospel on the earth,
and the coastlands wait for his Torah”.
Pretty astounding isn’t it?
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The Covenant of Moses, what Hebrews and Christians alike have so long mischaracterized as “the
Law” is simply the ongoing process of the Gospel. We tend to think (because that’s what Pastors
and Priests have told us to think) of the Gospel as beginning with the advent of Christ. In fact it was
first annunciated not with the birth of Christ, or really even with the Covenant of Moses, but actually
with the covenant of Abraham. And, we’re reminded of that fact in Galatians 3:6-8; listen to the
Apostle Paul:
“It was the same with Abraham: ‘He trusted in God and was faithful to Him and that was credited
to his account as righteousness’. Be assured, then, that it is those who live by trusting and being
faithful who are really children of Abraham. Also the Tanakh (OT), foreseeing that God would
consider the Gentiles righteous when they live by trusting and being faithful, told the Good News
(the Gospel) to Abraham in advance by saying, ‘in connection with you, all the Goyim (gentiles)
will be blessed’”.
So, we need to dispel this false tragically non-Biblical doctrine from our minds that the Gospel
began when Yeshua was born…. in fact, it was first revealed to man, specifically to Abraham, 2000
years before Yeshua was born. From here on out I hope and pray that when you think about the
Law, the Torah that you will think of it instead as the original Gospel. The OT is the Gospel, Act
One. The NT is the Gospel, Act Two. Revelation, the 2nd coming of Yeshua and the end of all
history, is the finale of the Gospel, Gospel Act Three. Oh, what a different light that puts on what
we’ll read in the months ahead in the remainder of the Torah, and how guilty we are of presuming
to characterize God’s Torah as a legalistic, harsh, unfair, unattainable code of works-
righteousness and self justification, that has been abolished and replaced with grace.
But our study today, also points out the awesome and mysterious REALITY of DUALITY that we
will find all throughout Scripture: that is for every instruction from God, OT or New, there is an
earthly physical manifestation of it on the one hand, and there is a parallel spiritual heavenly
manifestation of it on the other.
The ancient Hebrews erred by seeing the revelation of the Gospel given in the Covenant of
Abraham and then Moses as earthbound…physical, and therefore all wrapped up in ritual and
behavior and being purely temporal. We modern Christians err by seeing the Gospel as almost
exclusively heavenly….. spiritual with little or no requirement for our obedience to Yehoveh, our
obedience to His system of justice, His mishpat. The Gospel is not one or the other, it’s both; but
it’s also not half and half. Christ was our perfect example of what the essence of the Gospel is: as
Yeshua is 100% man and 100% God the Gospel is 100% physical and 100% spiritual. We are to
approach our time of life on earth with an extreme sense of fairness and equitable justice toward
our fellow man, and a determination to obey God, as did the Hebrews; but with the equally extreme
sense of unwarranted and imputed righteousness given to us by Christ, and of being guided by the
indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and of the hope of eternal life with Yehoveh, as is the Christian
understanding. We are not to set aside this life as being unimportant; yet this relatively short
present life does, indeed, precede our future spiritual eternal life. We are to see our physical lives
as a training ground; that time whereby we learn and practice God’s perfect, never changing,
never ending, way of right and justice….His mishpat and tzedek…. as told in His Torah. Because,
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we’re going to be administering that very same way of right and justice for all eternity…..even
administering it to the Angels.
The bottom line to our study today is this: when we read Exodus 21 verse one, it could and
perhaps should, legitimately read “This is the Gospel you are to present to them”.
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Audio Files MP3

Illustrations
Last week, a lot of you walked out with headaches and puzzled looks as we started our study of
“The Law” with an extensive expose’ on Exodus 21:1. You’ll be relieved to know that this week
isn’t going to be nearly so intense. However, it is my hope that you gained some understanding of
why Hebrews have, since Moses, sought so diligently to follow God’s instructions to them; and,
that we need to be very careful how we characterize His rules of living that God set out before
man prior to the advent of Christ. We saw last week that what Hebrews and Christians alike term
“the Law”, God refers to as His Mishpat; and mishpat in no way means law, it means justice.
Further we saw that Mishpat, when referring to God’s mishpat, is speaking of His overall system
of justice. And, today, we are about to begin looking at the specifics of God’s justice
system…..God’s detailed standard of right…….individual rules and regulations that were set down in
the Mosaic Covenant. To put an even finer point on it, what we are getting ready to study is the
development of the Gospel: quite literally, The Gospel, Act One.
Let’s quickly review a few things from last week:
1. Man’s righteousness and God’s righteousness, our tzedek and His tzedek, are not the
same. Actually, that shouldn’t be difficult to swallow, because God is not a man. Man can’t
develop or work to achieve the type of righteousness God has. God’s righteousness, even
if we’re not really able to fully grasp all that it entails, is primarily about the salvation of
mankind. God’s righteousness (His tzedek) refers to His saving will, His saving purposes
and goals, and all that happens at His direction to create a people set-apart for Himself.
2. Accordingly, Man is the OBJECT of God’s saving will, God’s righteousness; Man’s
righteousness is achieved when a human being has accepted God’s saving will,
Yehoveh’s saving plan, for his own life. Since the coming of Christ a righteous man is one
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who is a Believer in the Christ.

3. The Gospel is generally defined as “the revealed Word of God’s plan of salvation for all
mankind”. That is, the Gospel is simply the name or title we have given to a body of
information in the Bible that makes known God’s incredible plan of salvation for US, AND,
our need for it.
4. However, over the centuries, the term Gospel has been so narrowed down by many
theologians and the Institutional Church, as to make the term simply refer to the story and
purpose of Christ…..His birth, life, death and resurrection, and nothing else. That is
completely wrong and unscriptural. Christ certainly is the center-point, the focus, and the
cornerstone of God’s plan of salvation. But as we saw last week the first awareness of the
plan of salvation by man was given to Abraham, and much had to happen in the Salvation
process before Yeshua came, and much has to happen before He comes again. And all of
it, not just the NT part, forms the Gospel. In reality, the OT is where the Gospel is found.
The NT simply identifies who the Messiah of the OT Gospel is, and it gives us some
teaching on what this means for us now that the Messiah has come. We need to remember
that Jesus and all the Apostles taught the Gospel using ONLY the O.T., for there was no
such thing as a N.T. until decades after their deaths.
5. And finally as we begin to look at the laws in the Covenant of Moses let’s remember that
the Israelites intended with fierce dedication to be obedient to God’s instructions and
principles. The Hebrews had no articulated sense of an afterlife in those ancient times, or of
living an eternal life with God. If fact, they thought that life ended at the grave, Sheol, and
that death permanently separated them from the Almighty. So in their minds their physical
lives were their ONLY time to show their gratitude to Yehoveh for His grace towards them
at making them a member of the set-apart people. The Hebrews may not have fully
grasped what true Salvation is, or what the full purpose of the Law was; but for Christians
today to accuse Hebrews of legalism simply for doing what God commanded is nonsense.
We, as Christians, have forgotten that in addition to our saving relationship with Yehoveh
we also have the duty to be obedient. If you have any doubt about that fact read the book
of James, Jesus’ brother. Though obedience is not a condition of our attaining OR keeping
our Salvation, nor should obedience take the focus off of our relationship with God, it
absolutely must be our response. Obedience to God’s system of justice is NOT legalism,
unless we misuse it as a system of self-justification.
What we have read here is Yehoveh’s ordering of the new Hebrew society. But we need to also
recognize (and it will become obvious as we move through Exodus and Leviticus) that while there
are many rules and ordinances contained within these passages, this is hardly a comprehensive
legal code such as the Code of Hammurabi. In other words not every area of life is covered in
detail by these ordinances. Marriage, commerce, inheritance and how property is transferred is
either only barely touched on or not mentioned directly at all. Rather most of these so-called
“laws” were examples that tended to amend previous practices of the Hebrews or they were new
concepts altogether. No matter their purpose they were ALWAYS extensions of the first 10 laws
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that we call the 10 Commandments. Therefore Israel’s leaders necessarily devised practices and
rules that both covered areas the Law did not address or it filled in gaps of very broad principles.
These practices and rules were called Oral Tradition, or later, just Tradition.
And, while this chapter begins with a practice we find abhorrent in our nation, it was obviously
permitted in ancient days: slavery. Now one human owning another is not God’s ideal. Yet for His
own reasons Yehoveh has permitted slavery to exist and here he sets out its boundaries. As we go
through the next 3 chapters there will be many Biblical practices that seem primitive, harsh,
barbarian, or just plain unfair to our minds. While we might have occasion to discuss some of these
individual laws, what I intend to do is look at these rules and regulations more from a standpoint of
the God-principle they embody because, as Believers, it is not necessarily our duty to follow
Hebrew cultural traditions and rituals that were developed by Sages and Rabbis over the centuries;
but it IS our duty to follow the principles BEHIND those traditions and rituals, and to obey plainly
written Torah commands that are timeless.
Let’s begin by noting that, using the 10 Words as the foundation, the first group of laws given to
Israel are contained in Exodus 21, 22, and 23. And, they are divided into two fundamental
categories: first, the civil and social position of all Israelites as they relate to one another, that is,
human to human interaction; and second, Israel’s position as they are to relate to Yehoveh. So
category one, which is delineated in Ex.21: 2 through Ex. 23:12, has to do with how the Israelites
are to deal justly (do mishpat) with their fellow man. Category two, in Ex. 23:13-19, speaks of how
the Israelites are to deal righteously with GOD.
And what we should take immediate notice of is that God has just turned the common world social
ladder upside down. Unlike any civil and social system ever devised by man, the one given to
Israel by Yehoveh BEGINS by its concern with dealing fairly with those who are the lowest on the
social scale: slaves. God lays down rights for these slaves, male and female; people who are
totally dependent upon the mercy of their masters. Slaves were but property in the ancient world,
tools and beasts of burden, as it still is in many places on this earth today. But by ordaining sacred
personal rights upon this lowest social class God changed the very dynamic by which slavery could
even exist. Hebrew slaves were given the position of PEOPLE…..not animals or possessions.
Underline the word HEBREW, for that is the key. We must understand that Hebrews held two
classes of slaves: Hebrew and foreigner (gentiles). These rules are made for Hebrew slaves. They
do NOT apply to foreign slaves that Hebrews might own. However later on in the Torah instructions
will be issued by Yehoveh that foreign slaves who wish to give up their gentile tribal or national
identity and become Israelites should be allowed to do so. The act of changing loyalties did NOT
set them free, but it certainly DID make them Hebrew slaves and gave them a bill of rights that they
did not have previously as a “foreigner”. Even more Yehoveh makes it clear that any foreigner
who joins Israel and becomes a Hebrew by choice is not to be considered a second-class citizen.
Therefore if a foreign slave owned by a Hebrew declares his desire to join Israel and he goes on to
become a Hebrew… he also becomes equal in status and rights to a natural-born Hebrew slave.
Once that naturalized slave becomes free he is a Hebrew freeman with rights and status equal to
natural born Hebrew freemen.
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By the way, notice Ex.21:6; this is where a male slave gets his ear pierced, and although it doesn’t
say it, he also has a ring of some sort put into it. This is an indication that this man, as a head of his
family, has voluntarily committed himself and his family to lifelong servitude to his earthly master.
The master of this slave family is NOT obligated to free them after 6 years, which was Hebrew law.
Although, by mercy, a master could free a slave whenever he chose.
Verses 7-11 deals with a man who sells his daughter as a house servant, but with the idea that if
she pleases her master, he will marry her; she is not to be considered among the “slave” class
even during her time as a handmaiden. The first thing we should note is that this must have been a
common occurrence to be so directly and specifically addressed by God. Now, the girl could well
become a concubine of her master….. that is, she is NOT a wife, but holds a status similar to a wife.
The main difference is that there would not have been a Chethubah, a marriage contract, drawn
up, so therefore there was no legal betrothal. A Hebrew would NOT sell his own wife; but he
WOULD sell a handmaid, and on occasion a concubine. But, Yehoveh says under no
circumstances may the master sell this woman to anyone outside of the tribes of Israel. And, if he
chooses to make her a concubine or a wife, regardless of the fact that he had quite literally
acquired her through purchase, he cannot treat her poorly should he marry another women. Of
course, we’re talking about polygamy, here. His penalty for wronging this woman is that she gains
her freedom. While it may not seem so to us in this cultural setting, what is really happening here is
that Yehoveh is making clear that in the paternalistic society of Israel, typical of the ancient world,
women have rights, they have value to God, and they are to be treated fairly and with
consideration among His set-apart people.
The next thing to be addressed, after slaves and women’s rights, is the sanctity of life. Life is so
important to God that He lists the crimes of man against man for which God orders the destruction
of the offender, in order that the criminal might not harm another innocent person or degrade Israel
society in general. Part of this list of capital crimes we might expect, but other parts are kind of a
surprise. Yehoveh sets on the same level of seriousness a) premeditated murder, b) attacking and
harming (but not necessary killing) your parents, c) kidnapping, whether the victim is harmed or
not, and d) even cursing your parents. That is, in His Holy eyes, all of these deserve the death
penalty. God offers no mercy for these perpetrators; He offers no possibility of rehabilitation; this is
punishment, pure, swift, and non-retractable.
Now just so we understand what it means to “curse” your parents: there are several words used
for curse or cursing in Hebrew. They are quite specific in their meaning and range from meaning
swearing an oath against someone, to being menacing and threatening. The word used for curse in
the instance of Ex. 21:17 is “qalal”; and it is used in the sense of a son insulting or of being an
embarrassment to his parents because he is of no account. This would include not performing his
son-ly duty of caring for them if they needed his help. So for a son who humiliates his parents by
his behavior or shows his parents disrespect or is simply a deadbeat or a bum, Yehoveh says to
put him to death. Whoa. And, yet, God sees this as actually GUARDING life, because the people
who do these things STEAL life from those whom Yehoveh sees as innocent and upright.
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We also see the principle of INTENTION validated by God. That is, the intention of one’s heart has
everything to do with the consequences of his actions, in God’s eyes. For instance if someone
unintentionally kills another person, then the perpetrator is given a place to go and no one is
allowed to violate that place to apprehend him. This is the principle of sanctuary. But, premeditated
murder, the INTENTION to kill, offers NO such sanctuary and the perpetrator may be captured
even in the holiest of places, even if he is in the midst of sacrificing at the altar of God.
These last few verses, and a couple of the following, answered the question that was raised when
we studied the 6th Word….. “Thou shall not murder”: and the question was, ‘ what is just versus
Unjust killing of man’?
Next, in verses 18-27, ordinances are set down to deal with PROTECTION of life; dealing first with
bodily harm to man, then dealing with harming animals. This reinforces the love and concern
Yehoveh has for ALL living creatures, and so when one of His animals, in their innocence, has to
be sacrificed to atone for a transgression committed by a man against God, it grieves our Lord for
this animal to die. All those millions upon millions of animal sacrifices that would follow, century
after century, were no small thing for Yehoveh…..each and every one of those sacrificed lives
mattered a great deal to Him.
Now what I hope you noticed is that another key principle God is showing us in these verses is
“recompense”. That is, each offense is to have an equal and fair compensation as the
consequence. See, God views compensation as better than incarceration for the offender.
Compensation from the perpetrator makes some progress towards making the victim whole; it even
allows the offender to go on with their life while being taught a valuable lesson. Imprisonment
simply punishes the offender, and the victim’s only satisfaction is knowing that the perpetrator is
being punished. Notice how, in verse 18, that if 2 men get into a fight, and one seriously injures the
other, then the one who did the harm is obligated to care for the other and bear all his expenses
and make up any lost wages…. but there is no further obligation because the fight was a mutual
attempt to harm one another in the first place. In our modern legal system we would call this the
principle of shared liability.
Notice also that verse 20 deals with the matter of a Master beating his slave to death. Again, due to
God’s value of life, the slave Master can be punished…..the dead slave’s owner can be
killed…..that’s the meaning, in this instance, of the term “avenged”. But if the slave lives a couple
of days before he dies then because the slave owner would be simply throwing his own money
down the drain by killing this paid-for slave there is to be no punishment. The idea here is that if a
slave dies immediately from the punishment the Master is inflicting, then there is no doubt that the
Master intended to kill; this is murder. But if the Master punishes a slave and the slave is gravely
harmed as a result but does not immediately die (that’s the idea of his living a few days), but then
the slave dies later, there is doubt as to the Master’s intent to kill, and there is even doubt as to
whether the punishment the Master inflicted is actually the cause of death. Therefore the loss of the
valuable slave is considered sufficient punishment in itself and no further consequences to the
Master are ordered.
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Next is what happens if a pregnant woman loses her unborn child as a result of her being harmed.
And, in verses 23-25 we get the statement which just about every literate person, believer or
pagan, on the face of our planet likes to quote: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and so on. Its
too bad people don’t read the several paragraphs before and after that statement because it would
be much better understood if they did.
The God-principle behind the eye for an eye formula set forth is this: the consequences of
accidental or unlawful actions still require equity and fairness. If someone knocks out somebody’s
tooth, then equitable compensation is to be rendered. This in NO WAY indicates that the
offender’s tooth is to be knocked out. Or if an eye is damaged, the offender’s eye is not to be
damaged in return, but there is to be proper compensation. What’s happening in verses 23-25 is
that God is saying in essence, “look, it would be a never ending law code if I took every possible
way and circumstance that one person could harm another and gave a prescribed verdict
containing a precise amount of compensation. Therefore HERE is the principle you are to use to
decide on compensation.” And of course this principle is tied to the entire context of Exodus 21,
whereby God gives only a few reasons for a death sentence, and NONE whereby a person is
mutilated as punishment (such as gouging out their eye). Again, the eye for an eye, tooth for a
tooth, and bruise for a bruise idea is fair and equitable COMPENSATION…. One should get more
compensation for losing a tooth, than just being bruised. Even greater compensation should be
paid for losing an eye than for losing a tooth because the effect is greater on the victim. Too much
compensation is as wrong as too little. Life for a life does NOT necessarily mean the death
penalty…. it simply means a VERY high amount of compensation, probably to be accompanied with
a harsh punishment. God lists very clearly the capital offenses; all other punishments are to revolve
around fair and just compensation. Notice the all-important context of this eye-for-an-eye principle:
it has to do with the circumstance of accidental homicide or manslaughter. It speaks of two men
fighting and then an innocent bystander, a pregnant woman, somehow winds up getting knocked
down. First is what happens if her unborn baby dies; but then (verse 23) says “but if other damage
ensues” then the principle shall be “life for life, eye for eye, etc.”. It is key to understand that the
death penalty for the taking of a human life is (according to the Torah) only to be exacted when the
killing is intentional. The scenario offered here is obviously an unintended killing; therefore this
absolutely is NOT suggesting the death penalty when it says “life for life”.
One more comment: as I mentioned mutilation was NOT a permitted punishment; it was NOT part
of the Hebrew justice system. Now this is not to say that it didn’t happen at all or that tyrannical
Hebrew kings and princes didn’t capriciously apply the death penalty from time to time. But it was
NOT authorized by God and was generally seen by the common people as evil and wicked.
Islam loves to claim that Christians, Hebrews, and Muslims all share the same god and therefore
Islam is simply scrupulously following Allah’s instructions when they mutilate the offenders of the
Islamic Sharia Law; that is, they cut off hands, fingers, and feet…..gouge out eyes, cut out tongues,
and so on. The Bible teaches against such things while the Quran, the Muslim Holy Book,
commands mutilations. This is just further proof that Allah is in no way just another culture’s name
for Yehoveh. Enough said.
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Verse 26 once again deals with slaves; and the price for harsh treatment of a slave, even simply
knocking out a slaves tooth, is immediate freedom for the slave…male or female.
Verse 28 begins to deal with harm that animals might cause. And we get God’s view of justice in
this regard: an animal that kills a human must die. God makes it clear, here, that humans are
above animals in inherent worth to Him (which is apparently news to several animal rights groups).
But the animal’s owner is NOT to be blamed or punished UNLESS that owner knew his animal
had a propensity to harm humans. If the negligent owner’s animal kills someone, then the owner
must be put to death for such gross negligence, along with the animal itself of course. The idea is
that the owner is guilty of gross disregard the life of others and therefore he pays the ultimate
penalty. However there is a provision that, depending on the circumstances, if the animal’s
negligent owner (or kin) pays a ransom to the family of the dead person, then that can suffice as
his punishment. The implication is not only as regards the exact circumstances of the situation, but
that it is the judgment of the aggrieved family whether to accept money as compensation, or the
offenders life as punishment. Murder can NEVER be allowed to pass without the execution of the
murderer; however, strictly speaking, wanton negligence is NOT quite the same as murder so a
loophole……an expensive “out”…. is added.
Conversely if someone’s negligence causes the death of another’s animal then the one who
caused the problem is liable to pay compensation. The example given here is leaving the cover off
of a water well, and an animal falls in and dies. Interestingly, the negligent person gets to KEEP the
dead animal if he has to pay out compensation.
The last verse covers what happens if someone steals from another: again, the idea is
compensation…..but not at an equitable level; instead, at a punitive level. Here, again, is intention
at work. Stealing doesn’t occur accidentally…..except perhaps in America if you listen to some of
our more liberal politicians and lawyers. Someone who causes loss, harm, or death to another
person and does so intentionally is dealt with MUCH more harshly than if it was unintentional or
even negligent.
READ EXODUS 22 all

Depending on your version, the first verse of Ex. 22 is sometimes the LAST verse of Ex. 21….so
don’t worry about it. In reality this NEVER should have been used as a chapter division. It is but
the same thought, context, and scene continuing.
In any case we continue here with the crime of thievery. And the idea surrounding these
ordinances against thievery is the protection of property. Personally, I really wish the United
States would adopt the Mosaic Covenant’s way of dealing with a thief. Notice how if you catch a
thief in the act during darkness, you can legally kill him on the spot. However, if its daylight, you
cannot. The practical reason being in the dark, you can’t evaluate the overall situation very well;
whether it’s one thief, or more; whether or not he has a weapon; whether this man may be a
known murderer on the loose. But, in daylight you CAN tell. So, if you can reasonably see that you
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are only in danger of losing property but not being harmed, then to kill in that instance is murder.
The part I like the best though is the restitution aspect that a thief has to replace what he’s taken
and often it must be several times over. And if he refuses or will NOT follow through his promise to
do so, then he can be taken into custody and sold as a slave with the money given to the person
who was robbed. I say that tongue-in-cheek as I am certainly not advocating the return of slavery;
although I suspect such a system would significantly slow to a trickle the epidemic of robberies and
burglaries throughout the Western World if the perpetrator was subject to spending the rest of his
life, if necessary, compensating his victims.
Interesting, isn’t it, that imprisonment was simply not part of Yehoveh’s justice system. Certainly
one could understand how having a prison out in the Wilderness would be difficult. But this concept
of recompense instead of incarceration continued right on through the time of Christ. The idea of
prison was abhorrent to Jews; it was a pagan way of dealing with crime and punishment. Not that
Jews didn’t eventually adopt the practice to a degree but since it was not part of God’s justice
system it was never widely used. I think it’s instructional that the use of prisons has never seemed
to stem the tide of crime to any degree at all. In fact we are all too aware that people who’ve
already been in prison today commit most crime. Even our feeble attempt to rehabilitate prisoners
via schooling and knowledge during their time of imprisonment has had little success. That’s
because it’s not the way Yehoveh created the universe to operate; God’s system of justice was
designed to rehabilitate the criminal by means of his compensating his victim.
It’s always important in reading Scripture to see the order of things; this usually gives us God’s
sense of priorities. So first, as regards theft among herders, we get rules regarding the pilfering of
animals. Next we see God’s justice as concerns damage to fields and then the formula that animal
life carries higher value to God than plant life. As of the time Israel was given these laws they were
in the Wilderness and so they were NOT farmers, but they were herdsmen. In time they would
need laws concerning agriculture because once they settled in the land of Canaan many WOULD
become farmers.
Next, in verse 6, comes instruction regarding what has been given to others for safekeeping and
what happens if those items are stolen.
Up to this point you might have noticed that there has been this interesting “if, then” structure as
Yehoveh has taught His law. “If” this happens, “If someone does this”, “Then” this is what you are
to do. The idea here is that these things are going to arise within the body of God’s set-apart
people, and they are going to have to be dealt with as part of ordinary every day life and society. It
also sets up the dynamic of action and consequence: IF you do this, THEN this is what will happen
to you. The point is that these are practical matters that are being dealt with; these are not
theoretical possibilities. Further, societal law codes were normal for that day…The Law of Moses
was not the first. The Israelites fully expected to HAVE a law code. And these law codes were all
quite similar even if they didn’t agree on every point. It’s a bit like in modern Western Society:
Europe and North America share similar philosophies of justice. We have courts of law, legal
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experts as representatives of the defendants, and the view that generally a person cannot be
physically harmed for an offense that only involves property. Sanctioned mutilation of criminals is
not allowed. The death penalty is withheld except for the most horrific of circumstances when
murder is involved. What constituted a crime was generally the same for Israel as it was in all the
other ancient Middle Eastern societies; and more often than not the punishments were similar.
However Israel’s law involved far more mercy and compassion and where it was the norm in other
societies to do physical harm to a common thief, in Israel it was forbidden. Israel’s law insisted on
establishing that humans were more important than animals, and that animals were more important
than other kinds of property.
Now we begin to encounter some laws that have an entirely different character. Beginning in either
verse 17 or 18 (depending on your Bible version), starts a series of regulations stating what must
NEVER occur within the family of God. That is these acts are so out of character for one who would
suppose him or herself to be a part of God’s set apart people that most of these laws involve the
immediate destruction of that person. These are matters of morality and of the conscience rather
than crimes that are committed against a fellow man.
Notice that the previous laws took circumstances and intent into consideration when deciding what,
if any, consequence should result from violation of these commands. In those listed from Ex.22:
17(18) to 30 (except perhaps for the verses about loaning money), intent and circumstance play
almost no role.
So, in verse17 the matter of sorcery is addressed; no magic of any kind is to occur among God’s
people. Therefore a witch (a female sorcerer) is to be summarily exterminated when found out.
Sorcery, by definition, is the invoking of the names of gods and demons to do your bidding; and
since monotheism recognized but ONE God, and rejects any catering to evil spirits, this was a most
serious offense against the Lord. It was also dangerous because sorcery was virtually universal in
ancient times and so people were easily drawn to and deceived by a sorcerer. That magic was
outlawed in Israel was known far and wide in the region and thought to be most peculiar. In fact in
the famous episode of Balaam and King Balak that we’ll look at in the book of Numbers in a few
months we’ll find this statement from Balaam when he discovers this strange prohibition against
occult practices among the Hebrews: “Lo, there is NO augury in Jacob, no divining in Israel…..”
The next prohibition is against the practice of bestiality; this horrible perversion of a human having
sexual intercourse with an animal is not some fanciful product of a vivid imagination……. it was
widespread throughout the inhabitants of Canaan. Even the Hittites found this practice an
abomination and we have the records of their law codes demanding the death of anyone who
would do such a thing.
In verse 19 the instruction that Israel is never to worship other gods is fleshed out a bit in that Israel
is never to sacrifice to another god. Sacrifice was at the heart of idolatry. So, to sacrifice upon the
altar of a heathen god is here defined as deserving of complete annihilation of the one committing
such an apostasy. What is informative (at least to me) is the need the Lord (and Moses) seems to
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have to even SAY not to sacrifice to a pagan god after it has already been made clear that one is
not to worship or even acknowledge these other gods. What’s the difference between worshipping
other gods and sacrificing to other gods? Nothing unless you’re looking for a reason to do what
you want. The reason the issue is discussed in this way is quite simple: the Israelites were always
looking for loopholes and exceptions to the rule against idolatry. Some Israelites would sacrifice to
a pagan god and say, “well, I’m not WORSHIPPING another god, I’m just offering an animal
sacrifice and that’s not quite the same thing…” They liked their idolatry; they wanted to keep their
idolatry and operate like the rest of the world. The Bible is LOADED with examples of Israel
constantly falling back into idol worship and practically every time one of God’s prophets called
them on the carpet for doing it, they denied that what they were doing was actually idolatry until
AFTER His wrath fell upon them. These Hebrews thought that what they wee doing may have been
CLOSE to idolatry….. maybe even right up to the line…… but their hearts were in the right place
(according to their way of thinking). Well, God labeled it as idolatry and He eventually killed
thousands of Israelites for it and exiled the rest from the Holy Lands.
We’ll end here are finish up chapter 22 next week.
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Audio Files MP3

Illustrations
Let’s continue with our study of Exodus chapter 22 by reading from verse 18 to the end of the
chapter.
READ EXODUS 22:18 - end

As quickly and matter of fact-ly that we’re told of these acts which must immediately bring death
upon the offender, beginning in verse 21 we get a series of instructions reflecting God’s mercy and
compassion especially upon some particularly vulnerable social groups. Israel is told they are to
welcome and respect the ger, which is Hebrew for strangers, foreigners, non-Hebrews, gentiles,
who come to live with them. What this actually contemplates is a foreigner, a gentile, becoming a
member of Israel. This instruction will be built upon as we move forward in the Law, eventually
making it clear just HOW a foreigner can become a Hebrew, and HOW they are to be considered
first-class citizens…..no higher nor lower than a natural-born Hebrew. This concept is central to
gentile Christianity because the spiritual manifestation of this instruction is that gentiles CAN
become spiritual Israelites, by being spiritual “seed of Abraham”, and being included in Israel’s
covenants. Remember even the Covenant of Christ, which we call the New Covenant, was given to
Israel. Christ then said that by means of “faith” gentiles, foreigners could partake of that covenant,
and all the other covenants given to Israel.
Widows and orphans are to be treated kindly and with compassion. In fact, God emphatically states
that He will become greatly angry with those who abuse or take advantage of such helpless women
and children, and there will be severe consequences.
The loaning of money to a poor person is now considered. And that poor person is to be treated
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with mercy because the desperate can be easily exploited. No interest is to be charged, and if that
poor person offers his cloak, his coat, as security for the money, it must be given back to him in the
evening so he isn’t cold. The salmah, Hebrew for garment or cloak, was a piece of cloth that
wrapped around the body and was used both as clothing and a blanket. Often this was a poor
person’s only possession. Naturally the philosophy here is not to take the basics of life away from
a helpless person as a promise for repayment of a loan. Compassion is not optional to Yehoveh;
it’s a major element of His character and we are to take on His character. Compassion and mercy
are integral and foundational in God’s system of justice. In fact we are warned throughout the
Bible that if we expect to be beneficiaries of Yehoveh’s compassion, and forgiveness, and mercy,
we are to do likewise with our fellow man…..especially the weakest of those among us.
BTW: please notice something very key, here: this law applies to Hebrews lending money to other
Hebrews. Of God’s family lending to God’s family. This does NOT apply to those of God’s family
lending to those OUTSIDE of the group. In fact we even get a definition of an often-asked question
in Christianity: who is my neighbor? Here it is made clear that the “neighbor” is one of God’s set
apart people. This is not to say that those in God’s family are given license to treat those
OUTSIDE of the family badly. Mercy is always called for. But God calls for special treatment, and
special priority, for those within the community of God. As much theological error is contained
within the Mormon community, we could learn a lot from them about how to operate a community
of God.
Verse 27/28 needs to be looked at. First, if you have a KJV, it probably says, “you shall not revile
the gods…..”. The word here for “gods” is Elohim. And, it CAN mean gods, little “g” gods, in the
plural. But that is so far out of context I’m surprised the excellent translators of the KJV chose to
translate it this way. There is a form of the word Elohim that is called “the plural of majesty”. That
is when referring to God Almighty, the El, when making the word “El” plural you come up with “El-
ohim”, and often it does not mean more than one it just indicates greatness……hence the scholarly
term, “the plural of majesty”. So this verse is obviously referring to Yehoveh and Yehoveh alone.
But, then it goes on to say we’re not to “curse” God, or in some texts, we’re not to revile God.
The Hebrew for curse here, qalal, is EXACTLY THE SAME as when in Ex.21 we are instructed not
to curse, qalal, our parents. As members of God’s set-apart people, we’re not to humiliate Him, to
try Him by our being a no account bum, to make Him look bad by our incorrigible behavior and
character. And this is DIFFERENT than how verse 27 is finished off when it ALSO says not to
“curse a leader of your people”. Here, curse is an entirely different Hebrew word, “arar”, which
means curse more in the sense that we typically think of it. That is, no one is to swear a curse
against the leader, either in the sense of invoking something magical, or simply wishing evil or
harm for them, or swearing at them in anger or bitterness. So in modern English this verse
basically says not to bring disrepute upon the Lord by our bad behavior, and next not to put a curse
upon your tribal leader.
And, the last verses of Ex.22 enjoins people to give to God their tithes and offerings in a timely
manner. We’re not to hold them back, to our own benefit, and then give them at OUR
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convenience. Further these people Israel who God, in His grace, has separated from the entire rest
of the world are not to eat meat, as so many heathen do, that has been killed by wild animals. God
values animals; but men are no more animal-like than God is simply a higher form of man.
Therefore, God does NOT partake of what man partakes, and man is not to partake of what
animals partake.
Let’s go to Exodus chapter 23.
READ EXODUS 23 all
We’re going to receive a long series of laws in machine guy type fashion; they’re going to come at
us fast and furious. Most are quite easy to understand and so we won’t examine every one of
them, only to read them as we just have.
We start with a series of “laws” that are very general in nature in the first 3 verses of this chapter;
and the idea is that one is not to be untruthful, or partial, or unjust. Generally speaking these verses
are referring to judicial integrity; that is, they are about the proper behavior for witnesses, judges,
and the litigating parties. These verses are broad enough that they could have come right from a
modern day Church sermon concerning right and wrong. Many of the rules we have encountered
so far have been very bound up in ancient Hebrew culture but these laws are plain, contemporary,
and timeless: don’t be a party to repeating false rumor; don’t help someone in validating a lie;
don’t do wrong just because the majority wants it. Don’t allow what is popular to become what is
right. Don’t administer justice one-way for a rich man and another for the poor.
And interestingly it is the turning away from these very rules that are the root of our declining
societies all over the world. In modern terms God is speaking against Political Correctness,
relativism, favoritism, tolerance and appeasement and even denial of evil, and the end-justifies-the-
means mentality. Of course these terms are the very definition of Secular Humanism, a political
and social philosophy that is the pride of Europe and one that many in America want to see
adopted in our society. Secular Humanism is the polar opposite of Judeo-Christianity. If we were to
step back and be completely honest about it we would have to admit that it is our human nature to
follow the crowd……if it wasn’t, Yehoveh would NOT have found it necessary to tell us what He just
told us, would He?
This list of “laws”, in fact, ensured something that, in the modern Church, is looked down upon:
division. That is God set out to accomplish something very purposefully; something that the Church
has worked very hard to defeat. The simple fact is that God creates His kind of unity by means of
division. While that may sound like double talk, it is the truth. He sets up principles that are, by their
very nature, dividing lines. Man is given a free choice to stand on one side or the other. If he stands
on the side of God’s principles then he has unity with God but conflict with man. If he stands on
the other he has unity with men but conflict with God. The reason that Israel has always been a
pariah to the rest of the world is that (generally speaking) they dedicated themselves to obeying
Yehoveh regardless of the consequences. That automatically puts them in conflict with the world.
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The reason the Church has steadily lost it’s power is that it has stopped BEING a pariah; since the
European Enlightenment of the 18th century it seems as though the goal of the Church has
become to make the Church as close and attractive to the world as possible; to camouflage itself,
while still maintaining an aura of religiousness. The current era of the Mega-Church is simply the
culmination of the Enlightenment philosophies and man’s desire NEVER to divide, but always to
find ways to unite through compromise. Compromise and consensus has replaced unity. Majority
rules has replaced God’s rules. Tolerance has replaced our obligation to discern between good
and evil. Christ said, ‘ take up your Cross and follow me’. Translation: if you’re not a pariah to the
world, you’re not doing what I told you to do.
Starting in verse 4 we get some instructions that are usually credited to Jesus as being to first to
say them; these next verses are about the humane treatment of the enemy. Then we get another
instruction often thought to be anti OT, and occurring only in the NT…..be merciful and help the
poor. You see, Yeshua didn’t come to abolish the ways of the Torah…..he was the most Torah
observant man in the history of the world. Every saying of Christ came either verbatim, or in
principle, from the OT.
In verse 9, God reminds Israel that they were, at one time, foreigners and under the cruel and
unjust hand of a merciless dictator. And that perhaps the best example of how NOT to treat a
foreigner that has come to live amongst Israel is how they were treated in Egypt. As we discussed
before God was laying the foundation for gentiles (ger) to become part of Israel not only in the
physical sense (by literally becoming Israelites), but also in the future spiritual sense that
Yeshua’s death on the cross would make possible; gentile Believers JOIN with Hebrew Believers,
by faith, and become the Israel of God, spiritual Israel if you would.
Next in verses 10-12 we see the principle of the Sabbath applied in the practical, physical, earthly
sense. In Genesis we saw God set up the Sabbath principle of 6 days of work, and then 1 of rest.
The 7th day He made Holy……not symbolically Holy…… literally Holy. Yet Christ told His
followers that the Sabbath was not made for God, rather God made it for man. Some theologians
have tried to make this a conflict whereby we either choose the Holiness of the true Sabbath as
correct, OR, the practical sense of it as a health benefit to mankind. Here we again run into the
REALITY of DUALITY: every principle of God, His every instruction, His every action has an
earthly, physical side to it, AND a heavenly, spiritual side to it. The Shabbat was declared Holy….in
a purely spiritual essence. Yet it also served a very tangible physical purpose in being a day of rest
and rejuvenation for ALL living things, not just man.
So in verses 10-12 we see the Sabbath principle is applied not just to days, and weeks, but also to
years. And notice that its benefits are applied to plants and even to the soil they grow in……use the
ground for six years and than let it rest in the 7th. Then it’s applied to animals…..work 6 days and
rest the 7th SO THAT YOUR OX AND DONKEY MAY REST. Then finally to people…..and that
includes foreigners, gentiles…. work 6 days and rest on the 7th to catch your breath.
We have talked about the Sabbath before, and will do so again occasionally; but here is one
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observation I’d like you to consider: the holiness of the 7th day Shabbat is really only relevant to
God’s people. Let me explain: there are two basic aspects to the Shabbat: 1) as a day of physical
rest, and 2) as a day of observance of a God-commanded holy day. The first is about a physical
benefit, the second is about a spiritual benefit. Because of the way the Lord designed all
things……humans, animals, plants, and the dirt of the earth…… a regular rest helps all to physically
rejuvenate. One can be an atheist and benefit from resting one day in 7. But animals, plants, the
dirt, and all humans who are NOT part of God’s people are restricted to ONLY the PHYSICAL
benefit of the Shabbat. If one wants the spiritual benefit of Shabbat….the benefit that comes from
observing the Lord’s command to “be holy as I am holy”……. then one must be declared part of
God’s people.
Therefore as a Christian who recognizes the God-ordained benefit of resting one day in 7, you will
indeed be blessed from a physical standpoint no matter what day you choose to rest…..the same
as would an atheist or a plow horse. But there is one day and ONLY one day that brings with it the
spiritual benefit that the Lord has ordained…..and that is the particular day the Lord set apart as
holy: the 7th day that is formally called Shabbat.
Verse 12 was the end of the first category of rules and regulations God was setting up: those
between man and man. Now, from verse 13 to 20 the 2nd category is begun… and Yehoveh is now
dealing with how man is to relate to Him. He starts by reiterating that other gods will not be
tolerated. Thus far in the Torah Israel has been told not to make images of other gods, not to
worship other gods, and now not to even TALK about, or invoke, the names of other gods. See the
Hebrews are just like us…..always looking for loopholes. Is it really an image of God if I have a
statue or painting of Christ? Do I tithe on my income before or after taxes? Isn’t worshiping God
the same thing as my sitting watching someone else sing a Christian song? Isn’t my Pastor
praying for me the same thing as me doing the praying? God was making it about as clear as it can
get that the Israelites were to have NOTHING to do or say about other gods. Period. And, no, there
are no loopholes.
Beginning in verse 14, the Hebrew religious calendar is set up and Yehoveh ordains 3 pilgrimage
festivals for Israel. In Leviticus these festivals will be discussed in more detail. Although eventually
God would set up 7 Feasts for Israel to celebrate, these 3 are special because as the word
pilgrimage suggests the Israelites are to journey to a specific place to celebrate these feasts. For
now, out in the Wilderness, they’re simply told to come before the Lord; presumably meaning the
Wilderness Tabernacle that went with them wherever they went. Later, after settling in the land of
Canaan, they will be told to journey from wherever they might live to Jerusalem, home of the
Temple, for these 3 feasts.
And like the instructions we just saw regarding the physical, earthly purposes of the Sabbath we
see now the physical, national, purposes of the 3 festivals. Oh, they have an enormous spiritual
element to them that we won’t go into right now, but that’s not the purpose of these particular
instructions to teach about the spiritual, prophetic character of these 3 feasts. These are all about
Yehoveh ordaining a special set of 3 celebrations that sets Israel apart from all other nations. It
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goes a long way in establishing a unique national identity for Israel.
The 3 festivals are all agricultural based, and therefore since Spring is looked at as the beginning
of the agricultural yearly cycle, the first festival is a Spring festival.
The first pilgrimage feast, called the festival of Matzah, is also sometimes called Passover (though
that is not technically correct since Passover is a separate one-day feast) and occurs in the spring;
it is a time to celebrate God’s deliverance of His people from slavery in Egypt. The 2nd pilgrimage
feast, known as the Feast of Weeks…or in Hebrew Shavuot, occurs 50 days following the Feast of
Matzah and is to celebrate the 2nd harvest of the year. Christians have a different name for this
holiday: Pentecost. The 3rd pilgrimage festival is the Feast of the Ingathering, also known as
Succoth or the Feast of Tabernacles. Succoth is a Fall feast and represents the final ingathering,
that is, the last of the harvest is taken in before winter begins.
By the time we reach Leviticus Yehoveh will have established precisely 7 feasts. Every ancient
culture had established feasts and days honoring their deities, usually centering on the agricultural
cycles. But the difference is that these 7 feasts, beginning with the 3 we just discussed, are GOD
ORDAINED. Now sometimes in both the Old and New Testaments instead of the word “feasts”
we’ll find the phrase “appointed times” to refer to these special holy days (which is certainly a
correct translation and captures the essence of a God appointed feast). But as we study God’s
Word we must be very careful to notice the difference between MEN’s appointed times and God’s
appointed times. Disregarding this difference has caused enormous confusion in Bible
interpretation and teaching. Some teachers have St. Paul declaring the end of the Biblical Feasts,
appointed times, when in fact he is cautioning against observance of MEN’s appointed times, not
God’s appointed times…..and at other moments telling his listeners that the rituals and procedures
the Rabbis had devised for some of the festivals was not from God. We must never think that the
NT at any point invalidates these holy days; after all, Jesus HIMSELF participated in all the Biblical
Feasts and most of the recorded major events of His ministry occurred on one or another of these
holy days. Yeshua died during Passover, was raised on Firstfruits, sent the Holy Spirit on Shavuot.
The last half of verse 19 has a puzzling instruction that even the Hebrews have argued over for
centuries: “You are not to boil a young animal in its mother’s milk”. As a tradition the Jews have
enforced this by effecting a prohibition against serving or eating meat and dairy products at the
same time. Depending on just HOW stringent a certain Jewish sect might be one would either have
to wash and purify utensils that touched meat before those same utensils could touch dairy
products or utilize completely separate SETS of utensils for each. In some cases, today, meat
products and dairy products have to be kept in completely separate refrigerators. So those of you
going to Israel……don’t order a Ham and cheese sandwich unless you want some frowns directed
at you.
The why of this law has generally been attributed to some kind of animal cruelty Yehoveh was
trying to avoid: I mean, going out and milking a cow, and then taking that cow’s own calf and
cooking it in that same milk is a tad tacky. But, it’s also thought that this may have been a well-
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known custom of the pagans during worship of some heathen deity, so God ordered the practice
abandoned by His people.
Suddenly, in verse 20, the tone of the chapter changes and Yehoveh moves from ordaining rules
and regulations, to giving some promises to Israel. He says that He is going to send an angel, a
malach (in Hebrew), to prepare the way for Israel’s conquest of the land of Canaan. And that the
people are to obey the angel because Yehoveh says that this particular angel carries HIS name. In
other words this angel either carries God’s full authority OR as is more often taught this angel was
a manifestation of God Himself. We could argue which of those views is correct ‘till the cows come
home but I don’t think it would change much. The thing I would like you to take from this, though,
is the inscrutable mystery that is our God. I’ve about come to the conclusion that if I’m pretty sure
I can comprehend Him, I must have it wrong. God will manifest Himself however He decides to
whether as an angel, a cloud, a burning bush, or whatever. The fact that we have a hard time
squaring that with our doctrine of the Trinity, whereby we’ve decided that every visible form of God
must be Jesus, I doubt worries Him very much. And we shouldn’t be too concerned about it either.
Some things about God just are…. And we need to simply accept it.
In any case Israel is to be unquestionably obedient to this angel. And just as important, as Israel
begins to encounter this list of nations in verse 23 they are to avoid worshipping their gods; in fact
they’re to destroy the idols and smash the various stone altars and monuments erected to these
false deities. And IF they’ll do this God will be an enemy to Israel’s enemies.
Yehoveh tells them that if they will serve Him, He will make them very fruitful. He’ll keep them from
falling ill, he’ll make them multiply very rapidly by keeping the Hebrew women from miscarrying,
and by making the Hebrew population in general live out their full life spans.
Further God is going to put terror in the hearts of Israel’s enemies even before they arrive. In other
words all these nations are going to have an irrational, supernatural fear of Israel that will cause
them to run away. Of course the hoards of stinging hornets the Lord is going to send against the
various inhabitants of Canaan that might consider staying even in the face of that fear, are going to
be very painful and another good reason to get out of Dodge.
Verse 29 says something interesting: God is going to lead Israel to such a swift victory that it
actually becomes necessary to slow them down; therefore He is not going to allow Israel to defeat
Canaan in but a single year as apparently they are perfectly able to do. Why? Because if all the
inhabitants of Canaan flee at once the land will go fallow from lack of care and then wild animals
will take over. So God is going to have Israel take over Canaan step-by-step at a rate they can
properly assume stewardship over the rich lands and resources.
Then in verse 31 we’re told what the boundaries of the land that God is giving them is going to
encompass. It ‘s going to go from the Gulf of Aqaba (a finger of the Red Sea) to the East, to the
domain of the Philistines, the Mediterranean Sea, on the West. The River to the north is the
Euphrates, and the wilderness to the south is probably the Negev, bordering the Sinai Peninsula.
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This is a very large tract of land, which Israel has yet to EVER fully possess.
Verse 32 speaks of not making a covenant with any of the Canaanite peoples. In other words, no
peace treaties, no buying land, no appeasements of any kind. Why? Verse 33 tells us that if Israel
allows these various tribes of Canaan to stay their mere presence will “make you sin against me by
ensnaring you to serve their gods”. As we’ll see in later studies, during the time when Joshua was
leading Israel, in their human idea of mercy, they ignored God in this and made treaties, allowed
intermarriage, practiced tolerance, and Israel suffers from this disobedience to this very day. While
it may be difficult for us to swallow the reality is that had Israel followed God’s instructions when
invading Canaan there would be no Middle East crisis today.
What we have been witnessing since Chapter 19 of Exodus is the making of a covenant; or in more
exact Biblical language, the cutting of a covenant. Chapter 24 is all about the ratification of the
covenant that has been spelled out over the last few chapters. A covenant is far more than a
contract. It is far more than a legal agreement between two parties; in the Bible, a covenant creates
a binding together of the parties, a union of sorts. Some scholars have likened the covenant
process here in Exodus as to a marriage; I would argue with that somewhat, but yet the UNION
element of a covenant indeed reminds one, to a degree, of the union which occurs in human
marriage.
In Exodus 19-23, we saw the TERMS of the covenant between Israel and Yehoveh being laid out.
And, by the way, the style of its structure very much resembles ancient Middle Eastern treaties and
pacts among people and nations…..particularly those treaties of the highly developed culture of the
Hittites. Archeologists and Papyrologists (Papyrologists are those who study ancient documents
from the standpoint of both writing methods and content, to help determine WHEN a particular
document was written, WHO might have written it, and WHAT body of literature it might belong to),
have a wealth of written treaties and covenants from ancient times to compare with the Biblical
Covenants; and while there are many similarities which enable us to be certain of the era the
Covenant of Moses occurred (1300-1400 BC) there are some glaring differences between those
treaties and the Mosaic Covenant written at Mt. Sinai.
First, no covenant ever discovered from any ancient culture was in effect a written agreement
between man and a god. Second, every document ever found that comprised what we might term
a law code (such as the famous Hammurabi Code), separated the people into classes, with varying
degrees of privilege and deference to the rich and royal over the general population, then the poor,
then the slave class. Third, these law codes tended to make religious ritual and regulation
separate from civil law, with religious law having little or no effect upon civil law. Religion was
compartmentalized, made into its own little world if you would, and used as that time when the
people dealt with their gods. Obviously, the Covenant of Moses was a complete departure,
opposite practically, of all these law systems. God Himself was a covenant partner with the people
of Israel, God did not ordain a class structure of people and actually sought to begin to destroy the
lines between even slave and freeman, and He made religion and civil law one in the same,
inseparable. That is, ALL justice, ALL mishpat, comes from Yehoveh.
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So, The Covenant of Moses was quite unique; it was even a departure from the previous
covenants that God had made with Noach, and then with Abraham. For in both of those much
earlier covenants, they were but one-sided promises. And, the promises were God’s promises.
The Covenants of Noach and Abraham were uni-lateral. The Covenant of Moses was bi-lateral,
that is, both sides had obligations and responsibilities. The Covenants of Noach and Abraham were
UN-conditional….. nothing man could do would cause God to retract His promises. The Covenant of
Moses was conditional…. The people of Israel had to follow through with their end of the deal, the
terms of the covenant, or a variety of disciplinary actions, or even temporary withdrawal of certain
blessings by Yehoveh, would occur…..and they eventually did.
One final point, and we’ll move forward. Law codes in those ancient days, as now, tend to be very
formal, very cold, and very legalistic in their structure. Unquestioned obedience, without necessarily
understanding the reason for a particular law, was required. Although it might not have occurred to
you, the WAY the laws of God were given to the people of Israel was full of warmth, and rich with
symbolism. And, the laws were given with MUCH narration, much explanation. Why? Because, it is
the principles behind the laws that God is teaching. The purpose of the law, as with all the Torah,
was to teach. In fact, the word “Torah” means “teaching”. And, while many of the details of the
Mosaic Laws are very Hebrew in their cultural content, the principles behind every one of these
laws are timeless, and the principles are applicable to all humans in any culture. For, in these laws,
Yehoveh has expressed the basics of the way His universe operates. We trespass upon these
principles at our own risk.
Next week we’ll examine Exodus chapter 24 and see just how this covenant between God and
Israel was formally ratified.
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Audio Files MP3

Illustrations
For the last several chapters of Exodus we have witnessed Yehoveh present His covenant to the
people of Israel. Unlike the covenants the Lord had made with Noah and Abraham (which were
really more the form of promises of God and therefore didn’t require a formal acceptance by Noah
or Abraham), the one being made with Israel DOES require a formal acceptance. This formal
acceptance is also called a ratification. So let’s go to chapter 24 and see just how this covenant
between God and Israel was formally ratified.

Yehoveh tells Moses that he, Aharon and his two sons Nadav and Avihu, and 70 of the leaders
(probably the chief Elders of Israel), are to approach God. We cannot be sure whether the number
70 is precise or is symbolic; because in Hebrew literature rounded numbers like this are often
symbolic. It could be that 70 IS the actual number at the same time it is symbolic of totality or
comprehensiveness. That is, this group represents Israel completely. All are to bow down lowly, at
a distance. Likely, this meant that they were not to cross the boundary lines, which you see here in
these pictures actually taken at the site, and carefully marked with a stone fence, that separated
the Holy Mountain where God was, from the valley floor; only Mosheh was to cross that boundary
and step foot on Mt. Sinai. For those of you who are relatively new to the class this is NOT at the
traditional site of Mt. Sinai on the Sinai Peninsula, but rather at a site in Arabia that I am now think
is the much more probable site of the Mountain of God…and, the location where St. Paul, Philo,
Josephus, and others said the Holy Mountain was located.
Here is a map showing where that site is located, and these photos were taken.
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Moshe went up, and when he came back down, it was with instructions from Yehoveh to recite
again all the rulings God had given to Israel, that we see listed in Exodus chapters 19-23. The
purpose was to present the TERMS of the covenant to the people; and they responded, “we will
obey”. Now, lets quickly revisit a couple of Hebrew terms, dabar and mishpat. Because, where it
says in Ex. 24 v.3 that Moses spoke all “the rulings”, or perhaps in your Bibles, the words or laws,
the original Hebrew says what Moses spoke to the people was God’s mishpat and dabar.
Remember what the Hebrew word was for the 10 commandments? It was dabar…. the 10 dabar…in
English, the 10 “words”. And, AFTER Israel received the 10 dabar of Exodus 20, God said, in v.1
of Ex. 21, that He would now give Israel His mishpat, His system of Justice...what I believe we
should even more rightly characterize as His Gospel. So as would be completely proper (absolutely
necessary, really) Moses re-spoke the 10 Commandments and then all the rules and regulations of
Ex. 21-23 to the people, to which they responded they would obey. This was standard operating
procedure for ratifying a covenant in those days.
We’re told that Moses wrote these words down; unlike what some liberal theologians want us to
believe, the fact is we’re told right here that all the laws given to this point were recorded, written
down, at this moment…..not later, from recollection. Then Moses built an altar…remember, an altar is
not a monument……it is a place where you sacrifice; it is a place where typically an animal is ritually
slaughtered. And Moses set up 12 stones to represent the 12 Tribes of Israel. These are typically
called “standing stones”, which ARE memorials usually to something ascribed as an act of God.
The use of standing stones was commonplace among the peoples of the ancient Middle East.
Next we see the ceremonial sacrifice; this is a necessary and standard part of every Middle
Eastern covenant. The animals were killed and then typically cut up into pieces….or in the more
literal Hebrew RIGHTLY DIVIDED (yes, that’s right, that good old Christian saying of rightly
dividing the Word was taken completely out of context…..for “rightly dividing” concerned the proper
cutting up of the sacrificial animal, it was not about Bible interpretation). The pieces of the sacrificial
animal were arranged around the altar, and then usually, the two covenanting parties would walk
together between the pieces of cut-up animal. We’re not told if this happened here, but its almost
unthinkable that it didn’t. Some of the blood was captured in basins, and it was sprinkled upon the
people. The reason? This signified that the blood of the covenant included, or covered, them.
Interestingly we’re told that “young men” were sent to do the sacrificing. Many commentaries say
it was necessary that young men, presumably picked because they were strong, were chosen
because it was bulls that were going to be sacrificed and bulls are big and heavy. Yet in later Torah
passages that mention the sacrificing of bulls (which was commonplace) there is no admonition to
use young or particularly strong men to lug the bull carcasses around. Here’s why: the young men
spoken of were not simply any young men, they were firstborn. We see in this passage NOT that
they were but strong men who did the heavy lifting while others performed the ritual; rather THEY
actually did the sacrificial procedure. Why didn’t the Levite priests do the sacrificing; after all that
was perhaps their primary duty? Because the priesthood has not yet been established, as it soon
will be.
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Before the priesthood was established each family (separately) performed whatever rituals they
traditionally followed……and we don’t precisely know just what these rituals consisted of. Sacrificing
animals and food and sacred objects was normal and customary throughout all known ancient
Eastern cultures and likely the Israelites down in Egypt did something similar. But the question is,
WHO within each household actually performed the sacrifices and rituals? Our usual answer is that
it would be the eldest male or the father (or perhaps a grandfather if he lived in that extended
household). But that was not the case; rather, it was the firstborn male who performed these
functions. Remember, firstborn does NOT mean the most senior male in a household; it means the
first son a man’s wife produced for him. The father or grandfather of the house was not necessarily
a firstborn.
This reality of Hebrew life is going to play a significant role later on in Leviticus and then Numbers.
The firstborn more or less had the position of the “family priest”; but ONLY until the Lord
established an official priesthood (which would come from the tribe of Levi). Once the priesthood
was established individual families could no longer perform their own sacrifices, on their own altars,
in their own ways. Just as significantly the thousands of Israelite firstborns lost their valued status
as the family priest. And in later Torah portions we find subtle mentions of the reluctance of families
to give up their own private rituals, and of firstborns to release their rights as the family priest to
certain members of the tribe of Levi.
Well, after Moses goes up the mountain and comes back down the book of the covenant, the 10
Commandments and the laws, is once again read, and once again the people respond that they
will obey. This is typical of covenant ritual.
Then in verse 9 something extraordinary and unexpected happens: God permits Aaron, his two
sons, and the 70 elders to cross the boundary wall and set foot on his Holy mountain. Of course!
The blood of the covenant sacrifice had atoned for the sins of the people, and now their
representative could approach God. This is EXACTLY as it is with us and Christ: when we accept
Yeshua as Lord and Savior we are spiritually “sprinkled” with His blood, covered by His blood, and
NOW we can approach God, pure in His eyes, whereas before we could not.
And, it says they saw God. Though, considering that “no man can see God and live”, and that the
description of what they saw is something very similar to what St. John, 1400 years later would see
(that is, the area where God stood was paved with precious stones) this must have been a vision.
The Jewish sage Rashbam says that what happened here is quite similar to what happened with
Abraham at the moment of cutting the covenant God made with him……a visual manifestation of
God in the form of a smoking firepot appeared to Abraham. Obviously the smoking firepot was
NOT the actual image of the Lord, and what those men who were permitted to climb up Mt. Sinai
saw was NOT the actual image of the Lord. And, they dined with God as opposed to the usual
results of viewing God’s presence which is destruction; that is what is meant by the phrase, “and
God did not reach out his hand against them…..”
Now, I think what we are seeing here a prefiguring of the great and future Marriage Feast of the
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Lamb whereby all Believers will be committed in formal marriage (as opposed to our current state
of betrothal), a formal and completed union, to Christ accompanied with a great ceremonial feast.
This eating a meal together is yet another indispensable part of the covenant ritual….. it completes
the covenant. Once again, our covenant, our union, with Christ is not yet fully complete; but it will
be 100% complete upon the formalizing of the Covenant of Christ when we who have accepted the
terms of that covenant, faith in Yeshua of Nazareth, sit down at the feet of our Lord and dine with
Him at the Marriage Feast of the Lamb. Goosebump city, huh!?
The ceremony was over and the covenant was now complete. It has never been renewed, because
there has never been a need for it to be renewed; the covenant is permanent (at least until the end
of the age).
In verse 12 Yehoveh called Mosheh back to His mountain, and gave to him the 10 Words, the 10
Commandments, written on stone tablets by God’s own finger. Interestingly Joshua went up with
Moses; although Joshua is only briefly mentioned and then nothing further is said about him. Still
this shows how early-on God had begun the process of separating out and training Joshua, son of
Nun, the next leader of Israel. Aharon and Hur were left in charge at the encampment. Hur was not
a son of Aharon, but tradition says he was a son-in-law. At the least it was obvious that even above
Aharon’s own natural sons, Hur was a specially selected man to be Aharon’s assistant.
We’re told that the people of Israel witnessed God’s glory (in Hebrew, kavod) that burned like an
unquenchable fire on top of that Holy Mountain, from down there in the valley floor on which all 3
million of them encamped. And, on top of that mountain, surrounded by Yehoveh’s awesome
presence, Moses stayed for 40 days and 40 nights, obviously receiving the most intense and
important teaching that a man had ever experienced. However we’re also told that the first 6 of
those days the cloud hid the Lord’s presence, and on the 7th day the Lord began to give Moses
more instruction. Those first 6 days were a sort of preparation for Moses; a time of spiritual
contemplation before He would stand in the very presence of God Almighty.
Let’s move on to chapter 25. Before we read this chapter, however, I’d like to do a sort of
introduction to it.
Chapter 24 ended the 3rd division of Exodus, called Covenant and Law. With Chapter 25, we enter
the 4th division, a new and central theme of Exodus, concerning the Wilderness Tabernacle and
the rituals associated with it.
As important are the beginning acts of Yehoveh to create the world, the creation of mankind and
Adam’s fall, the Flood that temporarily purged the earth of rampant wickedness, the story of
Abraham as the first Hebrew, the story of Jacob as the founder of the tribes of Israel, the history of
Israel’s captivity in Egypt, and now the Hebrews’ Exodus all are, little carries the importance of
what we’re about to study…..the Wilderness Tabernacle, the earthly dwelling place of God.
Let me tell you just HOW important it is: it’s important enough that all, or parts, of 50 chapters in
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the Torah are taken up with the building and service of the Tabernacle. Every minute detail of its
construction, the implements used, the garments worn, how the cultic rituals were to be conducted
and WHO was to conduct them and more were laid out by Yehoveh with the repeated demand to
“make it after the pattern I have shown to you”. The sacrificial system is painstakingly explained:
which animals are suitable for the various sacrifices, which kind of sacrifice is for what purpose,
how the animal is to be killed and processed, who can partake of the meant and who cannot, and
far more.
Now please hear this; the Jewish authors of the New Testament ASSUMED that the readers of the
various letters and gospels (that eventually became collected into a Biblical canon) already
understood the purpose of the holy Tabernacle and the Sacrificial System. The NT writers BEGIN
at a point where it is a given that its readers are already familiar with all the essential points of
Israelite society, tradition and worship…..including the Temple and its services, the complex
sacrificial and purification rites, Israel’s history, how marriage and family life functioned, and so on.
And where does one get all this prerequisite understanding? Well if one doesn’t live in that society
then it must be by studying and understanding the records of that society and the Laws that the
Lord ordained to govern it: the Old Testament.
The Torah is all about instruction; and so it is that the Tabernacle and the sacrificial system are to
teach us the Gospel. It is to teach us the PURPOSE of Israel. It is to teach us the Holiness of
Yehoveh. It is to teach us the great and horrible cost that would be necessary for our sins to be
pardoned.
We’ll find a number of names for the Wilderness Tabernacle in the Bible. It was called a
“sanctuary”, in Hebrew “miqdash” (mic-dawsh), meaning a sacred and holy place. It was also
called a “tabernacle”, in Hebrew “mishkan” which means a dwelling place, in this case, a dwelling
place of Yehoveh. “Tent” was another name, in Hebrew “ohel” (o-el), which indicated a simple
Bedouin style cloth tent. The “tabernacle of the congregation” was another term used, in Hebrew
“ohel moed”; it meant, most literally, the tent of the appointed times. Another expression was the
“tabernacle of testimony”, in Hebrew “mishkan ha eduth”, the dwelling place of the
testimony….that is, the place where the 10 Commandments is housed. It’s been called the
Wilderness Tabernacle, and the Tent of Moses. While the precise meanings of each of these terms
focuses on different aspects of the Tabernacle’s essence, they are all still referring to the same
structure; that portable dwelling place of Yehoveh that the Israelites used beginning at Mt. Sinai
and all throughout their time in the wilderness, and then for about 400 years AFTER that, until a
permanent stone and wood building was erected by Solomon. That stone and wood structure was
called The Temple. The Temple and the Tabernacle are two different things, but they were built for
the same purpose; actually the Temple was just a permanent, non-moveable version of the
Tabernacle. And, now, even the Temple has been replaced; for today these delicate fleshly bodies
we Believers walk around in are the Tabernacle, the Temple, the place where Yehoveh’s Holy
Spirit dwells. Interesting isn’t it, how the original Tabernacle was mobile, a temporary tent; and
long after it was replaced once again the dwelling place of God, us, a tent with a limited life span,
has been designed to go wherever He would direct us. Israel would move around for 40 years, so
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God’s dwelling place had to move with them if His presence was to be with them. Then Israel
settled in the Promised Land so God’s dwelling place settled in the land; therefore if you wanted to
come to God, you came to the Temple in Israel. Starting with Yeshua WE became the Lord’s
Temple, His earthly (NOT heavenly) dwelling place. So when we take His Word to the world, He
goes with us.
The Tabernacle had one primary purpose: a place especially clean and holy so that Yehoveh
could dwell amongst His people. Secondarily it was a place where His people, His congregation,
could meet with Him. The Tabernacle also had one primary feature: it was visible and it was
placed in the center of the encampment of Israel. It was placed there to remind the people of God
of His constant presence with them. It was there to remind the people to stay away from other
gods, idolatry, and to serve Yehoveh and ONLY Yehoveh.
The Israelites’ encampment consisting of hundreds of thousands of tents surrounded the

Tabernacle. And the tribes were organized in an exacting order, carefully placed at each of the 4
sides of the Tabernacle. To the East were the 3 tribes of Issachar, Judah, and Zebulun, composed
of 186,000 men. To the West were Manasseh, Ephraim, and Benjamin, consisting of 108,100 men.
Camped on the North side were Asher, Dan, and Naphtali, and their 157,000 men. And to the
South were the 151,400 men who composed the tribes of Simeon, Reuben, and Gad. The Levites
were placed closest to the Tabernacle and they were divided up by family and placed on all four
sides, as an inner ring BETWEEN the Tabernacle and the 12 tribes, like a buffer zone; the Levites
numbered 22,300 men.
Notice I said men. Any census of Israel ONLY counted men. And even then only men capable of
fighting in the army; those males who were too young, too old, or disabled, were not counted.
Therefore when adding in the women, children, sickly, and elderly, there was something on the
order of 3 million Israelites surrounding that Tabernacle; now, that was quite a tent city, wasn’t it?
The order of the tribes’ placement around the Tabernacle was NOT at random. Each set of 3
tribes represented the camping together of those who were one another’s nearest blood relatives.
For example: Manasseh and Ephraim, brothers, carried the authority of their father Joseph. They
were coupled with Benjamin. Benjamin and Joseph had the same mother, Rachel. Therefore these
3 tribes formed a division and so camped together.
Simeon and Rueben were sons of Jacob’s first wife, Leah. Since Levi, another son of Leah was
set apart as the priestly tribe (no longer considered one of the 12 Tribes) Gad took his place in the
encampment organization. Why Gad? Because Gad was a son of Leah’s handmaiden, Zilpah.
Judah, Issachar, and Zevulun, were Leah’s youngest 3 sons. So, they were organized to camp
together.
Dan and Naphtali were born to Rachel’s handmaiden, Bilah. They were coupled with Leah’s
handmaiden’s youngest son, Asher.
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So the order of encampment was indicative of a kind of pecking order of the tribes. And, I’m sure,
that because particularly in the tribal system blood was definitely thicker than water, by grouping
them in this way trouble between the tribes was kept to a minimum.
Now notice the symbolism of placing Moses, Aaron, and the priestly families, the Levites and their
sub-groups the Merarites, the Kohathites, and the Gershonites, close in to surround the
Tabernacle, like a moat around a castle; and all 12 regular tribes are stationed further away from
God’s dwelling place. Here we have the concept of mediation at work. Priests, from the set-apart
Levite tribe, are about to become the intermediaries between the people and God. The people
cannot come directly to God; they must go through the priests in Yehoveh’s system. So the camp
presents a visualization of that idea; the people of the 12 regular tribes have to LITERALLY go
through, walk through, the encampment of the priests to get to God (or better, to approach His
Tabernacle). And the way it worked was that the people went to the priests, who went to God FOR
them. This whole concept was prophetic and prefiguring of ONE of Christ’s most important
ministries…..He was to be our high priest…..our mediator between Yehoveh and us, His people. We
cannot go directly to the Father; so we go to Messiah, who goes to the Father Yehoveh for us.
Each of the groupings (or divisions) of 3 tribes (remember, there were 4 groups of 3) had a
dominant tribe, a leader tribe, which was Judah (east), Ephraim (west), Dan (north), and Rueben
(south). Remember I told you sometime back to always pay attention to the direction EAST in the
Bible. It almost always has spiritual significance. The Tabernacle was always set up so that the
Holy place faced EAST; and that is where Judah was located. Judah….the tribe that was to carry
the authority, according to Jacob’s Blessing, for ALL Israel. That is Judah was to be the
preeminent tribe that ruled over all the other tribes. And what tribe did Yeshua, the King, come
from? Judah.
Notice that at the opposite end of the encampment, to the West, but NEAREST to the Holy Place
was the tribe of Ephraim. Ephraim had been given the other half of the split first born blessing
according to Jacob’s Blessing. That is while Judah was given the right to rule over Israel, Ephraim
was given the tribe’s wealth, and the blessing of fruitfulness…..called the Double Portion blessing.
We studied this very carefully in Genesis 48,49, and 50. This study is critical in understanding the
entire Bible. So, if you missed it, I heartily suggest you get the CDs of this. I think those of you who
went through that particular study found it pretty eye opening.
So the placement of these tribes around the Tabernacle had tremendous prophetic symbolism and
meaning. Let me show you something else that is going to help you understand OT and NT
prophecies. Each of the 4 dominant, or leader, tribes had a specific symbol, an emblem, by which
they were known (in fact all 12 tribes did). We all know the symbol of Judah is the Lion…..we even
call Christ the Lion of Judah. Well the tribe of Ephraim’s symbol was a male calf, a Bull,
sometimes shown as a male Ox . Dan’s tribal symbol is a little more of a mystery, as it the tribe
itself; at times it was a snake, at other times a flying snake, and more traditionally it has been
accepted that it was an Eagle. Rueben’s symbol was a man, a human.
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So, the 4 dominant leader tribes, which represented all 12 tribes, each had a symbol: One was a
Lion, one seems to have been an Eagle, another a Bull or Ox, and the last was a man, or human.
And these tribes surrounded God’s earthly dwelling place, the Tabernacle. They protected the
Sanctuary of God from outsiders, and the Lord protected them from their enemies.
Nothing in the Bible stands alone. It’s all connected. To demonstrate this turn to Ezekiel 1:10.
Ezekiel was a prophet that lived about 700 years after the time of Moses. God seemed to
communicate to Ezekiel through visions at times. And some of his visions were real lu-lu’s. The
vision he had in the first chapter of Ezekiel begins with a view of Heaven, and God’s throne area,
and it speaks about four living creatures. They had 4 wings, and 4 faces. Now notice Ezekiel 1,
verse 10:
“…as for the appearance of their faces), they had human faces in front, each of the four had a
lion’s face on the right, each had a Bull’s face on the left, and each of the four had an eagle’s
face toward the rear”.
And, we’re told that wherever the Spirit of God went, they went.
Hmmmmm. The 4 Living Creatures each had faces of a Lion, an Eagle, a Bull, and a man. Now
where did we just see those same symbols? Right! Those were the representative symbols of the 4
dominant tribes of Israel. Coincidence? Even more, just like wherever the Tabernacle with the Spirit
of God went, the Israelites went with it; so these strange creatures went wherever the Spirit of God
went.
Notice something else: the Lion was to the right. The right of anything, in the Bible, was symbolic of
the best, the dominant, the strongest or most important, and at times it was even the Holy position.
For instance, your right hand, your right eye, your right foot, symbolized the best or most important.
Left was symbolic of lesser value.
Right was also equivalent to EAST. Right was the dominant and holy, east was the dominant and
holy. The Lion was on the Living Creature’s right; Judah was encamped on the right side, east
side, of the Tabernacle.
The left side was equivalent to West. The Bull face was on the left side of the Living Creature, just
as Ephraim whose symbol is the Bull, was encamped on the left side, the west side, of the
Tabernacle. The front, or south side, of the Living Creature was a man, a human; a man
symbolized Rueben who encamped on the front, or south side, of the Tabernacle. And, finally on
the back, rear side of the Living Creature was the face of an Eagle. The Eagle was the symbol of
Dan who camped on the rear side, the North side, of the Tabernacle.
Oh, but it doesn’t end there. Turn now to Revelation 4:6.
READ REVELATION 4:5-8
This is a vision given to John that, not surprisingly, is quite similar to that of Ezekiel’s because
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both were visions of heaven and of God’s throne. Now remember, what was the primary
purpose of the Tabernacle? It was God’s dwelling place on earth. And Moses was told to make
the Tabernacle “after the pattern he had been shown” by God. The Tabernacle was an earthly,
physical replica made after the pattern of God’s heavenly, spiritual dwelling place. As was, by the
way, the Garden of Eden a physical earthly, replica of God’s heavenly dwelling place.
So Rev. 4 speaks once again of these Living Creatures, or Living Beings. Notice again what these
beings appeared to be composed of: A Lion, an Ox (or Bull), a human (or man), and an eagle.
So these Living Creatures in Ezekiel and in Revelation are the same creatures and they are directly
associated with the 4 dominate tribes of Israel that represent ALL Israel. In fact the Living
Creatures have direct correlation even as concerns which DIRECTION, which SIDE of the Living
Creature each of the various faces is placed, and it is exactly as the tribes of Israel are placed
around the Tabernacle.
So, again we encounter this amazing REALITY OF DUALITY. Ezekiel’s and John’s Revelation
visions were of Heaven, or more specifically, of God’s dwelling place in Heaven. The Living
Creatures are some type of guardian or servant spirit for God, and they surround His throne. So the
Tabernacle, the physical dwelling place of God was built in the image of God’s Heavenly throne,
the spiritual dwelling place of God. The 4 dominant tribes of Israel were the physical model of the
spiritual creatures right down to the way they surrounded and moved with His earthly dwelling
place, the Tabernacle, and His Heavenly dwelling place. This is likely why the various Israelite
tribes had their symbols modeled after those of the Living Creatures, because each of these tribes
were to serve a specific purpose in relation to serving God.
Wild is it not? Don’t forget this. While this information might wow your friends in a game of Bible
Trivia it is also crucial in understanding prophecy, isn’t it? So, suddenly those strange Living
Beings aren’t so difficult to understand.
Next week we’ll begin studying Exodus chapter 25.
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Illustrations
Last week we ended by discussing the connection between the symbols of the tribes of Israel, and
how these tribes were arranged into divisions and placed in a precise pecking order surrounding
the Wilderness Tabernacle, with the strange spiritual creatures the Bible sometimes calls Living
Beings who surround God’s heavenly throne. And we saw that the 12 tribes of Israel were directed
by God to be organized into 4 divisions of 3 tribes each, and one of the tribes of each division was
designated as the leader of that division. Further, the 4 divisions were to occupy a certain area
outside of the Tabernacle as defined by points on the compass: East, West, North, and South.
The symbols of the 4 leader tribes were a Lion, an Ox (or Bull), an Eagle, and a man.
When we examined Ezekiel and Revelation, lo and behold we’re told that these Living Beings who
guarded Yehoveh’s heavenly throne, and went with God wherever He went, had 4 faces: a Lion,
and Ox, an Eagle, and a man.
Therefore we see that the REASON Israel was to encamp the way they did in conjunction with the
Wilderness Tabernacle was so that it followed after the eternal pattern of the Heavenly Throne
Room.
And this is a wonderful example of the Reality of Duality, whereby every spiritual principle has a
physical, earthly counterpart…….and vice versa.
Let’s read Exodus chapter 25 and see the beginning instructions for the construction of the
Wilderness Tabernacle: God’s earthly dwelling place.
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Notice something interesting: BEFORE the blueprint of the Tabernacle is given, we’re first given
the construction details of several of the pieces of sacred furniture and sacrificial instruments. So
the instructions regarding the building of the Tabernacle begin, in essence, from the inside and
work their way outward. Yehoveh’s instructions begin with the holiest (the Ark), then next move to
the holy (the Menorah, the Table of Shewbread, and the Altar of Incense), and finally move out of
the sanctuary into the area of humanity, the courtyard, where the sacrificial altar is located. We’ll
examine all of this in detail.
In vs.1, God tells Moses that He wants Moses to collect the materials needed for the Tabernacle
from the Israelite people but ONLY from those who are willing to give without being coerced. This is
to be an offering, a contribution. Nothing is to be given for any other reason than the person
WANTS to give it. Notice that there is no penalty, nor is there to be any peer pressure or guilt
applied to the people of Israel to give. There is no grand speech by Moses or Yehoveh that has
been left to us as a model, to start the Building Fund. The need is stated, and then the giving is
either from the people’s hearts or not at all. However, the Tabernacle is for the benefit of the entire
community of Israel, so it is reasonably expected that all will contribute to one level or another.
In Hebrew thinking there is more than one kind of offering; this particular kind of offering is called a
terumah, which is sometimes translated as a heave offering. It has the sense of being a
contribution; that is, the giver is contributing to a need, or to a common cause. This strange
sounding term, “heave offering”, is actually descriptive of the WAY the offering was presented to
God. By ritual tradition the offering was literally raised up above the shoulder by the priest and
moved about in a motion like one was “heaving”, underhanded, a bag of grain. And this kind of
offering, this terumah, was NOT a sacrifice per se, because sacrifices were not only REQUIRED
actions in order to remediate some violation of the law, or complete some type of celebration or
covenant ritual, but most (though not all) sacrifices were burned up. Sacrifices REQUIRED the
giving of an animal, or grain, or wine, or money, according to some legally prescribed amount and
particular kind of sacrifice. The terumah had an element of freewill.
I could easily turn this into a lesson about our giving, or tithing……but I think I’ll resist and just let
your Pastors, who are much better trained on such matters, to deal with that. Instead, I’ll say this: I
think we need to remember that all attempts by Church authorities to characterize our giving, our
tithing, as kind of NT version of the OT sacrificial system is simply misguided and not at all
Biblically supported. Sacrificing is sacrificing, and an offering is an offering; they are entirely
different in purpose and nature. And Yeshua has already satisfied every requirement of the
Torah’s sacrificial system, once and for all, so our giving, or tithing, cannot be classified as a
sacrifice. Rather the God-principle about our giving is set down for us right here in the first verse of
Exodus 25: it is equivalent to the freewill heave offering…..the terumah. We either give for a
common cause with a joyful heart, freely, out of gratitude for what Yehoveh has done for us
(because we recognize the need and our duty to contribute) or we should not do it at all. But the
type of giving the Church does is not in the realm of sacrifice whatsoever……it’s a privilege, a duty,
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and an act of the conscience.
Before we read about the construction and blueprint of the Tabernacle, which can admittedly get a
little tedious, I would like to show you a half-hour video, which better illustrates the pattern of the
Tabernacle and the materials used, its implements and its furniture, and where they were placed. I
think once you have that picture in your mind, it will be more understandable as we read about it.
PLAY VIDEO: “THE TABERNACLE”

Produced by Entertainment for Eternity
www.visionvideo.com
AFTER VIDEO HAS BEEN SHOWN
Continuing with Chapter 25
I hope the video you saw put some of the pieces of the Tabernacle into place. Today, we’re going
to being a look at those individual pieces of furniture that are far more than decoration.
Please note as we proceed that the construction materials used for the Tabernacle are grouped
into seven categories: metals, dyed yarns, fabrics, timber, oil, spices, and gemstones. As Nahum
Sarna (a wonderful Torah scholar) has noted, there is a very interesting feature about some of the
fabrics that will be used because at times these fabrics consist of a mixture of wool and linen. That
may not mean much to you now, but it will as we study Leviticus. The reason is that such a fabric
mixture is usually prohibited; in Hebrew that kind of mixture of two kinds of material to make a
piece of cloth is called sha’atnez. Clothing, for example, is generally not to be made of material of
this kind of mixed fibers. Yet we’ll find that the veil that separates the Holy of Holies from the rest
of the Sanctuary, the curtain at the entry into the Tent Sanctuary, even parts of the High Priest’s
ritual clothing are ALL required to be made of this same mixture (this sha’atnez) that is otherwise
forbidden.
What we learn from this is that certain things are reserved for the most holy, as designated by
Yehoveh; and it’s use outside of that context is not allowed. Therefore there is nothing inherently
unholy or impure about mixed fabrics. That is, the weaving together of linen and wool doesn’t
create some kind of magical interaction such that the resulting fabric becomes something
altogether different or perverse. This understanding is so key to correctly comprehending the
principles behind everything from kosher versus impure foods, to the designation of clean versus
unclean animals. Because it is a mistake to think that any food or animal has some type of inborn,
systematic holiness while another food or animal has some type of inborn, systematic impurity in it.
Rather, in general it has to do with God’s sovereign determination and inscrutable decisions about
what and how ritual and worship before Him is to occur; it’s really about that simple.
Before we start examining the Tabernacle’s furnishings I want to highlight verse 9 of chapter
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25: “You are to make it according to everything I show you….the design of the Tabernacle
and the design of the furnishings….”
This was Yehoveh talking to Moses during Moses’ 40 days on the top of Mt. Sinai. Moses, at this
point in Chapter 25, has not yet come back down to the people. Now many versions will speak this
verse as “making it according to the pattern I show you”, and that is certainly accurate. But, the
question is, of course, what pattern is it that God is showing Moses? Has Yehoveh rolled out a
blueprint on a papyrus scroll and is showing Moses the finer details of an earthly tent?
No……Yehoveh is giving Moses a tour of God’s heavenly dwelling place. Remember, tabernacle (in
Hebrew, Mishkan) is just an expression MEANING dwelling place. The pattern Moses was to
follow to build the Wilderness Tabernacle was God’s spiritual tabernacle, His throne room, His
dwelling place (which all refer to the same thing) IN HEAVEN. Moses’ vision of the spiritual
Tabernacle was to be transformed into a working model, a copy, but developed in the physical
realm. Now…..is this just nice sounding allegory or theory on my part, or is there more evidence that
the heavenly was indeed the pattern being talked about here?
Listen to Hebrews 8:5 “But what they are serving is only a copy and a shadow of the
heavenly original; for when Moses was about to erect the Tent (the Tabernacle), God warned
him, ‘see to it that you make everything according to the pattern you were shown on the
mountain’”.
Hebrews 8 and 9 spends some time making comparisons between the heavenly and the earthly,
using the Tabernacle and the sacrificial system to make its point. But these same chapters also
point out a principle that can get easily flip-flopped, or just kind of by-passed in our minds, and it is
this: the physical is, by nature, INFERIOR to the spiritual. That is, what exists in the spirit world is
far superior in its capabilities and its purity than what is possible in the physical world. For instance,
the Tabernacle and all its services while real and God ordained, are but copies…..inferior
copies…..of the real, original Heavenly Tabernacle (which, of course, existed before, and then
simultaneously with, the earthly Tabernacle). The Bible will use the term “shadows” to compare
the earthly to the heavenly……as in it was a SHADOW of things to come….when describing
many of the elements of the Tabernacle, the prophecies, and the Law. It’s referring to the fact that
COMPARED to the spiritual original, the physical copy simply can’t match up, it can’t provide the
depth of reality that the real thing can. Leonardo DaVinci can paint a breathtaking picture of Mt.
Everest perhaps as no other ever could; but it can never compare with the real Mt. Everest……the
painting is but a shadow of the real thing. The physical world is very limiting, because it is governed
by the laws of physics and contained within a universe of space and time. The Spiritual operates
OUTSIDE of those limitations and laws.
So every element of the Tabernacle……it’s rooms, its materials, its design, its furniture, the
sacrificial system, EVERYTHING……was patterned after the Heavenly original, and looked
forward towards the time when, through Messiah, mankind would be able to experience the
limitless spiritual reality of its meaning, instead of the severely limited physical copies.
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Now let’s look at some of the awesome connections and symbolism, of a general nature, about the
Tabernacle. First, notice how it was laid out in the same way that the geographical area of Mt. Sinai
was laid out. That is, the mountain and the Tabernacle were divided into 3 zones of varying
degrees of holiness. The mountain was holy….all of it. There was a stone fence, a boundary
marker, at the base of the mountain that separated the holy mountain from the valley floor below;
the holy area from the area the people could congregate. The entirety of Mt. Sinai equated to the
Tabernacle’s Sanctuary. And, the Sanctuary consisted of two connected rooms: the Holy Place,
and the Holy of Holies.
The summit of Mt. Sinai was where the Spirit of God rested, up there in the cloud that burned like a
raging fire. And, only ONE person was allowed to come into that area, and ONLY when summoned
by Yehoveh: Moses. The summit was the equivalent of the Holy of Holies, whereby only the High
Priest could enter…..no one else….and then only one day a year, a specific day ordained by God
(Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement).
The mountain’s slope was equivalent to the Holy Place in the Tent Sanctuary. The slope of Mt.
Sinai was where God called Moses, the 70 Elders (people’s representatives), plus Aaron and his
two sons, to come and have the covenant feast, the covenant meal, before Him. They had to come
over the barrier line that separated the holy from everything else…. that stone fence which, up to
now, the people could not cross. But, because of the sacrifice on the altar, which sealed the
covenant, and the blood of that sacrificed animal which was sprinkled on the people and therefore
ceremonially atoned for, and covered, their sin, God now allowed these 74 people, who
represented all Israel (Moses, Aaron, Nadav, Avihu, and 70 Elders) to come up to the Holy
Mountain……however not to the summit, not to the Holy of Holies; only to the mountain slope, the
Holy Place, a zone of slightly less holiness.
The valley floor side of the rock fence barrier was where the Hebrew people could congregate; it
was the zone of humanity, but only for the set-apart people; only for people who are redeemed.
It’s also where God instructed Moses to build a stone Altar on which the sacrifices to seal the
Mosaic Covenant were to be made. This valley floor area was equivalent to the Outer Court of the
Tabernacle where the sacrificial bronze Altar was to be built, and where the redeemed people of
God could come to offer their sacrifices.
So we see this “sameness” of pattern in every place that God dwells: His Heavenly tabernacle
was the model for every one of His earthly dwelling places starting with the Garden of Eden, then
Mt. Sinai, then the Wilderness Tabernacle, and then it’s replacement the Temple.
Let me go off on a bit of a tangent to show you another fascinating connection: 400 years earlier,
Yehoveh brought the infant tribe of Israel from Canaan into Egypt in order to survive a famine;
Israel went on to live and multiply greatly into a huge nation there. When Joseph, favored son of
Jacob, was the governor of Egypt and Jacob moved his entire clan to Egypt at Joseph’s invitation
to begin anew, do you recall how many people made up the entire clan of Israel? Counting Joseph
and his family, precisely 74…..the exact same number of Israelites that God called to come up to
His Holy Mountain to consecrate another new beginning for Israel, this time as a full-fledged set-
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apart nation for Him. Now be aware: there were definitely MORE than 74 Israelites that journeyed
from Canaan down into Egypt. Exactly how many came we don’t know. But we do know that some
time before Israel moved to Egypt there was at least one instance in which a sizeable number of
people were added to Jacob’s nation when, at Shechem, Jacob’s sons led a raid of revenge on
that city’s inhabitants (in revenge for the King’s son raping Dinah). Those sons killed all the males
inside Shechem and took all the women and children as slaves. Since this was just standard
operating procedure for all Middle Eastern cultures of that day, it is likely that other similar incidents
occurred (perhaps not on quite as grand scale) in which individuals were captured in order to
increase the size of the fledging Israelite nation. The 74 Israelites spoken of as coming to Egypt
represented the entire nation that entered Egypt, just as the 74 Israelites that God called to come
up to His mountain represented the Israelite nation that left Egypt.
Moses erected 12 standing stones, 12 monuments, at the base of Mt. Sinai to represent the 12
tribes of Israel before God. Accordingly, God instructed that there be a table in the Tabernacle with
12 loaves of Showbread on it at all times, representing the 12 tribes of Israel before Him inside the
Tabernacle. Inside the 2 separate rooms of the Sanctuary, the Holy Place and Holy of Holies, all
the fixtures were made of Gold, which symbolizes holiness and purity. Outside of the Sanctuary, in
the Outer Court, all the fixtures were made of Bronze and less valuable metals.
Now, let me mention one more thing: as you saw from that video, and as you have seen and will
see from the Scriptures, the Tabernacle contained NO images of Yehoveh; the religion of Yehoveh
was to be an image-less religion. The 2nd of the 10 Commandments made it VERY clear that God
wanted NO images of His Person to be made. The religion of the Hebrews was the first, and to the
best of my knowledge along with its offshoot, Christianity, remains the only religion in which it’s
god says NO images of Him are to be made. We need to think long and hard about this and our
penchant for images and symbols.
Next week we’ll examine the very first item God instructed to be made from the contributions,
the terumah, of the people: the Ark of the Covenant.
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Audio Files MP3

Illustrations
Lesson 26 Chapter 25 continued
As the beginning of the lesson, today, I want to play the video for you that I had hoped to play last
week but had technical difficulties. It’s only a 28-minute video about the Tabernacle, but it is well
done. The resolution of the video isn’t real good, so don’t think you’re having eye trouble.
PLAY VIDEO
Let’s go back, now, and look more carefully at some of these sacred furnishings from the interior
of the Wilderness Tabernacle.
Re-READ Exodus 25:10-22

We’re going to read about all the gold, silver, and bronze used for the Tabernacle. We’ll get into
the precise amounts a little later in Exodus, but for now, just know that the total weight for all these
metals approached 8 tons. Now, where did they get this huge quantity of precious metals,
considering they were out there wandering around in a barren no-mans land? They brought it with
them from Egypt. God told Israel to “strip Egypt” before they left; to ask the Egyptian people for
gold and silver, and those Egyptians were MORE than happy to give it to them just to get rid of
those Hebrews and their god who had nearly destroyed Egypt.
So we don’t have to go forward with any amount of skepticism, let’s get an idea of just how EASY
it would have been for Israel to have this much precious metal handy: it would have taken LESS
than 1/12th of an ounce from each Israelite to accumulate the 8 tons needed. That’s the
equivalent of about one small earring per person, and it’s unimaginable that they didn’t have
several times more than that per person.
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God’s instructions begin in vs. 10 with the holiest furnishing of them all, the Ark of the Covenant,
which is to be located in the holiest room of the Tabernacle……appropriately called The Holy of
Holies. The Ark symbolized God’s presence and His throne.
The Ark structure was to be made of Acacia wood…. a very hard, very dense material found in
ample supply in desert regions, particularly the Arabian Peninsula. The Hebrew word for the Acacia
tree is Shittim. The Ark was slightly less than 4 feet long, and little over 2 feet deep, and it was as
wide as it was deep.
Now most Bibles will express all the measurements of the Tabernacle and its furnishings in cubits.
But scholars disagree on exactly how long a cubit is; their estimates range from just under 18
inches to almost 21 inches. So we don’t know precisely, we only know the approximate
measurements of the Tabernacle and its furnishings plus or minus about 10%.
Technically the Ark itself was just the rectangular chest, the storage compartment, because the lid
was a separate item called the Mercy Seat (with the Cherubim on it) was considered somewhat
separately. Yet in common terms (and even usually so in the Bible) when the Ark was referenced it
included BOTH the storage chest and it’s lid.
The Ark was covered in Gold, inside and out. The Mercy Seat, the lid to the Ark, was a solid slab of
Gold with two Cherubim on the top. In Hebrew this lid is called the “Kapporet”, which means place
of atonement. That is because in vs.22 God says it is there that He will meet with Moses to give
Moses instructions for Israel. It will also be the place where on the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur,
the High Priest will stand to atone for the sins of all Israel. The reason we call the lid the Mercy
Seat is because the Ark is symbolic of God’s throne, the place where the merciful God sits and
accepts the yearly atonement for the sin of the people.
Now the Cherubim, which are the prominent feature of the Mercy Seat, are interesting creatures.
We are told that God posted Cherubim at the Garden of Eden. And that the Living Creatures or
Living Beings that we discussed as having faces that were identical to the symbols of the 4
dominant Israelite tribes (one located on each of the 4 sides of the Tabernacle) are considered by
the Jewish Sages to also be Cherubim. So not surprisingly, we find them here in God’s holiest
place on earth. They are apparently another type of guardian or servant being for Yehoveh.
We must be clear that no one knows for sure what the Cherubim look like. The pictures we see of
them today range from chubby little babies with short wings and an Afro hairdo, to mature man-like
creatures with wings that stretch from their feet to above their heads. The various representations
we have today of the Ark, and the Mercy Seat with it’s Cherubim, are just best guesses as to what
they looked like. If the Ark is ever found, I guess we’ll know for sure then.
The Ark is so holy that once made and put into commission, it is not ever to be touched by human
hands. Even on the holiest day of the year, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement when the High
Priest entered the Holy of Holies and stood before the Ark, he stayed well back and from a distance
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of 6 or 7 feet sprayed the sacrificial blood on the Ark. Because the Ark was not to be touched rings
were put onto the ark, with poles for carrying the Ark going through those rings; the poles were
NEVER to be removed. Later in the Scriptures we read of an incident whereby the Ark, while being
carried, is about to fall over and one of the Ark bearers instinctively puts his hands on the Ark to
steady it; he dies instantly.
Notice something important here: in vs. 22 we’re told tat God’s spirit comes to rest over the
Ark…..not ON the Ark…..but above and between the Cherubim attached to the Kapporet, the lid,
when He wants to speak to Moses. Even the Ark is not holy and pure enough that Yehoveh’s
holiness can come into contact with it, because even though it is God’s design, it is man made.
Remember: at this point in history the Holy Spirit of God did NOT dwell in man; He dwelled above
man, or among men, but not IN man. Today, since Pentecost, the same Holy Spirit that hovered
above the Mercy Seat dwells in US….Believers. I think we also need to realize that the concept of
God’s Holy Spirit dwelling in a man was as ludicrous to those wandering Israelites as it was to the
Jews of Christ’s day. Great pains were taken, both in ritual and in the design of the Tabernacle
and the Temple, to make sure that God’s Spirit was kept separate from men. Even on that one day
each year when the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies, neither the people nor the current High
Priest were sure he’d come out alive. This was no comfortable, peaceful ritual the High Priest went
through…..he was afraid and so were the people. Sometime along the way, they even took to tying
a rope around the High Priest’s ankle so as to be able to pull him out if his stay took longer than
normal; because if God killed him in the Holy of Holies (for whatever reason) they would have had
no way to retrieve the body since ONLY the High Priest was allowed inside (even the replacement
High Priest could not have pulled that body out because High Priests could never touch a dead
body). So I suspect that had they even believed such a thing as having God’s Spirit dwell inside a
man was possible, they would have been terrified at the prospects. Once the Apostles finally
understood this principle we see that they became different men….fearless, bold, uncompromising
of the Gospel. Most of us take this for granted and don’t consider as we should the mystery of this
truth. I think maybe we need to be in awe, if not a little terrified, that the Holy Spirit of God lives
inside of us.
Please also understand the idea of the Tabernacle as God’s dwelling place is figurative. God was
not confined to a cloth and animal skin house that needed to be carried about whenever He wanted
to go somewhere. God is Spirit…..He can be everywhere at once, or absent from everyplace at
once, and every possible condition in between. The Tabernacle was built so that mankind could
understand certain aspects, present and future, of Yehoveh and so God could meet with Moses,
and once a year the High Priest, at the appointed times. By our modern Western way of thinking
the Tabernacle was not a house it was a conference room where people came together at specific
times for specific purposes.
Today with the Holy Spirit dwelling in Yeshua’s disciples we don’t have to wait until appointed
times to commune with God as did Moses; we don’t have to go to a specific building or wait until
Church or Synagogue is in session. Where we are meeting today is NOT God’s house; neither, my
friends, is a Church building or a Synagogue God’s house; rather it is the house of God’s people.
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WE, individually and collectively, are the house of God. Look at Hebrews 3:6. Paul says, “But
Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house. And WE are God’s house…..”
The Ark was the means and the place by which God dwelled among men. This was symbolic and
prophetic of Yeshua who would dwell among men…..God, physical, in the flesh, living among men.
Even what went inside the Ark prefigured who Christ was: the budding staff, the jar of manna,
and the stone tablets of the 10 Commandments.
A staff, also at times called a rod in the Bible, was the sign of authority. There was great unrest
among the tribal leaders when Moses announced that Aaron would be the High Priest. The High
Priest carried tremendous power and authority and in essence was the head of the government
over all Israel; so the tribal leaders each wanted to become the High Priest. The fact that Aaron
was Moses’ brother had much to do with the problem, because with Aaron and Moses both being
Levites power would have rested ONLY within the Levite clan; which it did until Moses passed
away and Joshua, from the tribe of Ephraim, took over. So to settle the squabble God had the tribal
leaders each give their staffs to Moses who placed them in front of the Ark. Aaron’s staff sprouted
and budded Almond blossoms to indicate that Aaron was God’s choice for High Priest. So, the
budding staff symbolized the office of High Priest AND the tribe from which all future High Priests
were to come: the tribe of Levi. Christ, we are told, is our High Priest, even though He is NOT a
Levite, He is from the tribe of Judah. We won’t get into all the significance of that, just yet.
The jar of manna, the heavenly food sent from God during the Israelites entire time in the
Wilderness, symbolized life……the bread of life. The source of REAL sustenance of Godly life….not
mere existence…..is Christ who called Himself the Bread of Life. This is important to understand:
Yeshua called Himself manna.
And, of course, inside the Ark lay those stone tablets of the 10 Dabar, the 10 Words…..that were,
and remain, the underlying principles behind all of God’s Word to mankind. Those words are
written on every Believer’s heart. And, of course, John tells us that Christ IS the Word.
So we have Aaron’s staff, which symbolizes Christ’s authority as High Priest. The jar of
manna…..Christ is the bread of life (our manna)…..and the stone tablets of God’s Word…..Christ IS
the Word of God. The Ark symbolized Messiah who contained these 3 fundamental natures within
Him. He became God’s visible presence on earth. And after He was resurrected and ascended to
Heaven, the Holy Spirit came to dwell in we Believers, the same way He dwelled in the Tabernacle
all those years ago. That’s why Paul says WE are God’s Tabernacle, Yehoveh’s dwelling place,
in the current age.
RE-READ EX.25:23-30
Beginning in verse 23, the blueprint for the Table of Showbread is described. The Table of
Showbread was placed on the north wall of the Holy Place…..the room adjoining the Holy of Holies.
Just as with the Ark of the Covenant, the table is to be fashioned from Acacia wood as a frame,
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and then covered in pure Gold. The table was to be 3 feet long, 1½ feet wide, and about 2 ½ feet
high. Upon it was to be placed 12 loaves of bread, representing the 12 tribes of Israel.
The strange sounding word, Showbread, is just one attempt to translate the original Hebrew for
these loaves; lechem panim. Lechem is an ordinary Hebrew word meaning bread. Panim is a
strange word, difficult to translate, that means face. But “face” meant something a little different
then than what we think of it today. In the Bible, when someone’s (or God’s face) is upon you it
means His presence is with you. So sometimes the Showbread is called the Bread of His
Presence…..that is, the bread of God’s Presence….which is more literal.
Later an exact recipe will be given for this Holy Showbread. And upon each Sabbath the bread will
be exchanged for 12 fresh loaves and the old loaves will be eaten by the priests, within the holy
precinct (in other words they could not take the bread out of the area of the Tabernacle). But do not
confuse this with the special bread that the Israelites baked for their own use each Sabbath,
Challah bread, which the Israelite families ate around their own table. The Showbread and the
Challah bread were entirely different.
For one thing even though its not explicitly stated in the Bible, the Showbread was unleavened
bread….it had to be because it was a meal offering and it was a requirement of all meal offerings
that no leaven, no yeast, be used in it because leavening symbolizes sin. Challah bread, however,
could be leavened bread.
The Bible really doesn’t give, outright, much detail on the symbolic reason for this showbread. As
a result we have many explanations and theories of what it may represent, most of them
incorporating the idea that these loaves represent the bread of life and therefore represent that
ministry of Christ as His being the bread of life for the Church. Perhaps. The problem is that that
explanation eliminates the rather obvious: the 12 loaves represented the 12 tribes being in God’s
presence (hence the name bread of His presence) and that He would provide a sinless source of
sustenance (that’s the idea of using unleavened bread) for them. Of course this sinless source of
sustenance we know understand is Christ; but this particular source in Exodus 25 was for the 12
tribes of Israel….represented by there being 12 loaves. This was not for non-Hebrews.
The covenant, the Tabernacle, everything was for, and with, the 12 tribes of Israel. So let’s keep
reminding ourselves that, just as St. Paul said, we (gentiles) have been joined, grafted in, to the
covenants of Israel….they are NOT our covenants per se.
Interestingly wine was also placed on the table with the showbread. Wine and unleavened
bread…..now what image does that conjure up? Of course….communion.
RE-READ EX. 25:30-39
Next, we come to the Golden Lamp stand, which stood on the south side of the Holy Place
opposite the Table of Showbread. The Hebrew word for lamp stand is “menorah”. Now technically
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just as the Ark of the Covenant is ONLY the storage chest, NOT the lid (the Mercy Seat), so is the
menorah a candelabra, or a lamp stand…..that is it is a holder of candles or oil lamps; but the
candles and oil lamps are separate pieces just as the Mercy Seat is separate from the Ark. A
menorah doesn’t provide light: it just provides a place for the sources of light to sit.
The original Menorah weighed around 70 lbs. as it was made from a talent of Gold. It was not
melted and poured into a mold as most precious metal working was done then, and still done
today; it was virtually sculpted from a large hunk of Gold. The Tabernacle’s Menorah was the sole
source of light for the 30-foot long, 15-foot wide, 15-foot high room, the Holy Place, it resided in.
The menorah held 7 oil lamps that used a special olive oil as fuel.
The Menorah had a central stem, and then 3 branches on each side of the stem, giving it a total of
seven arms or branches. So these 7 oil lamps had to be kept burning night AND day….the lamps
were never to go out……and it fell to the priests to be certain of this.
The primary decoration on the Menorah is an almond at its various stages. Why an almond? Well
notice the connection to the staff of Aaron that budded with Almond blossoms, and then produced
Almonds. The Jewish sages say that the Almond tree was the first fruit to blossom in the spring.
Some also say that because that dead stick that was Aaron’s staff came to life and blossomed and
produced fruit, Almonds, that the Almond is symbolic of resurrection. I’m inclined to go along with
that; first fruits and resurrection couldn’t be more prophetic and emblematic of Yeshua.
The Menorah is perhaps the Jewish people’s most recognized symbol outside of the Star of David,
and it is especially so today. Certainly, the Menorah is the OLDEST symbol of the Jewish people,
dating at least 1000 years, and possibly more, before the Star of David came into existence.
Rabbis and Hebrew Sages have made some interesting speculations about the Menorah, and one
of the more intriguing is the obvious similarity that a menorah has to a tree with branches. Several
Rabbis say that the Menorah may well represent the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden; I think that
is entirely possible.
Now, despite what most gentiles might expect, the 7-branched Menorah, the Tabernacle or Temple
Menorah is, in our time, NEVER lighted in an observant Jewish household. The reason? It was
ONLY meant to be a special implement for use in conjunction with the Temple. In some ways, to
the Jews, it is a reminder OF the Temple. So since there has been no Temple for over 1900 years,
to light the 7 branched Menorah, to the Jew, is irrelevant; no Temple, no need for a Menorah. Most
Jewish homes, today, don’t even have a 7-branched Menorah.
However……there is the 9-branched Menorah. You won’t find it mentioned in the Bible. The 9
branched Menorah came about a little over a century BEFORE Yeshua was born. It was invented
in celebration of Chanukah, also called the Feast of Dedication or the Festival of Lights. This is to
commemorate the taking back and purifying of the Temple by Judas the Maccabee, who led the
Jews in rebellion against Antiochus Epiphanies. Epiphanies, a vicious puppet governor for Rome
who ruled over the Holy Land had occupied the Temple, removed many of the valuable items, and
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desecrated it by putting a statue of himself in the form of Zeus (the sun-god) in the Holy of Holies.
He then sacrificed a pig to the statue, boiled the meat and poured its broth all over the Temple
Torah Scrolls.
When the Jewish rebels finally took the Temple back, because the priests had been killed, there
was not a sufficient supply of properly prepared and consecrated olive oil for the Menorah lamps to
burn more than one day. But that one-day’s supply that did remain miraculously burned for 8 days,
until more could be made according to the Levitical law. Therefore the 8 branches of this special
Menorah represent the 8-day miracle, and the 9th branch is used to light the others from; the
observant Jewish home DOES have a 9 branch Menorah, a Chanukah Menorah, and they do light
it during Chanukah. It should be noted that the time of year we have chosen to celebrate Christ’s
birth, coincidentally happens at the same time as Chanukah.
I’ll tell you this: sometime in the not too distant future, when the Temple is rebuilt in Jerusalem just
as the end-times prophecies say will happen, I’d sure like to have the 7 branch Menorah
concession; because that Temple is suddenly going to become VERY relevant again, and a whole
lot of Jews, and probably Christians, too, are going to want those 7 branched ones.
The Tabernacle Menorah, and its lamps, symbolize the light of the world…..Christ…..the true and
pure light. This concept is especially noticeable in Revelation 2 and 3 where the church (the earthly
extension of Jesus) is symbolized as a Menorah (a golden lamp stand). And we’re warned that our
menorahs will be taken away if we do not adhere to our first love, Yeshua. Our purpose, as
Believers, is to be light to a dark world. If we’re not that, then we’re of no use. We’re like
menorahs without oil……menorahs that are supposed to be lit day and night but our flames have
died out.
Next week we’ll beginning studying the Tent Sanctuary itself in Exodus chapter 26.
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Audio Files MP3

Illustrations
Lesson 27 Chapters 26, 27, and 28
In chapter 25, Yehoveh gave instructions on the 3 primary furnishings that are to be placed inside
the Tabernacle’s sanctuary: the Ark of the Covenant, the Table of Showbread, and the Menorah
(the Golden Lamp Stand). Beginning in chapter 26 we get the instructions for the construction of
the Tabernacle itself.
We’re going to move rather rapidly tonight and will cover all of Exodus chapters 26 and 27 and the
first part of chapter 28 as well as some New Testament writings that are pertinent to our subject; so
keep your Bibles open and handy.
READ CHAPTER 26 all

We have already discussed that the Tabernacle was divided into 3 zones of varying degrees of
holiness: the Holy of Holies being the greatest, the Holy Place with slightly less holiness, and the
Outer Court the least. Also recall that the perimeter of the Tabernacle was basically a fence made
out of cloth that enclosed an open courtyard. The Tent portion, which consisted ONLY of the Holy
of Holies and the Holy Place, was the only portion of the Tabernacle that had a roof.
Understanding that there is some disagreement over exactly how long, in modern measurement, a
Biblical cubit was, the general consensus is that the perimeter of the Outer Court was about 150
feet long and 75 feet wide. The Tabernacle was always erected in an east-west orientation, with
the tent portion more towards the western end. A large, 30 foot wide gateway was placed at the
east end of the courtyard; and, the entrance into the tent also faced east.
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Since the Tabernacle was meant to go wherever God directed Israel to move, it had to be mobile.
And, it’s design was quite ingenious to accomplish this; the specifications we’re given, here,
obviously meant for it to be assembled and disassembled, and then transported, multiple times. It
would have to have been made to withstand the daunting conditions of the desert, with it’s oven-
like dryness and the fierce winds laden with fine sand that was an ever present bother. Yet, it was
also not made of lightweight materials; it had to be rugged. So, it also must have been heavy.
We’ll not get into it today, but the book of Numbers tells us that the precious metals alone totaled 8
tons, and the wood used for construction also would have weighed several tons. Even the cloth
and Rams skins would have been of considerable weight. Numbers also tells us that several
covered wagons, pulled by teams of Oxen were used to transport the Tabernacle. However, all
indications are that the furnishings of the Tabernacle, the Ark, the Menorah, the Tables of
Showbread and Incense, were hand-carried. Various clans that formed the tribe of Levi were given
specific articles they were to carry; to handle any other was a trespass against the God of Israel.
The curtain that ringed the Outer Court was made of FINELY woven linen sheets, and they were
held in place by acacia wood pillars covered with bronze. Bronze sockets were placed at the
bottom of each pillar, and ropes were tied from the top of each pillar to the ground, and held in
place with bronze stakes. Notice the use of bronze, here. Since this outer area was where
humanity could enter, this non-precious metal was used in its construction. And, from a practical
aspect, bronze was much harder and more useful for construction than either Gold or Silver. At the
top of each pillar, however, was a silver cap, and some silver bars or hooks, from which the
curtains were hung.
The yarn colors chosen to make the curtains, blue, purple, and scarlet, made the endeavor all the
more expensive…..because these particular colors were hard to make. And, we’re told, that
apparently some or all of these linen sheets had pictures of Cherubim woven in. I can’t really
explain the significance of the mysterious Cherubim as much I wish I could, except to say that they
were obviously an important element. Since this was Yehoveh giving this narrative on the details of
His Tabernacle, and since it has been made clear numerous times that the Wilderness Tabernacle
is a physical earthly representation of the heavenly, spiritual Tabernacle, it must be that God
employs numerous Cherubim in service to Him, generally as guardians of His Holiness. And further
that Cherubim have the unusual privilege of being near God, interacting with God, in His throne
room.
Now, the tent, the sanctuary, was about 45 feet long, 15 feet wide, and 15 feet high. It was divided
into two rooms: the Holy Place was larger of the two rooms, about 30 feet by 15 feet, and the Holy
of Holies was a 15 foot by 15 foot cube. As we might expect the acacia wood used in the sanctuary
was covered in Gold, rather than the more common bronze as was used in the people’s court
area. The God would have reflected the light in a most useful and magnificent way. Can you
imagine the warm color of amber that the room would have taken on with the light being reflected
from the golden walls?
Acacia wood planks were used to help form the structure of the sanctuary, and these planks were
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completely encased in Gold.
The entire gold and wood structure of the tent was covered and protected with a covering that
consisted of 4 layers. The innermost covering was of fine linen; next to it was woven goat hair.
Goat hair was the most common material used for making tents; the vast bulk of the Israelites
would have used woven goat hair tents for themselves, as it was plentiful, durable, strong and
depending on the tightness of the weave, somewhat waterproof (although rain was hardly a
problem where they were wandering). Covering the goat hair was a layer of Ram skins, which had
been dyed red, and finally, the outermost layer, which had to face the harsh desert weather. This
outer layer is a bit of a mystery, because the Hebrew word for it was “tachash”. It referred to some
type of animal skin. Many translators make this “tachash” to be simply a high grade of leather, but
that defies logic as tanned leather, from cattle, was common and a commonly understand word
was used to describe it. Tachash is an unusual, uncommon word, and is used ONLY in the context
of the Wilderness Tabernacle; it has been claimed by Jewish scholars for centuries that the outer
covering was either Seal or Porpoise skins…..obviously because it would have been airtight, water
repellent, and even offered protection from the superfine dust that was part of desert life. It should
be no surprise that either Seal or Porpoise, perhaps BOTH, were used, as the Israelites were very
near the Rea Sea and those two creatures were plentiful there. I imagine they bartered for them
from local seaside residents or else some of the more well to do Israelites might have brought
some with them from Egypt…..but I doubt it, as it would not have been a common material used in
Egypt.
The main entrance into the tent, which would take one into the Holy Place, was called the “door”
(in Hebrew, Masakh). One had to walk through the Holy Place to get into the Holy of Holies. A veil,
a curtain (called parokhet in Hebrew) separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. In Hebrew
the name of the Holy Place is “Kodesh”……the Holy of Holies is called “Kodesh ha-kodashim”.

Just as the Ark was the most holy and important item inside the tent sanctuary, so is the Brazen
Altar the most holy and important item OUTSIDE of the tent sanctuary. Therefore the design and
placement of the great altar of sacrifice is all-important. This is where countless millions of innocent
animals would have their lives taken from them….their blood spilled, their bodies burnt to ashes….all
necessary to atone for mankind’s sins in order to be at peace with God.
Often this alter is called the “Brazen Altar” (in Hebrew it was called mizbah ha-‘olah). Brazen
simply means it was made from the hardest metal they had to work with in those times, Bronze (a
mixture of iron and copper). So, Altar, Altar of Sacrifice, Altar of Burnt Offering, Brazen Altar, all
these refer to the same thing. For all practical purposes the Altar was a special fire pit, a box that
was constructed with Acacia wood as a frame and then covered over with Bronze so it wouldn’t
catch fire. It was about 7 ½ feet long on each side and a little under 5 feet high. Four “horns” were
molded into it, one on each corner. These horns were used to tie the sacrificial animals to during
the sacrifice procedure. Whether there was spiritual significance to the horns, or whether they were
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there strictly for practical reasons is an open question. Altars of the Canaanites have been found
and several of these had horns as well.
Many tools and implements for use with the Altar were required, and they too were to be fashioned
from Bronze….shovels to deal with the spent ashes, pails and buckets to catch the animal blood,
censors (sometimes called fire pans) to carry hot coals, and special shovel/pans to carry the ashes
outside the camp to be disposed of. Just as with the Ark of the Covenant rings were attached to the
sides of the Altar so that wooden poles could be inserted through the rings as a means to transport
the Altar when the time came to move the Tabernacle at Yehoveh’s instruction. The Altar was not
moved by being placed onto a wagon; it was hand-carried from location to location, hence the use
of the poles.
The Altar was placed just inside the gate of the Outer Court. Now as I had pointed out last week,
when Moses had been told to build an Altar on which to sacrifice animals to seal the covenant
between Israel and Yehoveh, the covenant of Moses, God had him place it outside of the Holy
area, Mt. Sinai; instead, it was to go to an area, the valley floor, beyond the stone fence that acted
as a barrier; an area that could be accessed by the people, night and day. So, true to form, the
Brazen Altar was placed outside of the Holy area of the Tabernacle, the sanctuary, and on to the
Outer Court where the people had constant access to it. By the way this almost certainly means
that the stone Altar where that covenant sealing sacrifice had occurred must have been
decommissioned once the Brazen Altar was built and operational.
The placement of the Altar was most significant. It was between the Outer Court gate and the
entrance to the Holy Place. One had to pass by the Altar to get to the sanctuary. In fact, each time
before a priest could enter the sanctuary, he had to make a sacrifice. This is a prophetic and
symbolic teaching of the purpose of Yeshua. We have to go through the sacrifice of Christ, in order
to enter the sanctuary of God.
Probably the best symbol we could use to help us understand the connection between the Brazen
Altar and Jesus would be the Cross. That is, the Cross was to Christ as the Brazen Altar was to
those sacrificial animals. The animals had to be raised up to the Altar, bound to the horns of the
Altar, and there have their blood spilled to atone for Israel’s sins. Christ had to be raised up on that
cross, to which He was bound, and there had His blood spilled to atone for Israel’s sins. Certainly
the plan also made provision for gentiles, non-Israelites, to be mysteriously joined to Israel in order
that we might partake in their covenants with God. But, that’s the ONLY way it could happen…..
one had to be grafted into Israel and their covenants with Yehoveh in order to benefit by what
Christ did. So that those of you who are newer to this class won’t take this wrong, I do NOT mean
one has to become a PHYSICAL JEW to become a Believer…nor does one need to convert and
begin practicing Judaism. The term “grafting” or “grafted into” is a metaphor, and it is used from a
spiritual point of view…..not physically; and it occurs when, BY FAITH, you trust Yeshua as your
Savior and Lord.
Listen to what Paul says in Romans 2 and 3.
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READ ROMANS 2:17 THROUGH ROMANS 3:1-4

Sometimes we Christians tend towards over generalizing and taking a scientific rational view of the
Bible whereby all things must be either/or. Well, that’s not how God operates. Here in Romans it is
explained that just because many Jews didn’t follow to its logical conclusion God’s plan of
Salvation for them, doesn’t cancel God’s plan or His faithfulness towards them! Further we need
to begin to understand that long before Israel was created on earth, the heavenly ideal of Israel
(which was God’s principles being lived out among humans) existed. Israel was created on earth
to serve God by recording these laws and principles and demonstrating them so that all mankind
would witness, and under certain conditions benefit by, the heavenly ideal. Israel succeeded to
some degree and failed to some degree. The Jew that kept to this heavenly ideal, according to
Paul, is the one who accepted the Messiah that Yehoveh sent them, Yeshua. Paul further explains
that Jews who kept to that heavenly ideal he labels as the “true Jew” from the heavenly
perspective. Conversely, the Jew that simply did the rituals and observances apart from a true love
and trust in God and rejects God’s Messiah remains physically a Jew but has failed in his purpose.
But, here, another concept is also introduced: that of a gentile who trusts in Israel’s Messiah
Yeshua and thus strives for the heavenly ideal. This gentile (what, today, we’d call a saved person
or a Believer) is lumped into the category that Paul labels the “true Jew”. Again: not that a gentile
suddenly has Hebrew genes implanted in him, but rather that this gentile is viewed by God as a
member of those who reflect the heavenly ideal of Israel.
This notion should be no more difficult for us to understand than the well-entrenched (and correct)
Christian principle that when we are saved by the blood of Yeshua’s sacrifice, God no longer sees
us as sinful men and women but rather as pure and clean. The reality is that we still have evil in us;
we will continue to sin even though we don’t want to; and we will fight to our deaths the urge to do
wrong against God. Our DNA hasn’t changed; we’re still completely human, old ways of thinking
are still in there along with the knowledge of God, yet the Father chooses to see us free of sin; He
sees us as justified regardless of the physical reality. Another way God chooses to see gentile
Believers is as those who possess the attributes of the people that were intended to embody the
heavenly ideal: Israel. We’re not Jews, but in a certain sense He chooses to see us that way.
We are reminded again and again in the Bible of what a debt of gratitude we gentile Believers owe
Israel. Not only a FEELING of gratitude but an action of EXPRESSING that gratitude in tangible
ways. Tonight take a half-hour and read through Romans 9, 10, and 11. Read these chapters one
right after the other….completely disregard the chapter markers, as Romans is just one long letter.
Put aside all the allegorical teaching you have likely received about these chapters; instead take it
all at face value, just as it was intended to be taken. It will make this spiritual grafting process of
gentiles into Israel quite clear and unequivocal to you.
Let me state something else, here: an everlasting God principal is being made visible and plain by
means of the Brazen Altar for all to see and it is this: without a blood sacrifice there is NO
atonement for sin. The constant day-in day-out sacrificing at the Altar was a visible and awful
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reminder to the people of Israel of this principle. I suspect, though, that just as some of us can
speak of Jesus’ sacrifice of Himself in a kind of removed, matter-of-fact way, perhaps some of
those Israelites were not choking back tears caused by the pitiful bleating of those countless,
harmless, innocent cattle, sheep, and goats that were slaughtered on their behalf. Or the millions of
birds that had their necks wrung, and those enormous bulls that had to be wrestled and tied up as
they resisted having their throats slit and their lives ended. But to the average Israelite who
regularly witnessed the sacrificial process, it must have resulted in a most bittersweet
understanding of the truth of it all…..there is NO atonement for sin without a blood sacrifice. The
bitterness was in the reality of the seemingly endless stream of blood that flowed from that Altar;
the sweetness was in knowing that this was all arranged by a most merciful God so that THEIR
own lives could be spared, and so that they could have an ongoing relationship with the Holy God
of the Universe…..but what a great cost.
Perhaps that Mel Gibson film, the Passion, was the modern-day visual element we needed to help
us to understand the horror of Yeshua’s last hours of life. I know I winced and often turned may
face away, tried not to see His blood, His sacrificial blood, splattered and smeared all over the
pavement. But, folks, that is the horrible truth about sacrifice; sacrifice is not lovely. Those animals’
deaths on the Altar were not peaceful and easy and sterile, nor done in private. They were noisy,
and messy, and foul smelling and often gut wrenching. Those who brought their animals to
sacrifice either had to do the deed themselves, or in conjunction with, the Priest. There was no
shrinking away from it, no separating themselves, no hiding from their duty. Their sin, OUR sin,
brings a dreadful price with it. Thank God there is no further need for a Brazen Altar.
Beginning in vs. 20, the fuel for the Tabernacle’s menorah is discussed. It is to be from pure olive
oil, refined so as to be the very best. Here is the instruction that the lights of that Menorah are to
burn day and night. And it is reiterated that the Menorah is to be placed OUTSIDE of the curtain,
the veil, the parokhet that separates the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place……..in other words, its to
be placed in the Holy Place, and that Aaron and his sons are to tend to it. Let me just mention that
Aaron does NOT represent the entire Levite tribe. He is but one of several clans within the tribe of
Levi. Other Levite clans will be selected for certain kinds of service, duties, for the Tabernacle. For
instance, ONLY from Aaron’s direct descendants can the High Priest come. Just as much, those
who tend the Menorah must ALSO come from Aaron’s line. Other clans of Levites will be identified
as responsible for other specific duties.
Notice in the last verse of chapter 27 that the use of the Menorah, and that specific clan of Levites
who have been assigned to tend to it, are to be a permanent regulation. Obviously, however, there
were at least two times in Israel’s history when this regulation was simply undoable: the 1st was
during their exile to Babylon, and the 2nd began with the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, and
continues until today. The time is near when the Temple is going to be rebuilt, in Jerusalem, on the
Temple Mount that today is occupied by a Muslim Mosque, and the Menorah will once again burn.
But, the only reason for Believers to hope for this incredible event to happen is because it means
that the return of Christ will be literally but weeks and months away, as will be the end of the world
as we know it. That Temple is going to happen because of the disbelief of the Jewish people.
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Disbelief that Christ has atoned for our sins, once and for all, almost 2000 years ago. Disbelief that
the spirit of the Living God, lives in us….not in some fancy building. Disbelief that the Temple, and
before that the Tabernacle, were but copies, shadows, of the REAL thing…..and Yeshua Ha-
Mashiach is the real thing.
READ CHAPTER 28:1-5
After much preparation, Yehoveh makes the somewhat anti-climactic pronouncement that Aaron,
and his sons Nadav, Avihu, Eleazar, and Itamar have been chosen and set-apart to be “cohanim”,
priests.
At the same time, God instructs Moses that special garments are to be made for these priests,
which also sets them apart from everyone else. We’re told in vs. 2 that Aaron’s clothing, in light of
his exalted position as the first High Priest, are to be more than special; they are to reflect, as far as
is possible, God’s own glory, and dignity, and splendor.
Special clothing used for the priestly sect was nothing new to the various Middle Eastern cultures.
But, it WAS new for Israel, because up to this point in their history….by now the line of Israel, Jacob,
was about 6 centuries old…..they HAD no official priests. Whatever their worship had been until the
Exodus and Mt. Sinai, it must have been very simple, personal, and frankly, rather unfocused. The
Hebrews were subjected to Egypt’s gods and religious system for most of their history as a
people, and therefore they adopted, somewhat subconsciously I suppose, the general
understanding of how gods and religion worked. That is, the Egyptian religious system became the
lens through which Israel viewed the spirit world. So it is no wonder that Yehoveh was so precise,
definite, and uncompromising in His instructions to Israel of just what true worship was to consist
of, and what it was NOT to consist of. Of what true justice is, and is not. And, who God is, that He
is one, and that each people or nation did NOT have their own real and actual god, dedicated just
to them. It took many years after Mt. Sinai for Israel to get all this reasonably straight. And, still, all
throughout their history right on up to Christ, they had grievous lapses into idolatry.
Now that Yehoveh has designated that part of Israel, the tribe of Levi, that was to be set aside for
service to Him, His priests, He left little detail of worship and service to be decided by men; even
right down to what the priests were to wear. Now, let me be clear: these garments were to be worn
ONLY during the Levites’ time of service in the Tabernacle. When they were not on duty, they
wore what everyone else wore.
We’re going to look primarily at what the High Priest wore, because his garments were incredibly
full of teaching and symbolism; and because all throughout the Old and New Testaments, we will
hear of certain pieces of his uniform each of which carried very definite meanings. Let me tell you
right upfront, that the High Priest’s garments were very prophetic, as well.
Before we do that, though, let’s just get a general understanding of what the regular Levite priests
wore: it was a very simple white linen outfit. It consisted of a tunic, a turban hat called a mitre, a
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belt-like accessory called a girdle, and breeches (pants that often served like underwear). White
symbolized righteousness and purity.
Next week we will look at what the High Priest was assigned to wear.
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Audio Files MP3

Illustrations
We ended part way through chapter 28 last week and were just getting into the garb of the Levite
priests. Pardon me for being repetitive, but we need to remember that it was the tribe of Levi that
was set part as the priestly tribe for God. But even though we used the general designation of the
tribe of Levi as the “Priestly Tribe” that does NOT mean that all Levites were priests. While ALL
members of the tribe of Levi were to be involved in service to the Tabernacle in some form or
another, and later the Temple, only some of the Levites were to be actual priests (meaning those
who officiated at the sacrificial rituals) with the remainder being equivalent to the blue collar
laborers who did various needed tasks around the Tabernacle like clean up or guard duty. So while
we tend to bandy about the term “Levite Priests” in fact only a few Levites ever became priests
and that was determined solely by which of the clans within the tribe of Levi they were born into.
The High Priest was supposed to come ONLY from the descendants of Aaron, and then only from
the line of descended from Aaron’s son Eleazar. That said, that is not always what actually
happened.
Now, on to the High Priest, whose clothing was distinct from the other priests.
Let’s read Exodus chapter 28.
Working from the inside out, the High Priest, just as the lower priests, was to wear breeches,
underwear very akin to long johns. Usually this undergarment went from the waste to the knees.
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White in color, its purpose was twofold: 1) to maintain a high degree of modesty. Many of the
pagan religions of that day had their priests serve their gods naked, or they wore something very
sensual and erotic. 2) it served the same practical sanitary purposes as our modern underwear
does today. The Priests outer garments could not be soiled by conditions of the flesh, normal or
abnormal. If they were, they had to be carefully washed, and that was quite a chore.
Over the breeches was a tunic, usually mistakenly called a coat in most Bible translations.
According to Josephus, the tunic was fairly tight fitting, and went from neck to feet. Like the
breeches, it was made of white linen. Generally, the only part of the tunic that could be seen was 3
or 4 inches of it, around the ankle area.
Over the tunic was a blue colored robe. It was required to be seamless, and so had a slit for the
High Priest’s head to fit through, and two more slits on the sides for his arms. Around the bottom
of the garment, the hem, were blue, purple, and red pomegranates, which alternated with little
metal bells, made out of gold. This blue robe went from his neck to just below his knees.
Next, the High Priest would don his ephod. It was a two-piece garment, part of it covering the
chest, the other his back. Sometimes the ephod gets confused with the Breastplate; this is because
at times BOTH were called ephod…I suppose because they worked together. Actually, the ephod
was what the Breastplate was attached to. It was embroidered with blue, purple and red linen
yarns. The front and the back were separate pieces, which were held together by a braided strap
that lay over the shoulders.
Two Onyx stones were attached to the braided should straps. Each stone was engraved with the
names of 6 of the tribes of Israel.
Over, and attached to, the Ephod was the breastplate…..also called the Breastplate of Judgment.
This was a most interesting accessory. It was square, had a pouch, and 12 precious stones of
varying kinds were placed on it, each engraved with the name of one of the Israelite tribes. Inside
the pouch were placed two very mysterious stones, called the Urim and the Thummim.
The High Priest wore a turban, called a mitre. And, on the turban, around his forehead, he wore a
gold head plate with the words “Holiness to Yahweh” inscribed on it.
Now, that we’ve taken a quick look at the High Priest’s special uniform, let’s back up and talk
about some special aspects of these various articles of clothing. The Ephod is quite interesting, as
it contains the names of all the tribes of Israel, and it is worn over the High Priest’s heart. Each
precious stone on the Ephod had the name of ONE tribe of Israel inscribed on it: 12 stones, 12
names. Conversely, the two larger stones on the shoulder straps of the Ephod, together, carried all
the tribal names……6 names on one, 6 names on the other. The 12 separate and different kinds of
stones indicate that each of the 12 tribes had a unique and separate tribal identity. The two large
shoulder stones indicated that Israel is actually two groups, later they will be called houses….the
two houses of Israel, Ephraim and Judah. So, by means of these different stones of the Ephod, we
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actually see the 3 fold nature of Israel: 1) All Israel, 2) the Two Houses of Israel, and 3) the
individual tribes of Israel.
Part of the Ephod was a pouch called the hoshen that contained the two stones that were used in
decision-making process: the Urim and the Thummim. Now the exact way these stones were used
is a mystery. However there are some characteristics about them that we can know. For instance,
they were contained in, and considered part of, the total Ephod….that is the ephod and the
Breastplate. The Breastplate was also called the Breastplate of Justice or Judgment, or in Hebrew
“hoshen ha-mishpat”. I hope you recall our lesson about the words “judgment”, and “justice”,
which in Hebrew is “mishpat”. The first thing to keep in mind is that we are not to take the use of
the word judgment, here, as generally meaning wrath or punishment. Mishpat does NOT mean
punishment. We of the Church have generally been taught to think of the Biblical use of the word
“judgment” as meaning a negative consequence for something mankind has done wrong…..a
divine punishment. In other words we should NOT think of the breastplate as the Breastplate of
Wrath.
Mishpat most literally means “justice”; so Breastplate of Justice or even Breastplate of God’s Will
is probably a better rendering according to the way our 21st century western culture minds think of
those words. And with all the tribes of Israel represented on this breastplate the idea is that God is
going to deal with Israel according to His system of justice.
Now as for the Urim and the Thummim one of the most marvelous aspects of these two objects is
hidden from us if we don’t understand Hebrew. Urim means “light”, and Thummim means
“perfection” or “fulfillment”(technically, because these two words are plurals, it is lights and
fulfillments or perfections). Light and perfection are perhaps the two most recognizable qualities of
God Almighty. But, it goes further. One of the titles given to Yahweh in the New Testament, one
we’re all familiar with, is the “Alpha and the Omega”, the beginning and the end. This comes from
the idea that in the Greek Alphabet, the Alpha is the first letter, and the Omega is the last……in
English its like saying A and Z. But, this “Alpha and Omega” concept was hardly a New Testament
revelation. For, here in Exodus, the first letter of the word Urim is the Hebrew “Aleph”, which is the
first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. And, the first letter of the word Thummim is the Hebrew “Tav”,
which is the LAST letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The Aleph is the Hebrew equivalent to Alpha, and
the Tav equivalent to Omega…..Alpha-Omega, Aleph-Tav. So, the Urim and the Thummim
represent part of God’s very nature…..the first and the last.
The Urim and the Thummim were apparently used in decision making whereby a choice from
among two options needed to be made. It could have been a “one or the other” type of choice, or
a “yes or no”. We only read of 3 or 4 places in the Old Testament where the Urim and Thummim
are specifically mentioned as used for decision-making. However, we also get a couple more
references that seem to indicate the use of these two stones, although they’re not mentioned by
name because the Biblical passages say that a decision was arrived at by means of the
Ephod…..which included the Breastplate and that pouch that held the Urim and Thummim. There
was no other known means of making a decision with the use of the Ephod or Breastplate, than in
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using the Urim and Thummim.
It also appears that after the time of King David the Urim and the Thummim went into disuse. There
are implications that although the Urim and Thummim were still available that they ceased to
function as before and so the High Priests determined that God’s will was no longer reflected in
them. There is disagreement as to whether the Urim and Thummim were even part of the High
Priest’s uniform in the time of Yeshua.
The point is that the Breastplate carries enormous prophetic symbolism with it that those Moses-led
Hebrews could only have barely understood, if at all; and it was that God’s nature of light and
perfection is the very essence of His justice system. And that God’s justice system is both applied
TO Israel, and will be brought to all mankind THROUGH Israel. If you’ll recall our lesson on the
word Mishpat you’ll also recall that I told you that as God introduces His justice system in Exodus
21 He calls it His Misphat. And that His system of justice was devised to bring about redemption
and salvation. We have a commonly used church-word for this process and it is “The Gospel”. The
breastplate could be characterized, quite correctly, as being the Breastplate of the Gospel……as it
incorporates the concepts of God’s justice, God’s light and perfection, and Israel as the nation
through whom God would justify the whole of mankind. Of course it turns out that the nation of
Israel would produce a very special Israelite, Jesus of Nazareth, who was the cornerstone of
God’s justice.
Another interesting item that the High Priest wore was this “head plate”…..a gold band that was
held on with a thread. This band went just about the High Priest’s brow line, on his forehead. And,
it read “Kodesh Yehoveh”…..which means Holiness to Yehoveh, or set-apart to Yehoveh. You see
the High Priest was Israel’s representative before God. Upon the High Priest’s shoulders rested
either the acceptance or rejection of all of Israel. What a responsibility!
As we will see shortly in the consecration and dedication ceremony of Aaron and the other priests
the concept of “substitution” in God’s justice system is made quite clear and is demonstrated in
the High Priest. When the High Priest goes into the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur, the Day of
Atonement, he carries upon him ALL the sin of Israel when he approaches God and makes
atonement. The garments worn by the High Priest speak of him as the substitute for all Israel
(although, interestingly, on Yom Kippur he wears ONLY a simple white linen outfit into the Holy of
Holies instead of his normal resplendent clothing). And the sacrificial animal whose blood the High
Priest (cohen ha-gadol) carries and will sprinkle on the Mercy Seat bears the substitute death that
is due man for our sins. This is why the NT speaks of Jesus as our High Priest. He represents us.
He carries the burden of our sins before the Father. He is the substitute for all Believers; but He
also bears the substitute death that is due us. Further it is His blood that was shed and through
which atonement was achieved. So Yeshua is BOTH the High Priest AND the sacrificial animal, so
to speak.
I want you to please understand that this is not allegory that I’m speaking to you, or some lovely
illustration in making this comparison between Christ and the High Priest of Israel. The High Priest
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was the shadow of who was to come…..Yeshua……and the special garments the High Priest wore
told the story of just how atonement and redemption would work.

Allow to mention something that I said a while back: what we are witness to in these last few
chapters is NOT of Yehoveh altering the principles of the religion of the Hebrews to make them
different from those principles He had taught Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, and others; nor is He
changing the Hebrew priesthood from one kind or purpose to another. Up to this moment in history
Israel did NOT have priesthood, and its religion by now consisted mostly of what they had learned
from, and was in line with, the Egyptians’ religious system. Rather what God is doing is continuing
the process of separating Israel (step-by-step) from the ways of the corrupt world….in their
particular case, that world was Egypt…..and establishing them as a completely set-apart people,
with a completely different religion, and a nation unto themselves.
And while they were indeed in process of becoming a wholly unique nation their purpose as a
nation was also being established; and that purpose was to serve Yehoveh. And that service would
be taught and focused by means of the powerful Priesthood that just at this moment was coming
into being with Aaron as its head….it’s High Priest……it’s cohen ha-gadol.
Some of the rituals that we see occur here in chapter 29 are actually but one-time happenings,
because what is being described is the ceremony to consecrate the establishment of the
priesthood. The consecration ceremony that takes up the bulk of this chapter is like the ribbon
cutting for a new ship or a highway opening……or the ratification of a national constitution…..by
design, it’s only supposed to happen once. However there are also some ongoing rituals that are
being established as well, even if they are not done precisely the same way they’re carried out in
the consecration ceremony.
The first thing to know is that the consecration of Aaron and the priests was to be public….it was not
a secret ceremony. Secrecy in God’s economy is generally not compatible with light and truth. The
people were able to observe and had explained to them what was going on and who was involved.
The 2nd thing to know is that what we’re reading about in these chapters is ONLY what God is
instructing Moses to do. Moses is STILL up on the summit of Mt. Sinai so the narrative we’ve been
reading since chapter 24 amounts to God being quoted as He instructs Moses. In a few more
chapters, and AFTER the coming Golden Calf incident, THEN all of these instructions will actually
be put in place so that they can be carried out.
After God gave Moses a short list, in vs. 1-3, of animals and foods that were to be sacrificed as part
of the consecration ceremony, Moses is instructed to bring Aaron and his 4 sons into the Outer
Court of the Tabernacle….. in front of (but not inside) the sanctuary. And the first thing Moses must
do is to wash Aaron and his sons with water. Sacrificing we’ve seen occurring since Adam and
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Eve; but, this is the beginning of the ritual washing-with-water that will be so integral to the Levitical
system and a central feature of Israel’s new way of life. So, let’s not rush by this…. There is some
important teaching buried here that resurfaces later.
Moses, as the highest leader of Israel……and therefore, in God’s eyes, of mankind……was instructed
by Yehoveh to humble himself by washing the priests. The priests were considered to be lower in
rank than Moses……even Aaron was lower than Moses in rank and authority. Yet here was this most
powerful man, the only man that ever talked with God face-to-face, reduced to performing a task
that usually only women or servants did……washing others. This must have been quite a shocking
sight to the people of Israel who lived in a world where the social class you belonged to was
everything. The idea that your supreme ruler would stoop down and wash a lesser person was
unthinkable.
Now was the idea here to humble Moses? Was this the point of having Moses wash the priests?
No. The idea was all about the priests being prepared and consecrated for service to Yehoveh, but
first they had to be clean from sin in God’s eyes…. and, the method God established to accomplish
this included ritual washing. Yet, there indeed was significance in Moses doing the washing; for it
demonstrated that cleansing of people could only occur from on high, as a merciful and loving act.
Now, catch this. Hundreds of years later the Bible will show us a replay of this very incident about
Moses washing the priests; but this time it will be in the NT, in the Gospel of John, when Jesus
washes the feet of His disciples. Yeshua, the highest leader on Earth…..Jesus the Master….Jesus,
God incarnate…..humbles Himself as a servant. But, WHY is He doing this….what is the significance
of such an act? In my opinion this is the consecration ceremony for the NEW spiritual priesthood.
Just as it was Moses the Mediator who acted on God’s behalf to establish the earthly, fleshly
priesthood so Yeshua the Mediator established the spiritual heavenly priesthood built on faith in
Him.
Listen to but one of many NT passages that I believe confirms my conclusion on this matter:
NAS 1 Peter 2:1 Therefore, putting aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisy and envy and
all slander, 2 like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow
in respect to salvation, 3 if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. 4 And coming to Him
as to a living stone, rejected by men, but choice and precious in the sight of God, 5 you
also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer
up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
First, because of too much false teaching running amok in the Hebrew Roots movement, notice
that Believers have NOT became the new and replacement physical and earthly priesthood; that is,
replacing the Hebrew Levites. Rather it is the spiritual element that is being addressed; it is from
the spiritual point of view as the verse says “a spiritual house for a holy priesthood in order to offer
up spiritual sacrifices…..”
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Second, remember all who follow Christ, all of Messiah’s disciples are as priests. We, in this
room…both Jew and gentile…. who have turned the Lordship of our lives over to Yeshua are His
priests….or as the Bible calls us, a Kingdom of priests or a holy house of priests. There is absolutely
no doubt in my mind that the startled and bewildered disciples of Jesus could not have made the
connection between what Yeshua was doing to them by washing their feet, and what Moses did
1300 years earlier by washing Aaron and his sons. Moses in consecrating Aaron and his sons as
the first priesthood of Israel by washing them with water was a shadow and a type of what Jesus
was doing as He consecrated His disciples as the spiritual order of priests for the spiritual heavenly
ideal of Israel; the priests who would serve the spiritual Kingdom of God. And, naturally, Jesus
performed this consecration in the same exact way Moses did…… in His role as Mediator by His
performing a ritual washing of those who would be priests.
So what Yeshua HaMashiach did on that day was far more powerful and had a much higher
meaning than simply His showing by example that the master must also be a meek and humble
servant to His people, as is usually the limited teaching we get about that event. If we don’t know
and understand the Torah, the Tabernacle and the sacrificial system, the true and profound
symbolism of Jesus washing the feet of His disciples goes right over our heads. It’s ironic that
within the same paragraph that says that Yeshua’s disciples from a spiritual priesthood, we also
have this instruction: Therefore, putting aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisy and envy
and all slander, 2 like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may
grow in respect to salvation,
Notice that? It is by studying the Word of god that we grow in respect to salvation. It is not that
reading the Word brings us Salvation; it is that once saved the Word becomes our source of growth
IN our salvation. The only Word that existed in this era was what we call the OT, the first 5 books
being the Torah. Oh what a tragic mistake the Church made so long ago in declaring the OT to be
dead and gone and of no value to Believers. Because Peter clearly states (as do Jesus, Paul,
John, and others) that the OT Scripture is what they valued as truth and the place we are to
continue to go to in order to find truth to grow our faith and understanding. This is most certainly not
to imply that the NT is defective or something less; rather it is to say that the OT is as valid and
important as it was in ancient times. And with the return of Israel as a nation of Jews (a prophetic
milestone) the OT has reemerged as Scripture of critical importance concerning our day and age.
As I mentioned earlier this ceremony in Exodus 29 with Moses washing the priests was a kind of a
one-time deal. From here on, neither Moses nor anyone else washed the priests…..rather each
individual was charged with the ritual washing of himself. Now the principle God was demonstrating
by means of His establishment of ritual washing was regeneration. That is the principle that we
must be made anew, regenerated, in order to be cleansed from sin before God. The Hebrews had
to do these washing countless times through the centuries, because each ritual washing had an
effect, which was only temporary in nature. The ritual washing was required for a huge list of
reasons, which we’ll cover in a few weeks.
After being washed Aaron and his sons are to put on the special priests garments that God has
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instructed be made for them. Their old clothing represents who they WERE. Their new clothing
represents who they now ARE, before God. Then the priests are anointed by having a special
anointing oil loaded up with expensive spices, an olive oil based liquid, poured over them. By the
way, we’ll find later in Leviticus, and even later still in the Talmud, that there was a certain manner
in which this anointing was to be done. The oil had to be poured over their heads in sufficient
quantity that it not only ran down their faces and dripped off of their beards, but that it flowed all the
way down to the hem of their garments. Not only was this extremely messy but by Tradition the oil
was poured first from right to left, than back to front, in the shape of a cross if you would. How
about that for prophetic symbolism! This anointing of holy oil was symbolic and prophetic of
Pentecost; that time when the Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit, could anoint man made possible
by Yeshua’s sacrifice on the Cross.
As we keep moving through all of these ritual processes in Exodus and Leviticus take notice how
the physical act of the OT is always prophetic and symbolic of the spiritual reality of the NT. That
is, the OT rituals were teachings, demonstrations, copies and shadows, of what the future spiritual
reality would be. But let’s be clear: they were also real and efficacious. They did exactly what they
were supposed to do.
Beginning in vs. 10, a series of sacrifices is called for, with Moses officiating. Moses officiates
because until the consecration ceremony is completed, there is no official priesthood to do it so
Moses acts in God’s stead. Recall back in chapter 24 when the ritual of sealing the covenant of
Moses was happening that God ordered Moses to build a stone altar and sacrifice animals upon it;
but it was NOT priests that performed those sacrifices….because there weren’t any priests
yet…rather, it was some young men selected (they were the households’ firstborn males) who
officiated the sacrificing.
A Bullock, also called an Ox, or a Bull, was to be brought into the Outer Court area of the
Tabernacle, near the Tent of Meeting, the Sanctuary. Of course the sacred tent was right next to
the Brazen Altar. Israel now receives a visual demonstration of the meaning of the principle of
substitution; the priests all lay their hands on the Bull. This represents a transference of the priests
sin onto the Bull….that is the Bull becomes their substitute…. The Bull now bears the sin that was
once theirs. The Bull is then killed, skinned, and cut up into pieces. Some of the Bulls blood is
captured in a ceremonial bronze pail and the blood is splashed onto the bottom of the Altar, and
some is spread onto the horns of the Altar. Normally the Bull would have been tied to one of the
Altar’s horns, but NOT in this case. Part of what was happening here was not only the
consecration of the priests but also of the Tabernacle and its utensils and even of the Brazen Altar
itself. Until the Bull was killed and its blood spilled and used to cleanse the Altar, the Altar wasn’t fit
for use. But once that was accomplished then the meat of the sacrificed animal can then be burnt
on the Altar. Notice, though, that the parts of the Bull that were placed on the Altar did not include
the Bull’s flesh. Only the fat that covered its inner organs was used. The entire rest the animal,
including the meat, bones, and hide was taken outside the encampment of Israel and there was
burned and offered up as what is called a sin offering.
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In the Bible the fat is considered the most valuable part of the animal. So ONLY the most valuable
was offered to Yehoveh on the Brazen Altar in this special sacrifice: this Sacrifice of
Consecration. The rest of the animal was offered up NOT on the Brazen Altar, and not even within
the camp of Israel. In fact I believe this very first sacrifice of a Bull in the Tabernacle was the model
for another very special sacrifice utilizing a Red Heifer, which would come later. I mention this
because those of you who like prophecy know that the sacrifice of a Red Heifer is going to be an
important requirement for the dedication…..actually the consecration…. of a new Temple that will be
built in Jerusalem one day, not long from now I suspect.
You see we must take notice of a most unusual and mysterious feature of this inaugural sacrifice of
the Bull, and then later of the Red Heifer, because in both cases the sacrifice is offered not in a
Holy place, not even in a ritually clean place as one would expect….. but rather in an unclean place,
outside the camp of Israel. A good rule of thumb to understand OT Biblical lingo is that “outside the
camp” refers to that area which is considered ritually impure. All the normal and regular sacrifices
that Israel had to perform were to occur ONLY at the Brazen Altar which, of course, was “inside
the camp” and ritually pure. We’ll talk more about that at the appropriate time.
Next, beginning in vs. 15, another Burnt Offering is made; only this time it uses a Ram, a male
sheep. Once again Aaron and his sons lay hands on the animal, thus identifying with the Ram as
their representative, their substitute. The Ram is slain, its blood collected, and the Ram is cut up
into quarters. There is a ritual washing of the inner organs and now the Ram can be burnt on the
Brazen Altar because the previous sacrifice (of the Bull) is what consecrated the Altar itself so that
it could now be used for its intended purpose.
Then a 2nd Ram is sacrificed following the same basic procedure as with the first. But this time
some of the Ram’s blood is dabbed onto the right earlobes of Aaron and his sons, then their right
thumbs, then their right Big toes. Remember what we learned about the directions right and left…..
right is always the more important, more holy side or direction, just as east is the most holy and
important of the 4 map directions.
Then some of the Ram’s blood is sprinkled on the priests and their clothing. Some of the fat of this
Ram, along with Matzah, unleavened bread (remember, leaven is symbolic of sin, so except in rare
instances, the bread used in rituals is UN leavened), is given to the priests and they offer it as a
wave offering. Literally this means they hold it up over their shoulders and heads, and move it back
and forth in a waving motion. Then they take the wave offering and put it on the Brazen Altar and
burn it up.
The breast of the Ram is then set-aside for Moses; after Moses offers it as a wave offering he may
then use it for his own food. Aaron and his sons were then given the remaining portion of the Ram;
they boiled it, and sat at the entrance to the Sanctuary, in front of the door, and ate it.
Most elements of this consecration ceremony were to be repeated for 7 days. Why 7 days?
Because 7 is the number of completion….this was established going back to the Creation itself. In
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fact there is a much-intended connection between the Creation story and the establishment of
Israel and we’ll see several more common elements of that connection appear as we go along.
Beginning is verse 38 a fairly general outline of standard every day sacrifices is given. This is much
expanded in Leviticus and we’ll look at each type of offering and its significance during our study
of Leviticus. By way, do not think that the study of these rituals is boring or trivial. If you want to
understand the nature of sin and sacrifice Leviticus is where you’ll find it.
This chapter of Exodus ends with God reminding Israel, yet again, of who He is AND who THEY
are. And that with the completed consecration of the Tabernacle and the priesthood God can now
do the thing He SO desires to do with His people: dwell with them. Over and over we will see this
sort of statement in the Torah, and for very good reason: at the moment these 3 million Hebrews
were still far more Egyptian in their thinking than were Israelite. The radical new ways God was
showing them would take time and repetition and visual demonstrations and God’s firm hand of
discipline for them to grasp it. In fact it would take the better part of 40 years for Israel to change
significantly enough for God to even allow them to set foot in the Promised Land of Canaan.
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Category: Exodus
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Illustrations
Today we’re going to continue to study various aspects of the Tabernacle; it’s furnishings, and the
priesthood that the Lord is establishing. All of these things are designed to accomplish a way for
Him to dwell among His people, Israel. Let’s read Exodus chapter 30 together.
READ CHAPTER 30 all

Chapter 30 begins by God giving Moses instructions for the 2nd most holy piece of furniture in the
Sanctuary. This item goes by a number of names, but the Golden Altar and the Altar of Incense are
the two most common.
Burning incense in conjunction with worship was a rather common practice of Middle Eastern
cultures of that day. In fact, sacrificing, incense burning, and prayer were central to most of the
known world’s religious practices in that era. So, were the Israelites just adopting these standard
cultural activities they were already familiar with, as their own? To a degree, yes….but it was at
God’s decree that they do so. Yehoveh deals with man in ways we can understand, and so He
deals with us on OUR level. It would be utterly impossible for God to deal with us on HIS level,
because we’re but men. It’s for OUR sake that God gives us instructions and guidelines for living
and for worshipping. God used methods that were familiar and normal in ancient Middle Eastern
cultures; but, the ways and reasons for these various worship activities, and what they meant, were
to be VERY different from other religions.
The overriding difference between what was customary pagan religious ceremony for that day, and
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what Yehoveh was ordaining for Israel, was this: the pagan rituals revolved around appeasing or
indulging the supposed needs of a particular god. The Hebrew rituals were all about following
instructions that God laid down for the benefit of man. We must never think that anything we do of
a worshipful nature even if it is apparently commanded of us in the Bible is for God’s benefit. He
has no needs, and requires no appeasements.
The context of the worship practices and ceremonies that are being created here in Exodus is of
God showering His love and mercy upon His people; and of establishing a system of justice in
which man can be redeemed, so reconciliation between God and man can occur. It’s about the
Lord teaching His people who He is, and of the value He places on them. Of both giving the people
a way to commune with God then, and of preparing mankind for a future revelation that would
bring permanent reconciliation between God and man.
The Altar of Incense was fashioned in a way we are now familiar with: an acacia wood frame was
built and then overlaid with gold. It was about 18” square, and 3 feet high. Similar to the much
larger Brazen Altar that rested in the Outer Courtyard…the altar upon which the sacrifices were
burnt up….. the Altar of Incense had 4 horns, one on each corner. A rim was built around the top,
and rings of gold were put under the rim so that wooden poles could be inserted and the Golden
Altar moved as needed.
This piece was to be placed in front of the veil, the parokhet, which separated the Holy of Holies
from the Holy Place. So it took its place among 2 other furnishings that occupied that room of the
Sanctuary called the Holy Place, of which we have already examined the Menorah (Golden Lamp
Stand), and the Table of Showbread. It was placed on the west side of the Holy Place, just as the
Ark of the Covenant was placed on the west side of the Holy of Holies. This was an indication of its
importance.
Once per year, the Golden Altar of Incense was to have sacrificial blood placed on its horns to
purify it. Now, exactly WHEN this cleansing of the Altar of Incense occurred, is unsure. One might
think it would be on Yom Kippur, that one day per year when the High Priest entered the Holy of
Holies and sprinkled blood on the Mercy Seat. I suspect that IS when it happened, because on
Yom Kippur ancient writings indicate that the High Priest performed a different ritual concerning the
Altar of Incense.
A specially concocted incense was to be burnt, continuously, on the Altar of Incense. The smoke of
the incense, which curled upward, symbolized the prayers of God’s people. Apparently it was the
High Priest’s job to add incense and hot coals to the Altar, to keep it burning although since it was
in the Holy Place (where the regular priests were allowed) the regular priests probably tended this
Altar most of the time. Yehoveh was quite specific about just WHEN the incense was to be added;
it was at the time the Menorah’s lamp wicks were being trimmed and oil added. This happened
twice a day, in the morning and in the evening.
Now, a warning is also issued: no other kind of incense than that which God formulated is to be
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used, and the Golden Altar is not to be used for the various kinds of sacrificing of animals that have
been ordained. The word used in vs. 9 to describe any alternate form of incense is, in Hebrew,
ketoret zarah. Most Bibles will translate this as “strange” or “unholy” or “alien”….all acceptable
translations. There is kind of a double meaning intended here: 1st, is that that which God declares
holy is holy…..nothing else. The reality is that the ingredients used in that special incense didn’t
have some magical quality when they were mixed together in proper proportion and then burned.
Rather, God simply declared it to be holy, and therefore, all else was not. This demonstrates a
principle of God that we need to always keep in mind. You see pagan religions believed that certain
ground, certain foods, certain formulations of incense or potions, certain animals, and other items
were, of themselves, inherently holy and magical. God says nothing is, of itself, holy. It is His
decision, by fiat, to simply declare what is Holy and what isn’t. It doesn’t necessarily meet with
any human rationale. For instance, Mt. Sinai was just dirt and rock like the rest of planet earth. But,
when God was present and active there, He declared that it was holy because His holiness is so
transcendent that it literally infects whatever is near it with holiness; and the summit of Mt. Sinai
was virtually untouchable except by Moses for that reason. When Yehoveh was no longer present
and active there Mt. Sinai wasn’t anymore holy than any other mountain in the world. Nowhere are
we told to revere Mt. Sinai, to stay away from its summit, to treat it as a permanently holy spot, or
make a pilgrimage to it. Certainly, it must be awesome to stand at the very place Moses received
the 10 Commandments. But that does not make the place holy. On the other hand, God has said
He has set apart, forever, a very specific piece of land for Himself and His people…..Israel. The dirt
and rocks and foliage found there isn’t unique. I don’t know why God chose that particular piece
of geography in all the earth to set apart for Himself as an inheritance to Israel…..but He did. Just as
with the special incense He instructed to be made for the Golden Altar, it is not for us to scrutinize
and apply scientific methods or mans philosophies to determine why THIS and why THAT is holy
and something else isn’t. Sadly, its come to the point, today, that if what the Word of God says
doesn’t meet the approval of man’s intellect, we say the Word must be in error. God’s declaration
of what is and what isn’t has NOTHING to do with man’s view of reason and logic.
The 2nd part of this double meaning of the phrase ketoret zarah is that since it WAS common that
other cultures burned incense to their gods, and used incense as an ancient deodorizer, not only
could those other incenses not be used but also this special holy incense was not to come from
OUTSIDE the nation of Israel. They couldn’t outsource its making. A very good modern word that
captures the essence of ketoret zarah is “incense from an outsider”. God is putting another layer
onto the wall that was meant to separate Israel from everyone else.
In order for the High Priest to burn the incense he had to follow a procedure. First, he had to
perform the morning, and then later the evening, animal sacrifice at the Brazen Altar. Next, he had
to ritually wash himself at the Brazen Laver (feet and hands), a large container for holding water
(we’ll come to that shortly). Finally, he had to enter the Holy Place, before he could approach the
Altar of Incense.
When the High Priest added coals on top of the Golden Altar, they had to be coals taken from the
Brazen Altar, where the sacrifices were made. Later, we’ll hear of this term “strange fire”; no
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“strange fire” was to be put onto the Golden Altar. The word used for strange fire was the one we
just learned: zarah. So, strange fire literally meant “outsider” fire. Strange fire was, essentially,
coals taken from anywhere except the Brazen Altar. As we move along, particularly in Leviticus,
we’ll study further requirements and prohibitions in the Tabernacle rituals. But, for now, let me just
draw you a picture of the symbolism that is being painted, here, regarding the Golden Altar.
What all the ritual surrounding the Altar of Incense is demonstrating is that when we come to God
in prayer, it is on His terms. We cannot do it anyway we like. He has set out a model, a procedure if
you would, for us to be able to come to him in prayer.
Torah means teaching, or instruction. Everything the priests did was teaching the people some
aspect about the Kingdom of God. In the case of burning incense on the Golden Altar, God was
teaching that, first, to come to Him in prayer, we must be cleansed by means of blood at the Altar
of Sacrifice just as the High Priest had to do. The Cross is the true altar of sacrifice that the Brazen
Altar symbolized; and Yeshua is the sacrificial animal that makes clean. We must identify with what
Jesus did for us, in order to be cleansed as the first step in being able to commune with God.
Second, we must be washed clean by means of water, just as the High Priest did in his ritual
washing at the Brazen Laver. Christ says He is our Living Water. We are told that we must be
washed clean by Him before we can approach Yehoveh. But, there is also another aspect; the
ritual washing is also symbolic of confessing and repenting of our sins. Just as the priests washed
the dirt and soil from their feet and hands, we must leave our sins behind if we are to approach the
Most High God.
Next, we must enter the Holy Place. In Moses day, the Holy Place was a tent. Later it would be a
wood and stone building we call the Temple. But, today, the Holy Place is within US…..its where the
Spirit of God resides. We don’t have to be anywhere in particular nor go to a special building to
meet God. In fact, as Believers there is no place that we can go that we are NOT in His presence.
The priests of Moses’ day had to enter into the Sanctuary to be in a Holy Place. Today, the
sanctuary is LITERALLY US…..disciples of Yeshua.
Now, one more thing about the Altar of Incense and we’ll move on. I said that it symbolized prayer.
Some one you might say, ‘where in the world does it say THAT in these passages’. Well,
truthfully, it doesn’t directly say so. However, I’d like to show you something that I hope helps for
you to see the cohesiveness and one-ness of the Bible, further evidence that the Wilderness
Tabernacle is an earthly physical model of God’s heavenly spiritual tabernacle, and proof that the
smoke of the incense does indeed represent prayer that has been made acceptable to God.
Turn to Revelation 8.
In Exodus, we see God creating His set apart nation….or as I have called it on other occasions, the
Gospel act 1; and in Revelation we see the final redemption of His set apart nation and the final
chapters of human history as we know it; the Gospel act 3, the final act.
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Let’s read Rev 8:1-4
When the Lamb broke the 7th seal, there was silence in heaven for what seemed like half an
hour. Then I saw the 7 angels who stand before God, and they were given 7 shofars.
Another angel came and stood at the altar with a gold incense bowl, and he was given a
large quantity of incense to add to the prayers of all God’s people on the gold altar in front
of the throne. The smoke of the incense went up with the prayers of God’s people from the
hand of the angel before God.
I don’t think we need be concerned that we might be indulging in allegory or illustration when we
speak of the symbolism of the Altar of Incense as the prayers of God’s people that by adding the
quality of the incense…..a quality of holiness…have become acceptable to God. And, we also can
know that in heaven there exists a spiritual altar of incense.
Verse 11 now takes a sudden turn, and we see Yehoveh instructing Moses to take a census. New
scholarship has determined (for a number of good reasons) that this census is entirely separate
from the census of Numbers chapter 1. The coins collected from this census would be used to form
the sockets for the posts of the sanctuary. Although this is a one-time happening, a more
permanent ordinance will be set in place later in the Torah. However, beyond the use of the
money, the spiritual purpose for it is another thing.
Suffice it to say that there are several reasons for this census. The one that is given us here in
Exodus is that each man is required to pay a ransom for his life. This idea of ransom is at the heart
of God’s plan of salvation. A ransom being paid is what redeems us. We of the Church speak of
being redeemed, and of the “plan of redemption”, quite often. But, I don’t think many of us know
what it actually means, nor where the idea came from.
In a nutshell, it is this: Yehoveh set up a system whereby every father had to pay to the priesthood
a set amount of money to redeem the life of the first male child born to him (formally called the
firstborn). Typically, it had to be paid within 30 days of birth. In addition, there was another facet or
kind of redemption that involved a kinsman redeemer. The idea here had to do with a relative being
responsible…. duty-bound in fact…… to redeem the property or life of a family member who had fallen
into debt, and was going to lose their property or be sold as a slave, or both, to the creditor.
Now, while this system was used as an everyday practical element of civil law for Israel, it was
created by God to teach Israel a principle, and it is this: we, as humans, are BORN in debt to God.
He created us, He owns us. We are the debtors, He is the creditor. Further, as descendants of
Adam and Eve, we are born as sinners, and by all rights, should be destroyed. If our lives are to be
spared, we must be redeemed from our debt to God for not destroying us; the debt which is the
result of sin. Redemption is NOT free. It ALWAYS costs. Somebody pays. But, its NOT the person
(the infant firstborn) in debt who pays, it’s the father. Even more, only a relative has the right, and
duty, to perform the redemption. Another aspect is that the firstborn carries a higher value than the
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remaining children. The firstborn was the favored son; he had the right to inherit double the amount
of all of his brothers, and would also inherit the ruler ship over that family when the father died.
Let me state again: God created this system as a shadow and a type of what was to come; just as
he created the priesthood and the Tabernacle as a shadow and type of what was to come. It
served a very practical purpose in its time in addition to be being a shadow…..but nonetheless, God
did it the way He did in order to TEACH mankind His principles.
Yeshua, Jesus Christ, was what the redemption system pointed to. First, it had to be made clear to
Israel, then to every nation, that we all NEED to be redeemed. The whole problem with the
unsaved world is that they just don’t get the basic God-principle that we are BORN needing to
have our lives…our ETERNAL lives….redeemed. And, if our eternal lives are NOT redeemed, then
we suffer death….eternal death. In our church-speak, we say we all need to be saved. Jesus,
God’s firstborn son, was given as the redemption price….often times called the RANSOM….. for
redemption of His firstborn nation, Israel.
So, this census in Exodus is because Israel is God’s firstborn nation, among all the nations of the
world. And, just like the firstborn son of a family, it must be redeemed. This practice of redeeming
indicates on the one hand that the Israelite people do indeed belong to God; they are His…..He
virtually owns them, because He created them in every possible sense of the word. On the other
hand, it shows that Israel is set apart, made holy, to Yehoveh.
Notice that each man must pay an amount of money…….in this case a half-shekel……as the
redemption price…..the ransom. And, no matter how rich or how poor that man is, the price is the
same. Naturally, it is exactly the same for us. God paid the price of Jesus as the ransom for
redeeming the debt that each human ever born owes to Him for his eternal life. And whether a King
or a slave, rich or poor, male or female, black, brown, or white skinned, the price is the same: no
ups and no extras and no substitutes. Jesus is both our kinsman who had the right to redeem us,
AND he is the price of that redemption.
In vs. 17, Yehoveh instructs Moses to manufacture the Brazen Laver; that is, a large bronze
container for holding water to be used for the ritual washing that will occur many times a day. The
size of the Laver is not given; but it had to be a pretty good size to hold all the water that would be
needed.
Whereas the ordinary Israelites would stand at the Brazen Altar, even killing the animals and
cutting them up there, it was ONLY the priests who were permitted to use the bronze Laver. The
Laver was positioned between the Altar of Sacrifice (aka the Brazen Altar) and the door to the Holy
Place.
It’s interesting that not too much in the way of construction detail is given by God to Moses for the
Laver, except that it is to consist of two pieces: a pedestal, and then the container of water that sits
on the pedestal.
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As we have already discussed, the purpose of the Laver was to hold water for washing. The priests
ALWAYS had to wash before entering the Sanctuary. The washing symbolized purification and
regeneration.
Procedurally speaking, the priests would walk up to the Laver, and dip their right hands into the
Laver washing their right hand first, and then their right foot. Then they washed their left hand and
their left foot. Just so you don’t get the wrong picture, only their hands dipped into the water; they
washed their feet WITH their hands. Once again, get the picture of Jesus washing the disciples
FEET with his hands. And, let me remind you, that this procedure was reserved ONLY for priests.
The next subject of this chapter is the aromatic anointing oil to be used in rituals. The money and
ingredients were not to come out of the funds of given as offerings by the people to the Tabernacle;
rather this was to be paid for by the tribal chieftains. Part of the reason for this is the enormous cost
of the spices and perfumes that were needed. The most important ingredients had to be brought
from long distances such as Arabia, India, and China. They were rare and difficult to manufacture.
Therefore they were prime targets for bandits and thieves during their transport and a goodly
quantity never made it to its intended destinations.
We’re given list a spices that are to make up this oil: Myrrh, cinnamon, aromatic cane, and cassia.
And after blending by a specialist, it would be used to consecrate people and ritual implements into
divine service. In fact, without this special concoction it was not possible to consecrate priests into
service to the Lord.
But verse 31-33 also tells us that this is the ONLY permitted use for this special blend; no one but
the priesthood may administer it, and it can be used on nothing else. The consequence of violating
this command is terribly serious; karet. Karet is what we usually translate to “cut-off”. Let me
remind you that what is being contemplated here is being permanently separated from the
community of God, Israel; and from God Himself. It doesn’t necessarily mean physical death, like
execution…..although it can. It is really the equivalent of eternal damnation without hope for
redemption. So karet is in most ways far more serious than mere physical death and it was greatly
feared.
The final instructions of chapter 30 concern the ingredients for the holy incense that will be burned
on the Altar of Incense. It is to consist of 4 ingredients: balsam resin, onycha, galbanum, and
frankincense. Balsam is a kind of tree and the ingredient is basically sap from the Balsam tree.
Onycha is not quite as well understood. The Hebrew word used here is shekelet and unless it has
a double meaning, it is referring to a sea creature…..a mollusk…..from which they extracted a
fragrant substance. The next ingredient is called galbanum and it comes from a plant in the area of
Persia, and finally frankincense is added. Frankincense was a very expensive aromatic gum that
comes from a tree that grows in Arabia.
This special mixture is to be used ONLY on the Golden Altar and never in a common means. By
common means I’m indicating that it is not to be used as a way to simply deodorize or make the
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air smell sweeter, which was it’s most common use among well-to-do folks. One can only imagine
in that day the rather foul odors floating through every encampment, town and village from the
burnt sacrifices, animals literally living with the people, the slaughtering process, and of course the
people themselves who didn’t bathe with any regularity.

Moses is STILL up on the summit of Mt. Sinai; he has been there since the beginning of chapter
24, and many days have passed. All told, he will be up there 40 days. I cannot begin to imagine
what transformation was going on within Moses, being in the presence of such pure holiness. How
often I’ve heard a Christian leader say, ‘ we may not know the answer to that mystery until we
stand before God’. Well, Moses WAS standing before God; and the knowledge and understanding
he must have been absorbing is mind-boggling. The questions that Moses must have formed in his
mind as he climbed up that mountain…..private and deeply hidden doubts, suspicions, and
worries…...these and more must have been addressed and answered. For, a different Moses came
down that mountain after each of the several times that he went up.
As Moses’ time in God’s presence is nearing its end, for now, and the last few instructions are
being dispensed to Moses for the Tabernacle, Yehoveh specifically names the person that is to be
the chief designer and maker of all that God has commanded to be constructed for the Tabernacle.
While much detail has been given, much has not. Who would decide what Cherubim looked like?
How big was the Bronze Laver of water to be, and how much water should it hold? Was a pillar for
holding up the veil to the entrance to the Holy of Holies to be square, or round, or something else?
These sorts of decisions would be left up to a pair of men God Himself chose and anointed for that
purpose. The headman would be Betzalel. He is the grandson of Hur, who was Aaron’s 2nd in
command. Interestingly, one might think that Aaron would have picked a son, or at least a fellow
Levite to be his assistant; but Hur, and therefore Betzalel, was from the tribe of Judah. Betzalel’s
name means, “in the shadow of El”, or as we more commonly think of it, “in the shadow of God”.
How appropriate.
As his 2nd in command, God assigns to Betzalel a man named Oholiav…. which, poignantly in
Hebrew means “in my father’s tent”… who was of the tribe of Dan. Notice that these men
represent 2 of the 4 dominant leader tribes…..Judah and Dan. And, we’re told in vs. 6 that Yehoveh
supernaturally placed what He wanted everything to look like in these two men’s minds. How did
He do that if the Holy Spirit didn’t live in them? I have no idea. But, if He can do that without the
Holy Spirit actually being within them, only resting upon them, imagine what a greater advantage
we have, as Believers, that the Spirit of God resides in us.
In vs. 12, Yehoveh gives Moses the instruction to, once again, remind the people of the important
nature of the Sabbath. In vs. 13, where most Bibles will say “ however”, or “Nevertheless”, or “You
Shall…..keep my Sabbaths”, the Hebrew word being translated is “akh”. A translation other than
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“however” or “you shall” that better captures the sense of it, in our American mindset, might be
“above all”. That is, this is a reminder from Yehoveh that in all the busy-ness that is going to
transpire with the building of the Tabernacle, and the Altars, and the making of the priests’
garments, and the implements, and so on, that nothing is more important to God than keeping the
Sabbath.
What is clear in this section is that the rationale for observing the Sabbath Law is not so much that
it is associated with the Covenant of Moses; rather it is associated
with the Creation. It is the Creation narrative of Genesis where we find the Lord concluding His
creative work and then declaring the following day to be set apart as holy.
NAS Genesis 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. 2 And
by the seventh day God completed His work which He had done; and He rested on the
seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and
sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
The idea here is that God ordained a day to celebrate the ceasing of His creative activity; and the
form of the celebration amounted to men ceasing our normal work….our creative activity. But it’s
not that the Lord has ordained something new, here, at Mt. Sinai in making a Sabbath Day or
making it something only for Israel. Rather, He says, “you must keep my Sabbaths..” In other
words, Sabbath was created a long time ago for all men to observe but apparently men quit paying
attention to Sabbath. So the Lord says, Israel, YOU are to make a point of observing it because
YOU are a people set apart for Me. So you will be the example of what people should be doing on
the 7th day, Shabbat……and this is resting from their normal activities and instead being with their
families and worshipping the Lord.
I won’t go into my spiel about Saturday being the Sabbath, and Sunday being the Lord’s Day
again because it is simply historical fact. Rather I’d like to point out that the sense of this scriptural
passage is something like this: “Once you start your building program, don’t forget about Me, nor
my commands to you.” How human it is that we get a calling from God to do something, and off we
go praising God and happily knowing that we have a divine purpose… and then we let our passions
run amuck. We forget all about God’s principles and commands, as though they have been put
into a state of suspension just for us, because our project is so important it transcends His Laws
and Commands. I’ve seen Churches have construction crews working 7 days a week to finish their
building project, because of the excitement of nearing their goal. I’ve seen men AND women
neglecting their spouses or children in the name of carrying out their ministries. I’ve seen
ministries that were so intent on producing as much as possible every day, making every minute
count, that prayer was all but forgotten. And, much too often in our day and age, I see ministries
that, seemingly, do nothing but raise money, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year for
the next in a series of grand human enterprises that makes God little more than a marketing tool.
I find it most instructional that of all the principles and observances that God has now laid out, He
commands Moses to put above EVERYTHING else, the Sabbath. And, yet, here we are in our
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time, most Believers claiming that St. Paul has instructed us that Sabbath is an obsolete and
worthless observance, or that we have been given latitude to change it to whatever is most
convenient for us. And, where does this idea come from? It is that the OT is OLD, and the NT is
NEW, so the New replaces the Old. Never mind that in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said the
exact opposite, that not one jot or title, not the smallest detail would pass from the Torah until
heaven and earth passed away; and nothing could be a more central teaching to the Torah than
the Sabbath.
And, no, we can’t get out of this Sabbath issue just because God says the Sabbath is a perpetual
covenant between Israel and Him…..because the NT makes it abundantly clear that when we
accept Messiah Yeshua, we become part of a group called TRUE Israel……we become spiritual
seeds of Abraham……we are joined to Israel’s covenants and all their blessings and obligations…..in
the most real way there is, spiritually. Not my words, but directly, plainly, and literally from scripture
as I’ve shown you on a number of occasions.
We’ll finish up with chapter 31 next week.
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Audio Files MP3

Illustrations
We continue in our study of Exodus 31 this week with the section beginning in verse 12 concerning
the Sabbath….in Hebrew, Shabbat.
Let’s re-read this rather short section to refresh our memories.
RE-READ EXODUS 31:12 to end

The Sabbath is God’s Law about observing sacred time, just as the Tabernacle is God’s Law
about observing sacred space. Now, this might sound a little philosophical rather than spiritual but
it truly is not. Let me explain, so hang in there with me as this might seem complex but it really
isn’t.
A scientist would, rightly, say that we live in a universe that consists ONLY of space and time.
Space consists of 3 dimensions. Time is one more dimension giving us a total of 4.. The first 3
dimensions (space) are very easy to grasp because we can simply look at the room in which we
meet (this space that we’ve acquired for us to congregate) and see it’s length, width, and height.
What is not as easy to grasp is time. We can’t SEE time, or touch time, but we can observe its
effects. It is especially observable to me every morning in my mirror, because I look at this wrinkled
face with a ring of gray hair around the crown of my head and ask, “who is that?” That image sure
doesn’t look like what my mind expects. I don’t FEEL like that reflection looks. Aging is the effect
of time.
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But, WHAT is time? Just as an inch or a meter is a measurement of the first 3 dimensions we
talked about (length, width, and height), time is actually a measurement of decay as expressed in
the 2nd law of Thermodynamics. All physical things decay, but they decay at differing rates. Time
measures the rate of decay. A rock decays much slower than a human, but not all rocks decay at
the same rate nor do all humans decay at exactly the same rate. In fact our most accurate time
measuring devices, atomic clocks, actually use the nearly perfectly steady rate of decay of certain
atomic particles to make them work.
No, this not a science lesson; it is a lesson to help us understand at least part of God’s apparent
rationale behind Sabbath. Since our God created a universe of 4 dimensions consisting of space
and time, so has He ordained a means of enshrining the holiness of all 4 dimensions of His
Creation; the Tabernacle is representative of the 3 dimensions of space, and the Sabbath is
representative of the dimension of time. God sanctifies the Tabernacle by setting it apart from all
other human space and dwelling in it, and He sanctifies the Sabbath by setting it apart from all
other blocks of time and declares this specific block of time, Shabbat, as holy. No other piece of
space (at the time of Moses and then for several hundred more years) was set apart as holy to
embody the holiness of space, and no other block of time has ever been set apart as holy for the
purpose of embodying the holiness of time. Certainly other blocks of time (other days) have been
ordained and set aside to honor OTHER things God wants honored (the Biblical Feasts for
example); but none of those had the specific purpose of honoring God’s creation of time.
So the Sabbath is God’s designated day to give tangible glory to His creation of the 4th dimension,
time. Together the Tabernacle and Sabbath enshrine the holiness of God’s creation. Keeping this
in mind, let’s see what we can glean from these last few verses of chapter 31 about the Sabbath.
The ending words of vs.13 is another of those interesting, but usually overlooked, little phrases that
carries a large meaning….and the significance of it is explained in vs. 14. At the end of vs.13 it says,
“so that you may know that I am the Lord who makes you holy”. Your Bible version may say,
“sanctifies you”, or “consecrated” or some such thing, in place of “holy”…..it’s all the same thing.
The word “holy” or “sanctify”, is translated from the Hebrew root word “kadash”, which indeed
means “holy” or “be holy”…to be set apart (which is what the English word sanctified means). But
pay attention to what God SEEMS to be saying here: He says that the PURPOSE for Israel
keeping the Sabbath is….what? To make them, you, holy! That is no small thing and it carries
rather large implications.
In vs. 14, there is another interesting phrase that works in conjunction with the one we just looked
at in vs. 13; and it is most meaningful if we accept what it means in its most literal sense…..which is
usually the best way to study the Bible. It starts out like this: “ Keep the Sabbath for it is holy to
you…” What I want to look at is the word that is translated as “holy” in THIS verse (I’m in vs. 14,
NOT 13). In Hebrew, the word used here is “kodesh”; although it is taken from the root word
kadash, it has a slightly different meaning. Kodesh does NOT mean holy……this is poor
scholarship. In Hebrew “kadash” means holy. So if kodesh, which is the word used here in verse
14, does not mean “holy”…….what does it mean? It means “holi-ness”. Most literally this verse
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reads “Keep the Sabbath because it is holiness for you”.
So what’s the difference? Am I splitting hairs? Not really. The way it is normally translated vs. 14
means to our minds: “ I want you to keep the Sabbath, because I made it holy and therefore you
are to consider it holy, and are to observe it BECAUSE it is a holy day”. Right? Ah. But, that’s not
the meaning.
Here’s what it DOES mean: “I want you to keep the Sabbath, because not only did I declare it
holy, but the Sabbath clothes YOU in a state of holiness in my eyes when you obey me and
observe it.” Do you see the difference? The first way is, I want you to do this because I made
Sabbath holy, and I want you to respect the holiness of the Sabbath. The second way is, by
observing the Sabbath; YOU take on the holiness of the Sabbath. It’s the holiness of the Sabbath
that when imputed upon you, transmitted to you, makes you holy. So, vs. 13 says, I’m going to
make you holy…..and vs. 14 says, I’m going to do this by transmitting the holiness inherent in my
Sabbath to YOU….IF you obey and observe My Sabbath.
This concept really shouldn’t sound strange to us at all. For, we are told that in order for us to
enter the Kingdom of Heaven, we must be righteous according to God’s standard. But, it is utterly
impossible for a man to attain that state of saving righteousness on our own. So, by faith in Jesus,
we are clothed in HIS righteousness. Yeshua’s righteousness is imputed upon us. Yeshua’s
righteousness is transmitted to us. God is laying out the principle here in Exodus that, by means of
His Grace, He will impute upon Israel, He will assign to Israel, a state of holiness that cannot be
achieved any other way.
This also goes a long way towards helping us to understand what Christ really meant when He
said: “the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath”. You see, He was saying that it
was NOT necessary for the creation of Man in order to bring holiness to the Sabbath, but it WAS
necessary that the Sabbath be created in order that holiness might be brought to Man.
The seriousness of the Sabbath ordinance is underlined when vs. 14 continues by saying that
whoever profanes the Sabbath is to be cut-off……they are to be separated from God. Cut off can
mean that they are destined to die short of a normal lifespan, or it can mean, like in this instance,
that they are to be executed for failure to observe the Sabbath. And, later in the Torah, we’ll get an
example or two of the death sentence being applied to someone who did not PROPERLY observe
Sabbath.
How long is this Sabbath ordinance to last?……verse 16 says it is forever.
God says the Sabbath is a sign between He and Israel. In Hebrew the word for sign is owth (oth).
The sense of the word is an affirmation, or a proof, a mark of distinction. The Sabbath is a mark of
distinction that sets the relationship between God and Israel apart from everyone else. And, further
on in vs. 16, he makes this connection between the creation of the universe (as we spoke of at the
beginning of our lesson) and the observance of Shabbat.
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Now, let me see if I can illustrate something for you. I said that the Sabbath is a very specific block
of time (the 7th day) that is set apart from all other blocks of time to embody the holiness of time as
the 4th dimension of God’s Creation. I was born on November 26th. So my birthday is on
November 26th each year. What if I decided that I preferred to remember my birthday on March
15th? How about if when March 15th came around I just declared it in my home to be November
26th, my birthday? While there certainly is no law against it, with equal certainty it doesn’t make
much sense and sort of ruins the whole purpose of having a birthday. March 15th is NOT
November 26. Each are very specific and different days.
Friends, the Bible…..not me but the Holy Scriptures….DEFINES Sabbath as the 7th day of each
week. The set apart, sanctified, block of time that the Lord has established as representative of the
4th dimension of His creation is the 7th day of a 7-day week. It’s not ANY block of time of our
choosing. We can no more choose our own definition of Sabbath than we can choose our own
definition of Messiah.
God is now through, for the time being, with giving Moses and the people of Israel His ordinances
and principles. And so Yehoveh inscribes on two stone tablets, supernaturally by His own hand, the
10 principles from which all Law, ordinance, appointed times and festivals, observances and rituals,
even the sacrificial system will be based.
We have now completed 4 of the 6 divisions of Exodus, and are ready to begin the 5th division,
which Everett Fox calls “Infidelity and Reconciliation”.
READ CHAPTER 32 all

Chapter 32 is all about the infamous Golden Calf incident. The key to understanding the scriptures
about the Golden Calf is that Israel was breaking the Mosaic Covenant at the same moment Moses
was up on the mountaintop receiving it. Remember, this is a conditional covenant……Israel has its
obligations to keep, because the covenant has stipulations about what happens if they don’t. God
sees what Israel did by building that calf, as adultery, and therefore, infidelity. Why adultery?
Because they were supposed to be in union with Him, and then they brought another “god” into
the picture.
It’s chapters like these that mark the Bible as the most remarkable piece of literature (obviously its
far more than mere literature) in all of mankind’s history. God has set apart a people from all other
people in the world to be a Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation to Him. And, rather than try to
paint Israel, now, as somehow BETTER than other humans, less susceptible to doing wrong and
evil, above the temptations of sin and immorality, a bunch of people that just whistle a happy tune
and go about God’s business praising Him all the live-long day, we’re shown the reality of the
human condition. Our fickleness, our selfish and rebellious nature are vividly on display here in this
chapter, as a stark contrast to God’s character AND His expectations of us.
For the last several weeks of our study of Exodus it’s as though we have been eavesdropping on
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God’s conversation with Moses. From on-high, at the summit of Mt. Sinai, all that is good, and
true, and perfect…..the heavenly spiritual ideal….has been spoken and explained to Moses. Well
back at the ranch the reality of everyday physical life as it conflicts with God’s standards greets us
head-on.
We shouldn’t sidestep the irony here: DURING the very time Moses is receiving incredible
revelations from Yehoveh, standing on the summit, the Holy of Holies…..DURING the time God is
lowering Himself to send a love letter to humanity that beckons the Hebrews to reconciliation with
Him…..the people of Israel are scheming to do the very things God has prohibited. Translation:
yeah, we know there’s a God, we know He is loving and powerful, we know He has standards of
good and evil, right and wrong, but we’re anxious and stressed so we’ll take matters into our own
hands, thank you very much. Oh, how very human.
The first few verses of chapter 32 set about explaining the people’s rationale for breaking the
second commandment. The one that says, “Thou shall have no other gods before me. You are not
to make a carved image……” And basically that rationale is that they’re impatient and a bit afraid.
They want answers and they want them NOW! Of course, I think last week it hit many of us
squarely between the eyes that adultery was also at the heart of the Israelites great offense against
God. Adultery, because what the Mosaic Covenant created was a union between Israel and
Yehoveh. And, by mixing the union with Yehoveh with the worship of the calf, by bringing another
god into the picture, the union became corrupted and defiled. Actually, the union became broken.
And whom do the Israelites recruit to lead them in this worst of all possible offenses against God
but the man who is about to become their High Priest! Moses’ 2nd in command, the one who bore
the staff of Moses and spoke the miracles of God before Pharaoh, Moses’ own brother….Aaron.
One could roll around the floor in laughter, if it weren’t all so tragic and typical.
We’re told that Aaron agreed to build for Israel a god image, and he instructed the people to give
him the gold from their earrings. I’m not sure what significance there is to it, that it was ONLY
earrings from which the gold was gathered……but one thing’s for sure…..there would have been an
enormous number of earrings necessary to make this Golden Calf, so an awful lot of people agreed
with what they were about to do.
Once the calf was made just what did the Hebrews think they had done? What was it that they
thought that they had made and just whom did it represent? The answer is in the last few words of
vs. 4, and then into vs. 5. “This is your God, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt”.
And Aaron announced that tomorrow they would build an Altar and sacrifice an animal to the
Golden Calf and hold a “festival to Yehoveh”. Your Bibles most likely say a festival to the Lord.
That is an incorrect translation. This has led many a commentator to suggest that the Israelites had
an entirely different “lord” on their minds, one of their old Egyptian gods. But, the original Hebrew
doesn’t say “lord”, Adonai; it says YHWH…..Yehoveh, God’s personal name. The people thought
they were making a suitable image of the God of Israel, Yehoveh, when they built that calf!! BTW:
maybe we all better examine the images and icons we use…..because there’s a ton of them, and
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I’m not at all comfortable that our rationale for using them makes it right in God’s eyes.
There are so many lessons just under the surface here, that we could spend an awful lot of time
with them. So, let me just outline a couple for you.
First, the Golden Calf itself was a common animal image used by almost every Middle Eastern
culture. In Egypt it was called the Apis Bull, a very high deity indeed. It represented strength and
authority, and the Hebrews would have been MORE than familiar with it. Now we can’t know for
sure that it was the Egyptian Apis that they used as a model for the Golden Calf…..it could have
been some other Middle Eastern Bull god. But it really doesn’t matter. The point is that despite the
incredible miracles they had personally witnessed, after hearing Yehoveh’s own VOICE tell them
His 10 Commandments, at the first sign of trouble their instinct was NOT to believe God, NOT to
trust God, NOT to be obedient to God, but rather to behave as they always had. The funny thing is
had worshipping other gods back in Egypt EVER liberated them from Egypt or brought them
anything good? Apparently not, for they were slaves for at least 2 centuries when God rescued
them. But it didn’t matter; they just went back to what was familiar, and turned their backs on what
was right. People haven’t changed much, have we? When push comes to shove we tend to fall
back on what is traditional and comfortable. We love the things we’re familiar with, the things that
seem to validate the lifestyle we’ve chosen; we’ll compromise or rationalize God’s principles in a
heartbeat if it satisfies our emotions or our wants. I’ve heard it said that the true definition of
insanity is believing that if you keep doing the same things you’ll eventually get different results.
There’s not one of us hearing this lesson that doesn’t have to fight, daily, the urge to hang on to,
return to, our old ways even though we know the truth.
Second, why did the people feel they needed a god image at all? I mean what’s the big attraction
here? Interestingly it’s the human need for visible, tangible evidence of God’s presence that drove
them to this horrible deed. And it’s for that same HUMAN need……the need to see it with our own
eyes…..that God was in process of providing by means of the Tabernacle. God knew, and knows,
that we need visible reassurance and evidence of His divine workings in our lives. Israel needed it,
too. God didn’t NEED an earthly tabernacle. And, He certainly didn’t NEED human hands to build
one. The Tabernacle, like almost all else, was for Israel’s sake, our sake, not His. The Tabernacle
was a physical demonstration of some heavenly principles as well as the enshrinement of God’s
principle of sacred space.
There is a parallel, a link, between the Golden Calf and the Tabernacle, as they both were intended
to satisfy man’s need to have visible proof of God’s presence. It might do us well to think of the
Golden Calf as a sort of anti-Tabernacle. The Golden Calf is man’s perverse idea of deity. It was
made from Israel’s best and most sincere religious imaginings and efforts. Conversely, The
Tabernacle was a heavenly model…..it was God ordained. But, it would also come in God’s timing,
not theirs.
Man ordained, versus God ordained. This is the battle humanity has been in practically since the
moment Creation ceased, and it will go on until the end of the Millennial reign of Christ in the future.
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Probably within some of our lifetimes we’ll see this battle played out in most dramatic fashion, in
the finale of the history of the world, as we watch mankind install the anti-Christ as the head of
World Government to rule over us. And why will man install him? For the same reasons that the
Israelites molded their image: impatience, fear and anxiety, and the need for visible proof that God
is present. Already the world is crying out for somebody to build that new Golden Calf. To do
something to stop the violence and terror that has gripped the world, but there seems to be no
solution. And, soon, very soon, I believe that the apostate portion of the church will join the effort of
the world, if not lead the way, to identify and install the end-times Golden Calf, the anti-Christ. And
just as in Moses’ day this will occur as God is in process of readying the world for a visible display
of God’s true presence in the form of Messiah Jesus. But it’ll be in His timing; sadly we already
know from the Bible (primarily Revelation) that most of the world, and all but a remnant of the
Church, won’t wait for God’s solution. We’ll take matters into our own hands with devastating
results. That’s what Israel did when they built that Golden Calf.
Beginning in vs. 7, God informs Moses of what “YOUR” people are doing. I think that’s kinda
funny that God calls Israel “YOUR” people. In a way, for a moment there, it seems God disowned
them because He HAD been calling them MY people. And guess what: legally that’s exactly what
He did, He disowned Israel. The Covenant was broken and Moses would demonstrate that when
he arrived back to the valley floor. Further, it would be necessarily to re-establish the covenant,
which we will also find Moses do as he fashions two more blank stone tablets to take with him back
up to the summit of Mt. Sinai.
As the Lord is instructing Moses He tells Moses to hurry back down that mountain and put a stop to
the Calf worship. And, BTW, Moses, while you’re gone, I’m going to sit here and think of ALL the
ways I can destroy those stiff-necked people. In fact, I think I’ll just start all over again with you as
the new Father of a special people for me.
Moses, in a most noble gesture, pleads for mercy for those Israelites and God relents.
Now, a couple of things to think about: Was God going back and forth here…indecisive…. between
destroying them and not? No, of course not. Yehoveh, as always, is in “teaching mode”…..Torah
mode. He’s showing Moses just how serious disobedience to The Almighty can be. He’s showing
Moses that indeed those people are his responsibility. He’s demonstrating that it didn’t have to be
Israel that is His chosen people; it could be anybody He selects. Moses, in the position of mediator,
is the one who bears on his shoulders the sins of what is now described as YOUR people because
the covenant that makes Israel God’s people has just become invalidated.
In something akin to an episode of Seinfeld, here are the people of Israel, down at the foot of the
mountain, partying like mad, worshipping and sacrificing to this Golden Calf, just so proud of their
little selves for solving their own problems…….while at that very moment God is telling Moses that by
the time he gets back down there these people are probably going to become little piles of human
toast anyway. And these foolish rebellious Hebrews have absolutely no idea that their fate is being
decided, up on that summit, as they go on in their blissful ignorance down below.
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I also think that Moses really had yet to grasp his own importance in Yehoveh’s eyes, as well as in
the eyes of the people. Moses had always been reluctant about taking this job in the first place. He
was a humble man, an introvert, and had a hard time understanding why people would look upon
him as their leader. Bu, as we saw when God spoke the 10 Commandments by means of a
thunderous and frightening sound directly to the people of Israel their response was generally:
WOW! That was really cool; now PLEASE don’t EVER do it again! Moses, you talk to God for us,
and have Him talk to you. They were certain that if they were ever again in God’s presence, or
heard His voice, they would die. They saw Moses as the one and only channel between them and
Yehoveh, which of course is the very definition of what he indeed was: their Mediator.
The people of Israel depended on Moses as that mediator. And after a considerable time, when he
hadn’t come back down that mountain, they did what people do when leadership vanishes: they
panicked. When they didn’t see what they expected to see, when they expected to see it, they lost
faith; the result was the Golden Calf. I’m not sure I’ve ever made a good decision when I was in
panic mode, which is one reason why God constantly reminds us to “fear not” for fear leads to
poor judgment and irrational behavior.
As Moses was making his way back down the mountain, he runs into Joshua…..the same Joshua
that would eventually take over for Moses. Apparently Joshua went part way up the mountain with
Moses and then stayed and waited for him for Joshua didn’t seem to know what was going on
back at the encampment….but he could hear all the ruckus and knew something not good was
occurring. Joshua says, “Moses! I think there’s a war going on!”. Moses replies, “no Joshua,
they’re just having a giant block party!”
Moses finally gets to see what is happening and it infuriates him, as he’s never been before. He
throws the tablets on the ground, and they explode into hundreds of pieces. He took the calf, had it
melted down, ground to dust, and then sprinkled into their drinking water. Then, he made the
people of Israel drink it.
This act of breaking the tablets was significant; in the Middle East, whenever a covenant was
made, written down, and then violated, the clay tablets it was written on were ceremonially thrown
down and shattered to signify that the covenant was indeed broken. So, this wasn’t a moment of
rage in which Moses lost it for a second and in doing so threw down the tablets of the Law. It was a
custom…..and the people knew immediately what it meant when he did it. The hours-old covenant
with God was broken…gone…. already!
Moses asks Aaron, in vs. 21, what happened that would make him agree to do such thing as to
build that idol. Aaron’s answer: they asked me to do it. Peer pressure, social pressure. A desire to
be all things to all people in place of Godly leadership; do I please God or my friends? Aaron chose
unwisely.
Then Moses threw down the gauntlet: he called all those who stand with him, and in so doing stand
with God, to come to him. Moses is doing what God demonstrated to us since the moment He
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separated darkness from light: He divides and separates to create unity. I know that this principle
that God divides flies in the face of the typical modern day Church doctrine that God unites. But
the “unity at any cost” doctrine simply doesn’t square with Holy Scripture, primarily because it’s
too simplistic. God divides and separates in order to achieve unity. My goodness, here in Exodus
He is well into the process of dividing Israel, setting Israel apart, from all the rest of the world as His
People. And here in Exodus 32 we have Moses dividing and separating the people of Israel in
order to achieve God’s kind of unity. Division, separation, and election are God’s ways to achieve
ideal unity. Sadly the world and too much of the Church have fallen into the trap that defines unity
as a compromise to achieve consensus. God’s unity has nothing to do with consensus or
unanimity or conformance…and most certainly not with compromise. Unity is a oneness with His
Spirit.
It was the Levites, those destined to be priests and attendants to Yehoveh, who rallied around
Moses. Now, please remember, the priesthood has YET to be established. These Levites who
came to Moses were NOT declared priests, yet. But, we don’t have to work too hard to figure out
why, even from a purely human standpoint, it would be only the Levites who rallied around Moses:
he was kin. Moses was a Levite and my means of his current station the head of the Levite tribe.
This is the essence of Tribalism; blood is thicker than water or anything else for that matter.
Each of the Levites took a sword and went about killing 3000 of the calf worshippers. And, the
wording makes it appear that they must have killed not only non-Levites, but fellow Levites as well
who had succumbed to idol worship. And then in vs. 29 Moses makes a startling statement to
those who did the killing: by sparing not even your own SONS you have consecrated yourself to
God. That is given the choice between obeying Yehoveh and executing your own child for idolatry
at His command you chose obedience to God above your own desires. That sets you apart. These
Levites at this moment were divided away from the rest of Israel, consecrated, to become God’s
priests. This would be confirmed in a formal ceremony soon.
BTW: the Levites are an interesting contradiction of character. Back in Genesis when Jacob was
pronouncing his deathbed blessing upon his children he told Simeon and Levi that violence would
follow them. But he also told them something else that was now coming true.
READ Gen.49:5-7
“Shim’on and Levi are brothers, related by weapons of violence. Let me not enter their
council, let my honor not be connected with their people; for in their anger they killed men,
and at their whim they maimed cattle. Cursed be their anger, for it has been fierce. I will
divide them in Jacob, and I will scatter them in Israel.”
It was Levi and Shimon, Simeon, who led the raid on the helpless city of Shechem in revenge for
the King’s son raping Jacob’s daughter (their sister), Dinah. They slaughtered all the males, killed
the cattle, and made slaves of the women and children who were spared. As a result of this atrocity
Jacob said that Simeon and Levi would find their destinies as constantly dealing in blood and
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violence.
But Jacob pronounced even more that concerned those 2 sons: here the meaning of “I will divide
them in Jacob” now comes to light. Right here in Exodus 32 the Levites are divided from the rest of
Israel….that is, they are divided in Jacob (remember Israel and Jacob are synonymous). And then
their violent natures are put to good use as they kill many of the calf worshippers, even their own
children. The second part of Jacob’s prophetic blessing whereby Levi will be scattered in Israel,
will occur at the end of the 40 years in the Wilderness when the land of Canaan gets divided up
among the tribes of Israel……but the Levites do NOT get any land. Instead they are to be scattered
throughout the territories of the other tribes, given 48 cities to live in, but under the charity of the
various tribal authorities.
I think its also interesting that the Levites, many who are about to become the priests, will be the
ones to deal with blood and killing on a daily basis……but this time it’ll be sacrificial blood. You see
the killing that God calls JUST is not murder. But killing outside of what God calls just IS murder.
God creates all life. How it ends is entirely His to choose. What the Levites did at Shechem was
unjust, it was murder, and they were under God’s curse for doing it. But when they stood by
Moses side, obeyed God, and killed those 3000 people it was counted to them as a blessing just as
it says at the end of vs.29. The overall fate of the Levites would not change from what Jacob
pronounced, but the NATURE of how it would be manifested DID change. They would indeed deal
in blood and killing; but instead of it being unjust killing, against God, it would now be as God’s
servants, carrying out not merely justified killing……but killing that brought justification and
atonement before God on behalf of Israel. God declares what is holy and just…….all else is not and it
is not our position to alter His choices.
After the mass execution of the idol worshippers, Moses made it clear that Israel had sinned
against Yehoveh, broken the covenant and he, as mediator, now needed to approach God to see if
there was a way to atone for this corruption, and more importantly, re-establish the Mosaic
Covenant.
Moses climbs back to the summit of the mountain, and begs God to blot him out of the book of life
forever, if that is what is necessary for the people to be forgiven for their great sin.
In response the Lord lays down the principle that a man is responsible for his own sins, and so
declines Moses offering of his own life as atonement for Israel’s sins. Sin must be punished. There
is no alternative. Those 3000 that were put to the sword by the Levites were just the tip of the
iceberg. The number of those who willingly participated in calf worship was much greater and so
God sent a plague as a punishment and many more Hebrews died of illness.
We’ll follow Moses back up the mountain next week in chapter 33.
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Category: Exodus
Audio Files MP3

Illustrations
Let’s be very clear where Israel stands with God at this moment in Exodus: the Mosaic Covenant
has been broken and is not in operation and therefore Israel’s relationship with God is broken; all
the result of idol worship of the Golden Calf.
The result of Israel breaking some of the terms of the Mosaic Covenant will not be the END, or
abolishment, of Israel as God’s chosen people because the Lord re-established the SAME
covenant with Moses when Moses trekked back up the mountain with a fresh set of stone tablets.
We don’t see this explained until Deuteronomy.
READ CHAPTER 33 all

Yehoveh, in vs. 1, gives Moses orders for Israel to strike camp and move on. They’re still at the
base of Mt. Sinai and have been there for about a year. The Law has been given, the instructions
for God’s Tabernacle has been given, and now its time to move on towards their goal: the land of
promise, Canaan. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the punishment for Israel’s
breaking of the covenant is that God will not dwell among them. However, in His great mercy, He
WILL send an angel ahead of Israel, who will drive out the Canaanites, the Emorites, the Hittites,
the Perrizites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites ahead of Israel’s arrival.
God tells the people they are to remove their ornaments. That is, they are not to wear any of their
jewelry. This signifies a couple of things to the Hebrews: 1) jewelry goes hand in hand with
joyousness, and that is NOT called for, considering what has transpired. They should be in a state
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of mourning for losing the presence of God because of their actions. 2) The jewelry was what had
been used for making the Golden Calf in the first place. That was NOT what it was supposed to
have been used for……the jewelry was the result of a kind of God-ordained retribution upon the
Egyptians, when Yehoveh instructed Israel to “strip Egypt” as they were leaving. And, the precious
metals were, in part, going to be needed for God’s dwelling place.
In vs. 7, we’re told that whenever Moses would pitch the tent, he did it OUTSIDE THE CAMP of
Israel. Now, let’s think about that for a minute; there are some interesting aspects, here, that I
would like to point out to you. First of all, most commentators make this tent out to be the God-
ordained Tabernacle. And even though the word “Tabernacle” doesn’t exist in these verses,
many translators have decided that that is what is meant, here, so they insert the word. I have a
problem with the notion that the Tabernacle even existed at that moment.
First, the timing doesn’t seem to be right. Up to now, all that’s been given is the instructions on
how to build the Tabernacle. There is no evidence that the Tabernacle has actually been
constructed. The Golden Calf incident has interrupted everything. It won’t be until after Moses
goes back up the mountain to receive a 2nd set of tablets that the Tabernacle is built, and therefore
God has separated Himself from Israel because the covenant doesn’t actually exist that MAKES
them His people.
Second, the word used throughout these verses to describe what Moses erected was, in Hebrew,
ohel……this means, “tent”. And, this word is used in several places in this chapter, and it is the
ONLY word used to refer to whatever it was that Moses erected outside the camp. It is also used
when we’re told that whenever the Israelites saw Moses heading toward his ohel, they would
stand outside their own ohel.
Third is the indication that it was Moses who actually erected the tent. We know that it would have
taken hundreds and hundreds of people to erect the Tabernacle, and the verse simply doesn’t give
us the impression that anymore than Moses, and perhaps his most immediate family, were
involved in erecting the tent.
Finally, we know from Numbers and Deuteronomy that when the Tabernacle was erected, the
tribes surrounded it in a very specific order that we’ve already discussed. In that arrangement, the
Tabernacle is not only INSIDE THE CAMP it is the center and focus of the camp.
I think that the tent used here was temporary. It was probably just an ordinary tent. In fact it was
probably simply Moses’ personal tent. We’re told in vs. 9-10 that the cloud would station itself at
the entrance to the tent, whereas later, when we know for sure that we’re speaking of God’s
ordained model of the heavenly Tabernacle, that is, the Wilderness Tabernacle, the cloud hovered
OVER the tent. So, something is different here.
We also see that Joshua never left the inside of the tent. That was certainly not the case with the
Wilderness Tabernacle; for only priests, Levites, could enter the Tabernacle, and Joshua was not a
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Levite…..he was from the tribe of Ephraim. In fact, later we’ll be told that anyone other than priests
from Levi would be killed if they had anything to do with the Tabernacle. How was Moses allowed
in? He was a Levite.
What we have a picture of is that when Moses needed to meet with Yehoveh he actually did so
OUTSIDE the tent, while Joshua stayed separated from Moses and God by staying hidden away
INSIDE the tent.
Now, a reasonable question is, so how is it that God told Moses up on Mt. Sinai that He required
the construction of this elaborate and detailed Tabernacle for His presence if He was going to dwell
with man, but then turned around and met with Moses in front of an ordinary tent? My contention is
that there was nothing intrinsically holy about the Wilderness Tabernacle, nor any other created
thing. God simply declared it was holy. The Tabernacle was not for the sake of God, it was for the
sake of the people; so that they could be assured, visibly, of His presence; so they could be
reminded of His Law and His Holiness, so they wouldn’t sin; and it was an important teaching
tool….perhaps more for us, today, than even for the Israelites back then.
God could up and declare the room we’re all present in to be holy, and that is that. I guess God
declared the plain old tent He was currently meeting with Moses in, holy. Remember, for a time
now in Exodus everything is topsy-turvy as a result of Israel breaking the covenant. Israel has
severed their relationship with God; and so God has removed His presence from Israel, and His
presence with them was all that distinguished Israel from anybody else. Whereas “INSIDE THE
CAMP” of Israel was supposed to be the clean area, and “OUTSIDE THE CAMP” the unclean
area, there is no “INSIDE THE CAMP” being clean right now. The only clean area is that tiny little
spot, away from where Israel was camped, that Moses erected that temporary tent and went to
meet God. The idea of being inside or outside the camp really only has meaning in the current
context in the sense of the Lord either being in Israel’s midst, or not. And for now the Lord is not in
Israel’s midst so therefore He’s not INSIDE THE CAMP.
OK. Another little conundrum: vs. 11 says Moses and God spoke face to face as friends. But later,
in vs. 20 God says that no one, including Moses, can see God’s face. How do we deal with this
seeming contradiction? I’m going to go into some depth about this, because we will get this little
phrase “face to face” many times in the Torah……and several of those times its referring to God
speaking to Moses.
There is a Hebrew word used, here, that can mean presence, or face…..and it is paniym. It can
mean a face, just as we think of it….human or animal…..or it can indicate a “presence”. Personally,
although not every Biblical translator nor scholar would agree with me, I think that what we’re
being told here is that Moses spoke to God “face to presence”……Moses’ face, God’s presence.
That is God’s spirit was present, it was near…..versus far away. Moses’ conversation with
Yehoveh was not like prayer was back then, that allowed man to communicate with God from
afar……that is, man on earth, God in Heaven….separated. Really Moses “face to presence”
communication with God is almost indistinguishable from a Believer’s modern-day prayer life,
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since the day of Pentecost when His Spirit came to dwell in us. Because God’s presence is
ALWAYS present in us…..we don’t speak to Him from afar…..we speak to him “face to face like a
friend” because He is near. We have a very similar privilege to what Moses experienced.
There is also another consideration: face-to-face was, in that day, used as a Hebrew expression.
And it could mean a couple of things: first, it could speak of an intense conversation….. perhaps
akin to heated debate……or even better, hard bargaining. If you’ve ever been to the Middle East, or
seen a travelogue on TV of an Oriental market, you’ll see people loudly arguing, hands flailing
around, scowling, seemingly angry at each other. This is purely cultural and the way they conduct
business and negotiation; and anger is in no way being displayed. Jews will do the same thing
when discussing Jewish religious doctrines and laws. A second meaning is that indeed ONE of the
parties IS displaying anger. It is VERY difficult to know in the scriptures whether face-to-face is
simply indicating presence, or hard bargaining, or anger. It’s all in the context, and its also cultural.
However, in vs. 20, the general belief among Hebrew scholars is that when God tells Moses that he
cannot see His face, it’s a more along the lines of face as we think of a human face, than it is a
general presence. So, verse 11 is about God’s presence, in the way we think of the Holy Spirit’s
invisible presence in our day; and verse 20 is about God’s face that apparently could be visible to
human eyes.
Yet…….there is a strong hint that face-to-face in vs. 11 also incorporates the idea of a heated
debate. Because beginning in vs. 12, we get this typical Middle Eastern style interplay between
God and Moses. Moses questions, God says what He’s going to do. Moses disagrees and offers a
suggestion. God says no. Moses tries to get God to see it his way. Eventually God agrees.
Now, in vs. 19 God says He is going to show Moses His goodness, and that He is going to
proclaim the name of the Lord before Moses. Just so we’re on the same page: what is actually
said is “ I will proclaim the name of Yehoveh”…..not Lord. God is saying He is going to speak His
own name, which is Yehoveh.
God is revealing his nature to Moses; in Middle Eastern culture to reveal one’s name is to reveal
one’s character because name and character are organically connected. God is too holy even for
Moses to look upon His face. God is merciful and gracious. But, He will choose who He is merciful
and gracious to….. man does not decide such matters.
Chapter 33 ends with Yehoveh directing Moses to stand in a crevice, a cleft in a rock, and with God
Himself covering Moses’ eyes so that he does not see God’s face. BUT, after God passes, Moses
can see God’s back. What does this mean? I don’t know…..everything I’ve ever read, Jewish or
Christian, is quite unsatisfactory, and amounts to allegory. So, let’s just leave it there.
READ CHAPTER 34 all
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If chapter 32 was about the breaking of the covenant relationship between God and man, and
chapter 33 shows what happens when the covenant is invalidated, then chapter 34 is about its
reinstatement; or as Everett Fox calls this, the 5th division of the 6 divisions of Exodus, Infidelity
and Restoration.
Yehoveh directs Moses to cut two stone tablets and bring them to the summit of Mt. Sinai. Since a
little time has passed since we have talked about the location of where all this was taking place,
this might be a good time to remind you that this mountain of God goes by another name; as well
as Sinai it’s called Mt. Horeb…… they are one in the same. I’d also like you to recall that it is
unimaginable that the location of Mt. Sinai was in the Sinai Peninsula. The traditional location of Mt.
Sinai, where St. Katherine’s Monastery is built and thousands of Christian pilgrims come year after
to year to imagine Moses and the 10 Commandments, defies both Scriptural description and
geographical possibilities. Let us remember how this site, near the southern end of the Sinai, was
declared to be the Mountain of God: Constantine, Emperor of Rome in the 4th century, had
become a Christian and declared Christianity as a government authorized and therefore legal
religion within the Roman Empire. His mother, Katherine, was also a convert and both mother and
son were prone to visions. Almost every biblical site in Israel that has a monastery or Catholic
Church built upon it was ordered by Katherine to commemorate some event concerning Christ.
And, almost universally, these specific sites bore no known historical reality; these sites did not
agree with the early Church Fathers or the Jewish Rabbis. Rather these choices that are now so
cemented into Christian tradition were the results of her dreams and visions. Mt. Sinai is one such
site. One would think that if the site of the true Mt. Sinai was the one chosen by Katherine, that the
Jews would have greatly revered it for centuries before she was even around. The Jews knew
nothing of this location as THE Mt. Sinai.
Interestingly in Galatians 4:25 St. Paul states that Mt. Sinai is in Arabia. Josephus also states that
Mt. Sinai is in Arabia, as does Philo. Let’s also remember that before Moses went to Egypt to free
the people, when he was still a shepherd in Midian, he was attracted to a bush that was burning on
a mountain in Midian. The Bible states unequivocally that the same mountain at which Moses first
encountered God, at the burning bush, was the one that Israel was brought to when they left Egypt;
Midian in on the Arabian Peninsula. Now some traditionalist Christian scholars have fought this
saying that the Sinai was considered part of Arabia at that time. That is just plain inaccurate and
speculation without a hint of proof to that effect. Not one piece of evidence has ever been found or
documented to indicate such a thing. That is pure fantasy. But it is well documented that Egypt
controlled the Sinai at the time of Moses and that Midian was on the Arabian Peninsula. A few
scholars also try to explain Paul and Josephus away by stating that this mention of Arabia must
have been allegorical or metaphorical. Of course allegory and metaphor are at the heart of why the
Church has wandered so far off course over the past 2 centuries, and how it could be that literally
thousands of Christian denominations have been formed all basing themselves on supposedly the
same common document…..the Bible….but often holding such widely disparate beliefs and views.
That is, since taking the Bible at its word (taking it literally) usually blew away Western gentile
church doctrines that sought to rid Christianity of anything Jewish, making the Scriptures allegorical
and metaphorical became their solution. Up became allegorical for down, Israel became allegorical
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for the Church, east became metaphorical for evil, and Western Arabia became allegorical for the
Sinai. Nonsense. We looked sometime back at the route of the Exodus, and the area where Paul
and Josephus say Mt. Sinai is located, and found a place that not only matched the Biblical
description, but even archeological evidence was found of the Israelites stay there. And, that place
was in Arabia. BTW: this is nothing to get very upset over. That Mt. Sinai was actually in Arabia
changes nothing about God’s laws and ways, about Christ, or about our faith: its just interesting to
know how certain traditions got started and we can wonder at why millions of people would choose
to accept myths over truth.
Back to the stone tablets; God says He is going to write (or better rewrite) on these new tablets the
10 Commandments, in order to replace the tablets that Moses had smashed upon seeing the
people’s grievous rebellion against Yehoveh when they built that Golden Calf. Recall that Moses
shattering of those tablets was Middle Eastern custom for indicating that an agreement, a
covenant, between two parties had been violated and therefore the tablet that the terms of the
covenant had been recorded on were ceremonially literally broken.
Yehoveh descended in a cloud to where Moses had come. As this shows us once again, whether it
be on the Mountain, or soon in the Tabernacle, God’s presence was not there at all times; He
came and went.
Now, at the end of the previous chapter, chapter 33, Moses had asked to see God’s glory and God
was willing to grant Moses’ request…….to a degree. The answer to the question of just WHERE
Moses would stand and behold God’s glory pass by is now answered: the summit of Mt. Sinai. The
rock whose cleft Moses would hide in while God’s visible essence passed was at the top of the
Holy Mountain. Let’s take a look at that for a minute.
What is happening in verses 6 and 7 is that Yehoveh is proclaiming His character to Moses. Today,
we take this for granted….. if we’ve ever attended a Church or Synagogue we’ve been taught
about Yehoveh’s love, mercy, and so on. But these few verses are so important and so central to
the Hebrew religion that they became part of future Jewish liturgy, and are known as “the 13
Attributes of God”. Yehoveh tells Moses that His very essence is mercy, love, patience, and
faithfulness; that He is loyal to those whom He sets apart. Keeping loyalty to the 1000th generation,
in vs. 6, is a Hebrew idiom that simply means forever. Yet, Yehoveh says that His justice demands
that He cannot call the guilty, innocent. In fact, the sins of the fathers will affect their offspring to
the 3rd and 4th generations. Even more God will CAUSE it to effect the 3rd and 4th generations.
Now, why the 3rd and the 4th generations? Because, in that day of extended families living
together from birth to death, the typical family unit contained 3 and 4 generations….. so it is referring
to the entire household. In other words, it was typical that the great grandparents, grandparents,
parents, and children all remained in one family unit…living and working together. So, when the sins
of the great grandfather, for instance, were punished, naturally it affected the rest of the household.
In our culture, in the age of what demographers call the Nuclear family, that is, it’s only the parents
and their immediate children forming a household, a 2 generation family unit, it works the same
way…..and sadly most of us are old enough to know that when we sin, and are disciplined for it, or
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God allows the natural consequences of our sin to be played out, it will often damage the whole
family.
It is this fully understood reality of 3 and 4 generations living together that allowed the phrase “to
the 3rd and 4th generation” to become a Hebrew expression that basically meant “short term”. So
these verses contrast that the Lord will show kindness forever to those who love and obey Him, but
will cause consequences for a person’s sin to be relatively short lived.
I have mentioned on a number of occasions a Biblical principle that has always been important, but
really hadn’t been front and center for the Church, or our nation for that matter, until the last 5 or 6
years. And the principle is this: there are only two ways we can know who our invisible God is: His
name and His characteristics. We’ve just been given several characteristics, attributes, of God and
His name has been carefully and firmly associated with those attributes…… in fact it was God
Himself who pronounced His own name Yud-hey-vav-heh, Yehoveh, and revealed His own
characteristics to Moses. Obviously this was not intended as an exhaustive list of all that God is…..
but really, how much more do we need?
Today, there is an ongoing debate within the Church as to whether or not the Muslims’ claim that
their god Allah is simply the same god as the God of the Christians and the Jews, Yehoveh. I gave
a talk on that subject quite some time ago. The bottom line is that, after studying the Koran and
doing some extensive research, I am convinced that Allah cannot possibly be Yehoveh. Why?
First, they don’t have the same name. The Bible puts great importance on names….especially the
name of God and the name of Christ. The church has tended to regard names as having a rather
unimportant place in our doctrine…..and it is coming back to haunt us. No, Allah is NOT an Arabic
translation of Yehoveh. Allah is a nearly 4000-year-old name for the Arabian moon-god. That of
itself disqualifies any relationship between Yehoveh and Allah.
Second, Allah and Yehoveh don’t have the same characteristics. Take every one of the 13
attributes Yehoveh pronounces of Himself here in Exodus 34, and you will find the nearly, if not
precisely, opposite of those characteristics ascribed to Allah in the Koran, the Muslim equivalent of
the Bible. If they don’t have either the same name or the same attributes, it’s ludicrous to think
they’re the same god. We need to pay more attention to Biblical names, festivals, appointed times
and Sabbaths; and when we do we’ll understand far more thoroughly who God is, what He’s
about, and avoid the consequences of mixing truth with men’s philosophies and false religions
particularly in our day when the call is for tolerance and peace at any price.
Let’s go back to those two verses again, verses 6 and 7. When we look at some key words in the
original Hebrew we can acquire some deeper understanding. I want to substitute some Hebrew
words that most of you are now familiar with for their English translations in verse 6; this is how
LITERALLY this verse reads: “Yehoveh passed before him and proclaimed: ‘Yehoveh,
Yehoveh, El is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness…..” and
so forth. What I’m trying to demonstrate to you is that for several traditional reasons the English
translations do NOT actually SAY the name of God. Rather when God’s name (YHWH, Yehoveh)
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is actually written in the original, the translator’s write God, or Lord. God and Lord are not names.
In our society we also deal with titles and names as separate things: Mister or Missus is NOT a
name, is it? Neither is Doctor, or Congressman. Becky is a name; Jerry is a name; king and
president are not names they are but impersonal titles.
Therefore when God pronounces His name, it is a very personal thing. So it should not be
surprising that in verse 5 when it says that God pronounced His name, that we get this phrase that
I just gave to you whereby He actually uses His formal name: “Yehoveh, Yehoveh, El is
compassionate….”
Notice also the use of the Hebrew word “El”. El is a title for the highest god in any pantheon of
gods. El is not a word used only for Yehoveh. El was a title that various of the pagan religions
would bestow on whichever of their many gods they thought stood above all the others. So the
concept is “God above the other gods”. Therefore in the Bible we will regularly see the
expressions “God of gods”, “Lord of lords”, or “King of kings”. These are all expressions of the
concept of the term “El”.
Let me also remind you that while most Bible versions (translations) will occasionally use Jehovah
as God’s name (a reasonably acceptable attempt to pronounce his name in my book), those same
versions will employ that name anywhere from 4 or 5, to perhaps 15 or 20 times TOTAL in the
entire OT. But in the original Hebrew God’s name, YHWH, is written more than 6000 times!
Now, did God just do all this out of the blue? No, this was in response to Moses’ request from the
previous chapter (33) where he said in verse 13, “….now please show me your ways…”, and then in
verse 18, “I beg that you show me Your glory”.
Moving on: Upon God pronouncing His name and attributes to Moses, and passing before him,
Moses uses this moment to appeal to God to restore the broken relationship with Israel. He falls on
his face before Yehoveh, agrees with Yehoveh’s assessment of the situation, and pleads for
restoration. There, right there, is the model for us to approach God when we know we have
committed an offense against Him. First, we realize the sin that was committed, second, we
confess that sin to God and agree with Him on it that it IS sin, and third, we ask for restoration….for
forgiveness. Now the fact that our sins have already all been forgiven and paid for due to the
finished work of Christ doesn’t change what we’re to do. We’re still to go before Yehoveh every
day, confess our sins to Him (because we STILL do sin, don’t we?), and ask for forgiveness. But
unlike Moses who had to wait for an answer…..yes I will forgive, no I won’t…… we are assured that
we are forgiven when we confess with contrite hearts. Now understand how radical that is. People
in Moses’ day, right on up to Christ’s day and beyond, were often worried and anxious over
whether or not God would forgive a sin they had committed. When someone sinned it required a
sacrificial ritual to atone. If their sacrifice was not done properly, or accomplished within a certain
amount of time……or if the priest that assisted them was not ritually clean, or one on a long list of
other possible procedural errors occurred…..the sacrifice MIGHT not be accepted by Yehoveh, and
therefore forgiveness NOT granted. The people were not at all sure, many times, whether they had
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been forgiven or not; and so they carried a dreadful burden. Believers don’t have that problem…..
thanks to Yeshua.
Now we must note with the greatest sobriety, that while God forgives Israel in Exodus 34, and
restores the relationship, He does not yet agree to dwell among them, nor does He start again
calling Israel “My People”. Some of the privilege so freely given to Israel, and the intimacy
between God and the Hebrews, is going to be missing for a while. This is God’s discipline at work
and it is a necessary consequence for their sin even though they are, or will be, forgiven. This
modern evangelical doctrine among some denominations that Christians can sin without
consequence (without discipline or punishment) is wrong-minded and without Scriptural back, OT
or NT. Forgiveness is forgiveness, consequence is consequence. One does not terminate the
other.
In vs. 10, God reinstates the covenant with Israel that they had broken by means of the apostasy of
the Golden Calf. But Yehoveh makes it clear that there are two conditions for Israel to obey if
God’s promises to Israel within that covenant would come about; first, as told in vss. 11-16, Israel
must not mix themselves with the Canaanites and involve themselves in their idolatry. Second,
there are several God-ordained observances, appointed times, (as outlined in vss. 17-26) that they
are ALWAYS to keep.
And, in the same format as the covenant was first given, God says, IF you’ll do this, THEN I’ll
drive out the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perrizites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites from the land
I’m going to give to you. However, says Yehoveh, don’t you DARE make another covenant, a
peace treaty, with any of these people…..nor any other tribe that is settled in the land of Canaan,
the land that God is giving to Israel. Israel is to make covenant ONLY with Yehoveh. Rather Israel
is to destroy Canaan’s sacrificial altars; smash their standing stones…..standing stones were
memorials to a god……and cut down their tree-poles (something akin to Totem Poles, which were
idols). Interestingly the word used here that is often translated as tree-poles, or sacred poles, and
in some versions “groves” (the most literal translation), is in Hebrew “Asherah”, or more literally
“asherim”, which is the plural form. Asherah is where the name Ashtoreth comes from; this
goddess Ashtoreth is also called Astarte, and in yet other cultures called Ishtar. Asherah,
Ashtoreth, Astarte, and Ishtar are all referring to the same thing: fertility goddess cult worship.
Whenever Israel fell into idolatry it was either the moon-god or the fertility goddess that they began
to involve in their worship because this god and goddess were so universally honored. The
Hebrews generally didn’t STOP worshipping Yehoveh; they just added another god or two to the
mix. Isn’t it interesting that as much as the Church just can’t resist shaming ancient Israel for their
idol worship that we Christians have adopted the identical name used in the Bible for this pagan
fertility goddess (that God calls an abomination) to use as the name for perhaps our most sacred
Holy Day: Easter. That’s right; Easter is just Anglo-Saxon for Ishtar; Easter was the Anglo-Saxon
fertility goddess (this is why our modern Easter celebration employs rabbits and Easter eggs
because a rabbit was often the symbol for the fertility goddess and eggs, ovum, were the symbols
of fertility itself). We should think long and hard about this and how many of our other traditions
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came about that we hold so dear and above reproach.
Now in verse 14 with the Golden Calf incident so very fresh in the people’s minds, God repeats
His command that the Hebrews are to bow down to NO other god. In vs. 15 Yehoveh says to Israel
that if you DO make a covenant…..that is make a treaty…..with any of these various tribes living in
the land of Canaan, it will start you down a very slippery slope. Of course, in the books immediately
following the Torah, we’ll see Joshua and others doing exactly what God prohibited here; they
make peace treaties with several of these Canaanite tribes. You see what Israel did was to
disregard God’s instructions in favor of what their natural minds thought was a better course of
action. In some instances they made treaties that allowed Canaanite Kings to continue in power if
they paid tribute, taxes, to Israel in return. Who doesn’t want free money, and little extra income?
Besides that is how the whole world operated since time immemorial. A conqueror often chose to
keep a king in power if it was profitable. In other cases Israel thought they were showing love and
mercy by not removing people from the land that God said were to be removed. Certainly God
would understand and honor their decision in their sincere desire to be nice and loving, right? The
results of that mindset proved disastrous and the consequences continue to this day this
disobedience to God’s explicit commands dating to the days of Moses and Joshua is largely
responsible for the mess that is the Middle East.
I don’t want to get too preach, but if ever there was a call to the God’s church to be
uncompromising, this section of Exodus is it. Yehoveh is NOT a god of religious tolerance.
Yehoveh is NOT a god of compromise and consensus. Yehoveh does not honor our sincerity or
our earthly definition of love above His commands. We’re told in vs. 14 (and this is not the first
time we’ve encountered this statement) that He is a jealous god and will not tolerate the worship of
a false god. He just told His people not to mix themselves with pagans because it is inevitable that
they will want good relationships with those people and that will necessarily involve compromise.
And the Lord uses VERY strong language that is usually diluted by the genteel people who have
translated the Bible for us, and don’t wish to offend its readers. For instance, god calls the act of
accepting pagan gods into your midst “whoring”. We all know what that means.
The modern world now says that in the perilous times facing humanity, every person on the planet
falls into one of two categories: tolerant or hate filled; if you’re not one, you’re the other. Listen to
me carefully: that is a satanic principle, not a Godly principle. God’s people are NOT to be at all
tolerant of false gods, such as Allah; or is it to declare what God calls evil to be good, such as
homosexuality or abortion; or are we to bow down to the wishes and customs of pagans, such as
joining them in their holy days like Halloween, all for the sake of getting along. On the other hand
our response is not to be hatred or killing; nor to go out of our way to create strife and upheaval.
We’re to be light, not a sword. Gentle, not mean spirited. But the only light we have is the light of
our Savior; and if we tolerate, accept, respect, or join in the ways of His adversary, can we really
expect God to be glorified in this? When Israel did this very thing, out in the Wilderness, God
removed His presence from them, and stopped dwelling among them and even stopped leading
them. Do we honestly believe that God’s character has changed and will now tolerate His very
own Tabernacles where His Holy Spirit resides (us!) chasing after (or as it says in these verses,
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whoring after) the ways of the world?
We are going to have to learn to stand firm and realize that peace with God is not the same thing
as peace with the world. In fact, in our age, they are opposites; and like Israel had to do in their
settling of the Promised Land they had to choose one or the other, not a compromise between the
two. We’ll continue with chapter 34 next week.
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Audio Files MP3

Illustrations
Lesson 32 Chapters 34, 35, 36, 37
We are really going to accelerate now, until the end of the book of Exodus. In fact this lesson and
next weeks lesson will conclude the book of Exodus, and then it’ll be on to Leviticus…..a truly
fascinating study.
As we continue our study in Exodus in chapter 34 it is good to realize that what we’re essentially
reading about are the God-ordained legitimate festivals and ritual obligations as opposed to similar
but illegitimate festivals and ritual obligations as practiced by the Canaanites and other world
cultures. The schedule of Yehoveh’s appointed times, which includes the 7 Biblical Feasts, did
indeed have somewhat comparable holidays in the pagan world. Just as the 7 Biblical Feasts were
agriculturally based festivals that were timed to occur in the various seasons and stages of
planting, growing, and harvesting, so did the nations outside of Israel do the same thing.
Yet, the Lord says that the WAY and the DAY and the REASON for celebrating those set apart
days and festivals was NEVER to be done in the way that the pagans did they’re celebrating. And
that it was equally as much an abomination to add in some elements of those pagan traditions to
the pure mode of worship authorized by God as it would be to adopt those pagan holidays.
Let me mince no words: it is astounding to me that someone who claims the Lord as his or her God
would celebrate Halloween, for example. I have seen many a Christian group adopt practically
every element of this pagan holiday, only to change the name to Fall Festival or Harvest Festival in
some rather lame attempt to make it OK. This past year I cut out a picture from the Florida Today
newspaper that has a woman Sunday school teacher sitting in the pumpkin patch display of a local
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church, dressed in a full witches costume (hat and all), sitting on a bale of straw and reading from
the Bible to about a dozen attentive children. Think about it: did or did not God establish a true Fall
Festival? Did or did not He say to celebrate His festivals but to avoid all others? Of course He did,
and the fall seasonal festival He established is called Sukkot. The point of any agricultural Fall
Festival is to celebrate the final cuttings and storing of produce before winter comes on and
everything goes dormant. That is the exact timing and mode of the Biblically ordained fall festival
called Sukkot in Hebrew, the Feast of Tabernacles in English. Now let me ask this rhetorical
question: why would a Christian choose to celebrate a patently pagan festival day ostensibly to
celebrate the end of the yearly agricultural cycle, but completely disavow God’s holy festival that
also celebrates the end of the yearly agricultural cycle? I’ll leave that for you to ponder.
Let’s re-read the section of Exodus chapter 34 that we’ll cover today.
RE-READ EXODUS CHAPTER 34:18- end

Though we’ve seen most of these commands before, Yehoveh repeats several of them as He
reconfirms the Mosaic Covenant. Remember: we have just observed the consequences of the
Golden Calf incident result in the Mosaic Covenant being broken and invalidated. Therefore it was
necessary for the covenant to be reinstituted. In vs. 18, the Biblical Festival of Matza is re-ordained.
Let me remind you that in the Bible, when you read of the Festival of Matza, it generally is referring
to a bundle of 3 different festivals: Passover, Matza, and firstfruits. They all overlap and intertwine.
Passover is the beginning of the Festival of Matza, and then 1 day later begins Matza proper that
last for 7 days: 1 day after the Feast of Unleavened Bread begins is the one-day Feast of the
Firstfruits. So Firstfruits occurs during the Feast of Matza. Now to the Hebrews they were
celebrating their release from captivity in Egypt (Passover was when God went throughout Egypt
and killed all the firstborn but passed-over those who trusted Him by smearing the blood of a
sacrificial Ram on their doorposts); Matza was to remind them of how they hurried to get out of
Egypt and didn’t have time to make bread with yeast, leaven, and let it rise; and firstfruits is a
spring agricultural festival, when the first of the new year’s harvest is brought in.
What Israel didn’t, and couldn’t, have realized, is that this holiday period was prophetic and a
physical demonstration of a heavenly principle and ideal. It speaks of the death and resurrection of
Messiah Yeshua. Now, please listen carefully: for the Hebrews while the Passover and Matza was
a commemoration of a past happening, it was also looking forward to the FUTURE event of
Messiah, right?…..it was prophetic. However since this prophecy has now been fulfilled (Messiah
has come and He has died and arisen) for US it is entirely a memorial…..a remembrance…of
supreme importance for us. It is a sad commentary that Believers, under NO authorization from
God whatsoever, have abandoned these God-ordained holy observances and changed them to
Good Friday and Easter even employing the name of the pagan fertility goddess Ishtar for the
holiday’s name, Easter, and using her typical symbols, rabbits and eggs, as part of our holiday
ritual. I would suggest that we reconsider and reinstitute God’s ordained festivals and perform
them in as close a way as possible to the original, but in the context of our era and culture.
Because what we have done is to choose Man’s ways over God’s, call it good, and then attach
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holiness to it; always a bad idea.
In vs. 19 Yehoveh reconfirms the principles of redemption and the firstborn.

In vs. 20, the Sabbath, the 7th day, a day of rest, is yet again reinforced.
In vs. 21, another God ordained festival is emphasized: the Festival of Weeks. This is called
Shavuot in Hebrew and the Church calls it Pentecost. This is to be a Pilgrimage Festival. That is
God has already commanded, and confirms in vs. 23, that 3 of the 7 ordained festivals are to be
celebrated in Jerusalem (or more technically correct, at the central sanctuary). And everyone is to
make a pilgrimage; they’re to travel, to Tabernacle/Temple to celebrate these 3 festivals. The first
is Matzah, the second is Shavuot, and the third is Sukkot. Sukkot is what it means in vs. 22 when it
speaks of the Festival of Ingathering.
Note that it is said that only males are required to come to the Tabernacle on these pilgrimage
festivals. Later, in Deuteronomy, it makes clear that every effort should be made for the whole
family to come.
Now, obviously, it was going to be a while before the Israelites would be able to carry out
Yehoveh’s command to make a pilgrimage. First, they’d have to settle into the land of Canaan.
Shiloh was where the Tabernacle would be located for a while, and then finally in Jerusalem. As of
the time of Exodus, Jerusalem was a small city, built and ruled by the Jebusites. It was King David
who eventually captured the city, changed it’s name to Jerusalem, and made it part of Israel.
Let me also make a quick observation about Pentecost; Pentecost being the day the Holy Spirit
came and began indwelling men. We know of this event primarily as that day when people started
suddenly speaking in tongues, and some very strange ideas have formed about what actually
happened there.
First, Pentecost is just a Greek word that means 50 days. Second, the 50 days means this holiday
occurs exactly 50 days after the day Christ rose from the dead. Pentecost is not a NEW holiday
designed by Christians to celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit…although that IS the way it is
typically taught. Rather, Pentecost is a Greek word that the early Christians used in place of the
Hebrew Shavuot. Third, understand: when the Holy Spirit descended upon man a NEW holiday
was NOT created in remembrance of that event. Rather, it was on Shavuot, a Biblical Feast
instituted by God at the time of Moses, that the Holy Spirit descended……which is exactly what the
Feast of Shavuot was prophetic of.
The Holy Spirit descended upon a whole bunch of Jews, who had come to Jerusalem to celebrate
the Festival of Weeks, Shavuot. But, these were special Jews, because they were Believing
Jews….they believed Yeshua was the Messiah. They had come, because as we see right here in
Exodus, Israelites are commanded to do so…..that is, they are commanded to make a pilgrimage to
Jerusalem for this festival (as well as 2 others). The language issue, speaking in tongues, I’d like
to straighten out; Jesus died and the Holy Spirit descended about 30 A.D. The known world,
including Judah and Jerusalem, was under Roman rule. Jews now lived all over the Roman
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Empire. Probably only something on the order of 10% of the total population of Jews lived in the
Holy Land, all the rest lived scattered around the known world. These scattered Jews are, to this
day, called the Diaspora…..the dispersed. And, naturally, these scattered Jews took on the
language of whatever nation or culture they were a part of. But…..they fiercely held on to their
Jewish ways and religion. So, these Diaspora Jews, as well as the Jews still remaining in the Holy
Land, came to Jerusalem, as usual, for the Feast of Weeks, each speaking various languages.
There is no Greek work that translates to the English word “language”. Rather, in that era the term
was “tongue”. Therefore the Bible word used for languages is literally “tongues”.
The miracle of tongues that occurred on Pentecost was that Jews from one area, who therefore
spoke a certain language, could suddenly and supernaturally speak a language that they didn’t
know, or, they could understand a language they couldn’t speak. So we get this Biblical
description of how some observers (undoubtedly Judean Jews who lived there in Jerusalem) were
saying that these guys were just drunk and babbling meaningless nonsense. But some of the
Diaspora Jews who had come a long way from remote nations are saying no, I recognize that
language they’re speaking, and I know exactly what they’re saying, because it’s MY language.
Just how many languages, tongues, were represented we don’t know……but at this time in history
there were scores of languages spoken within the vast Roman Empire.
Here’s another way to look at it: what happened at Pentecost was a kind of reversal of what
happened at the tower of Babel. At the Tower of Babel a whole lot of people who were rebelling
against the Lord, and who spoke a single universal language, were suddenly and supernaturally
given a whole bucketful of different and new languages and so they could no longer understand
one another. But at Pentecost, a whole lot of people who trusted the Lord, and who came to
Jerusalem unable to understand each other because they spoke so many different languages,
suddenly could understand one another! Amazing connection, is it not?
Then we get this strange command in verse 26 about not boiling a kid in its mother’s milk. Today
this is interpreted by not serving dairy with meat. There have been many theories set forth as to
why this is; it even keeps the Rabbis scratching their heads. But, I think that if the simplest solution
is usually the best answer, the reason is fairly obvious: boiling (cooking) young animals in their own
mother’s milk was a standard Canaanite religious ritual. And, above all else, the Lord continuously
reminds Israel NOT to do their rituals in a manner that the Canaanites do. I doubt there is much
beyond that in significance.
Beginning with vs. 28 we get some information that sounds eerily familiar: Moses spent 40 days
and nights (this was an ADDITIONAL 40 days and nights after the last time he went up to the
summit) in God’s presence, and he didn’t eat or drink during that time either. We’re also told in a
number of places in the OT, including directly from Moses’ own mouth, that sometime in the future
a “prophet like Moses” would come to Israel. That prophet turned out to be none other than
Yeshua of Nazareth. And, the list of parallels between Moses and Jesus is long. The most obvious
is that Jesus came as the highest earthly Mediator possible between God and man…..just as did
Moses. Jesus spent 40 days without food or drink “in the Wilderness”…..which is exactly what
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Moses suffered and even corresponds to WHERE he was. Yehoveh gave physical Israel the law
written on stone through Moses, and through meditation and self-discipline they were to write these
laws on their own hearts (meaning minds). Yehoveh gave TRUE spiritual Israel the SAME law
through Jesus but it would be supernaturally written on their hearts. Moses was higher than the
High Priest of Israel. Jesus was higher than the High Priest of Israel.
And now we’re told that light radiated from Moses’ face when he came down that mountain……not
allegorical light, REAL visible light that the people could observe. Jesus not only radiated spiritual
light, light that people could see with their eyes and detect in their spirits, He WAS light.
As Moses approached the camp, Aaron and the people of Israel saw the stone tablets of the Law,
and they saw the light emitting from Moses……and it frightened them. So, from this time forward,
we’re told that Moses put a veil over his face to block out the light. This harkens back to when God
spoke to Moses and all the people, and it frightened them so severely that they pled with Moses to
be their spokesman; they didn’t WANT to hear God’s voice again, just as they now didn’t WANT
to see His light.
I wonder: do we REALLY want to hear God’s voice and see His light? Oh, I don’t know a Believer
who would admit to anything else. But, I know what my honest choice was for so many years, and I
suspect some of you were, or are, in the same boat. Maybe we only want to hear ABOUT God’s
voice and be told ABOUT His light. God was willing to tell the people directly, even to let them see
a glimpse of His glory via the supernatural light emitting from Moses’ face; but the Israelites
declined, and preferred to just be told, 2nd hand, about God. You can sit in this classroom listening
to me; you can listen to Christian tapes, music and teachings, or go to Churches and religious
seminars, until the cows come home, and hear all about God; but none of that is a substitute for a
personal experience with Him. Further, we can accept the bumper-sticker theology that Walter J.
Kaiser, Jr. speaks of whereby a short list of shorthand doctrines are what we learn in our religious
institutions; or we can diligently study the Lord’s Word…actual Holy Scripture… and gain so much
more understanding. We can get God 2nd hand or 1st hand…..it’s our choice.
READ CHAPTER 35 all
This begins the last of the 6 divisions of Exodus; the one Everett Fox calls “The Building of the
Dwelling”.
Moses, a veil over his face to filter out the visible radiance resulting from being in God’s presence,
assembles the whole community of Israel to announce to them all that Yehoveh had told him over
those two 40 day periods of time. As much as anything though, this formal gathering was to
commemorate the renewal, or better re-institution, of the covenant in a public way.
For a total of 80 days Moses had been getting instructions from God for Israel…..two times he
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ascended the Mountain for periods of 40 days each; coming down after the first period to interrupt
the Golden Calf catastrophe. It’s no wonder it took him years, and the help of some scribes, to
write down all that the Lord told Him.
Now it would have been the elders of Israel, the people’s representatives that assembled before
Moses to hear these edicts and affirm the renewal of the covenant. That was usual and customary
to have only the leadership present; and besides, there is no way Moses could have made himself
heard to 3 million people.
Let’s be clear: for many chapters Yehoveh has been instructing Moses on the specifications for
the Tabernacle, the furnishings, the ordination of the priests, establishment of certain festivals, and
more. NOW, however, the instructions are finally being passed along to the people of Israel and
actual construction is about to commence. And one cannot help but notice what the very first
instruction concerns: the Sabbath. We need to come to grips with God’s priorities; and if it is not
obvious to you by now that Sabbath is right at the top of the list, you either haven’t been here, or
you’ve not been paying attention.
In vs. 3, God’s command is that not only is Israel not to do ANY work on the Sabbath, but even
starting a fire is prohibited, at the expense of death. Why was starting a fire such an issue? The
only reason to have a fire was to either keep warm from a chilly evening, or to use it for some form
of work. They could keep warm in plenty of ways out in the Wilderness without fire; it simply was
not harshly cold where they were living. But a fire was needed for most types of work; for cooking,
for the metal arts, for concocting dyes for cloth, for baking earthenware, and a wide range of crafts.
For you physicists out there, notice what the essence of fire is: it’s the conversion of matter into
energy. Fire is a transforming force, and God was ordaining a state of stillness on Shabbat. The
ONLY authorized use of fire on the Sabbath was for sacrificing and the priests performed that
exclusively at the Tabernacle.
The idea, here, is that NO work, a complete rest AND dependence on God was to be observed on
Sabbath. Recall that the Hebrews were now living primarily on Manna. And that God instructed
them to gather double the amount of Manna needed on the day BEFORE the Sabbath so that they
could prepare it and have it ready and not have to gather or cook on Shabbat.
Hundreds of years late, Yeshua would tell his disciples to rest in him. We are to rest in, and depend
on, the finished work of God. It is the Sabbath that sets up this principle and gives us a model for
what this is trying to communicate. You see, in so many ways in the OT and the NT, we are shown
that our works, our efforts, to achieve a saving kind of righteousness before God is worse than
useless….its offensive. In fact when God provides the way, His way, for our holiness, it is THAT
which we are to rely on. We’re not to dismiss it and work towards our OWN way; we’re not to try
to use His way in combination with our work. We can never add to what God has done; to do so is
to diminish what He has done. A couple of chapters ago Yehoveh told Israel that the way to be holy
in His eyes was to observe the Sabbath; the Sabbath would clothe Israel in His holiness. He didn’t
give Israel a choice “B” or “C”. With the advent of Christ, the way to be holy in Yehoveh’s eyes is
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to have faith in Christ….and THAT trust and faith will be our holiness. Our human efforts to be holy,
to work our way towards holiness, are as filth to God. They can do nothing but pollute and defile
the ONLY means of holiness that He has provided. The Sabbath rest, and Christ’s rest, are one in
the same. And the one did not abolish, nor end, the other; nor is one a substitute for the other.
Beginning in verse 4, Moses calls for a contribution from the people of Israel to build the
Tabernacle and all associated items. Then we see an important theme play out through the rest of
this chapter: those who were WILLING and WISE were the ones who responded to Moses’ call for
contribution. The contribution consisted of two classes: labor and materials.
Verse 22 makes it clear that WOMEN were to be included in this effort. Men and women
alike…….EVERYONE of willing mind participated. While it was men, in this patriarchal society typical
of the times, that were the appointed leaders the men did not just sit and order the women around.
They worked with their hands, side by side with the women…..men doing crafts customary for males
of that era, women tending to crafts appropriate for females.
Now, from here, through Exodus 39, we’re going to move very rapidly, primarily just reading the
scriptures; because this simply repeats things we’ve already studied.
READ EXODUS 36
The people, who gave, gave so generously of their materials, that Moses had to command a halt to
the giving! They had collected more than enough. I like this. I really like it that Moses didn’t have
an endless list of things to do with the people’s money. God instructed what He wanted done, and
so Moses went to the people to collect ONLY what was needed. Not skimpy, but not more than
needed.
You know, the church is an imaginative and generous group of people. I can, and you can, imagine
wonderful things we suppose God would want done….almost without limit. But, when we consult the
Bible, it just doesn’t seem to work that way. Our sincerity, our goodwill, our energy, our viewpoint
of mercy and generosity, counts for nothing. We can do the most beautiful, kind, acts; but, as a
child of God, saved by Grace, if we’re not specifically led by God to do them, then what we do
carries no eternal value and is not done within the Kingdom we now belong…..the Kingdom of God.
It’s just another worldly work of man that will burn along with all the others.
Too much, particularly in wealthy America, our contribution is seen almost exclusively as money.
Here in Exodus, we see that it is our money AND our time that forms our contribution. Please don’t
think that I’m criticizing those who contribute money, but not time. If that is what you know God is
leading you to do, than by all means obey him. The Jews have a rather interesting view of what the
contribution of money to the Lord’s work is; they see it as frozen work. That is, your work, your
time, is represented and stored away within the value of the money your work earned. So, when
the time comes to give a contribution, and you give money, you are in essence giving work that
was stored away, frozen. But, above all, regardless of what our contribution is, it MUST be God
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appointed. Just as it says in Exodus, though, it is the WILLING and the WISE that listen to God and
do as He commands. God will appoint you to contribute from time to time; but He will NOT take it
from you. God will NOT instruct your church authorities to monitor your giving, cheering on the big
givers and laying guilt on the lax.
All that we give is a free-will contribution, today……just as it is here in Exodus. It is not a

sacrifice….that is, our giving is not part of the sacrificial system as most giving was in Moses’ day.
And, it must be given by YOUR will, not somebody else’s. Yet, it is the WISE man (and woman)
who obeys God when you hear Him calling you to contribute…..time, or money, or both.
READ EXODUS 37 all

Notice that as we’re given a play-by-play account of the building of the Tabernacle, which starts
with the dwelling structure itself. That is, just as with any construction effort, one begins with the
outer portion, and works its way into the interior. The final phase, of course, is to furnish the
completed structure. In earlier chapters, though, when God was giving Moses instructions, it was
the opposite. God’s instructions began with the furnishings, the innermost items, and worked its
way outward to the structure.
If we were to look very closely some of the detail is left out. The stress in this part of Exodus is on
the people actually doing God’s bidding, carrying through with God’s commands, rather than like
in earlier sections, when God was detailing the blueprints, the plans, on what WAS to be built.
Next week we will complete our study of Exodus.
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Audio Files MP3

Illustrations
Lesson 33 Chapters 38, 39, 49 End of Exodus
Beginning last week we have been reading of the actual construction of the Tabernacle; and the
reason we have not examined it all closely is because it is a repeat of the specifications given
much earlier in Exodus. Why this tedious repetition and not just some words stating that just as the
Lord had ordered it that is how Israel built it? Because we are speaking of the most important,
central, and holy item on the planet. The Sacred Tent has no rival; this is Yehoveh’s one and only
sanctuary on Earth. There is nothing like it, and only it’s later replacement, the Temple, is its
equal. Therefore excruciating detail is offered to demonstrate that every effort was made to
construct the Wilderness Tabernacle according to its blueprint.
READ EXODUS 38 all

About halfway through this chapter, beginning in vs. 21, we see that one of Aaron’s sons, a fellow
named Itamar, was in charge of accounting for all the materials used in making the Tabernacle.
But, likely, this is more than mere accounting; Itamar was also the historian. He chronicled the
building of the Tabernacle, and very probably was instrumental in assisting Moses in writing down
parts of the Torah.
In vs. 8 we’re given this curious information that “the mirrors of the women serving at the entrance
to the Tabernacle” were used in the making of the Brazen Laver for holding water. The mirror
effect of the water in the Laver is talked about in Solomon’s Temple era, and some scholars think
that these words about the use of mirrors was a redaction from a later time, in an attempt to bolster
a tradition whereby the women of Israel were commended for their special contributions of their
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mirrors. Mirrors were rare, expensive, and nowhere in the list of items God commanded the
Israelites to supply was there a mention of mirrors. So, the idea here is that certain pious women
went well above and beyond what was requested in giving up their extremely precious mirrors, as a
sign of their gratitude for what Yehoveh was doing in having a dwelling place built so that He could
be present among the Israelites.
Mirrors in that age were not made of reflective glass; rather they were highly polished disks of
copper or bronze that had been fitted with handles of varying materials. Since mirrors were
prohibitively expensive for all but the wealthier, the handles were of course made of expensive
materials like ivory.
We also get a record of impressive amounts of precious materials that was used in the construction
of the Tabernacle; about a ton of gold, a little less than 7000 lbs of silver, and a little more than 2
tons of bronze. So the precious metal alone weighed in at nearly 7 tons.
While I have described to you the weight of the various construction materials in pounds and tons,
in the Hebrew it was given in kikkars and shekels. The Hebrew kikkar is almost always translated
as “talent”. A talent was generally the largest unit of weight measurement of that era (just like in
America a ton is usually the largest unit of weight measurement in our era). A talent consisted of
3,600 shekels.
Not for about 8 centuries after this time did the use of coins come into play for the Israelites. When
coins finally did become common, the term shekel became the standard unit of Israeli money
(similar to the American dollar). But in the eras of Moses, Kings David and Solomon, and right on
up to the exile of Judah to Babylon, a shekel was NOT a coin; it was simply a unit of weight, like an
ounce. So until the Bible reaches the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, when we hear of a Hebrew
having to redeem a firstborn son for ½ shekel, for example, this was not a coin it was but a certain
measure of silver weighed out on a scale.

Chapter 39 recounts the making of the priestly garments. More to the point, it goes into detail about
the making of Aaron’s garment….the High Priest garment. Although we covered this a few weeks
ago, let’s take a few minutes to review his splendid outfit.
The multi-layered garment was made using yarns and cloth of colors that were particularly difficult
to manufacture, and therefore, were rare and expensive: blue, purple, and scarlet red. Chapter 39
spends most of its time discussing the outer, and most noticeable, pieces of the uniform; and
therefore begins with the ephod. The ephod was the piece that looked like an apron. Over the
ephod went the breastplate. Although the ephod and breastplate were two different pieces, they
worked together, and therefore typically the COMBINATION of the ephod and the breastplate were
simply called “the ephod”. The Breastplate was a square piece that had 12 precious and semi-
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precious stones arranged in rows and columns. Each stone had the name of ONE of the 12 tribes
engraved on it…..so all 12 tribes were represented on the Breastplate. The Breastplate was held to
the front of the ephod by means of two rings attached to the ephod, and it was worn on the chest,
over the heart.
Shoulder straps went from the front side of the ephod to a piece worn on the back. Where each of
these straps went over the top of the shoulders, a large onyx stone was affixed. The names of the
12 tribes of Israel were also placed on these two stones. While it is not absolutely stated in the
Bible, Jewish sages generally agree that the names of the 12 tribes were divided into 2 groups: 6
tribes of Israel were engraved on one stone, and the remaining 6 on the other.
There is much symbolism in these stones. The 12 stones, one name on each stone, worn on the
Breastplate indicates the individuality of each tribe, but by being grouped together also shows them
to be of one source, of one father, unified. The 2 large stones placed on the shoulders seem to be
prophetic that though, to God, Israel is one…..Israel will be divided. Some 400 years into the future,
upon King Solomon’s death, civil war will lead Israel to be split into Two Houses……Two
Kingdoms…..some tribes belonging to one house, the remainder belonging to the other.
The long outer garment, over which the ephod and Breastplate were worn, was solid blue. It
reached to about midway between the knee and ankle. This outer garment is usually called a robe.
All around the bottom hem were golden bells and pomegranates, which alternated. We’re told in
an earlier chapter that the bells were necessary in order that “the High Priest would not die” when
he was doing service in the Tabernacle. The bells were more than a decoration. In fact, later on in
the Temple era (the Temple was just a permanent Tabernacle), a rope was tied onto the ankle of
the High Priest when he went into the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur…..the Day of Atonement. The
idea was that the lower priests, who would be standing outside the Sanctuary, would listen for the
constant gentle jingling of the golden bells as the High Priest moved around, performing his
purification rituals; if the jingling ceased for any substantial period of time, then they would assume
that Yehoveh has likely killed the High Priest for some breach of protocol, and they would pull him
out with the rope attached to his foot. The logic for this procedure is understandable: ONLY the
High Priest can go into the Holy of Holies. Anyone else that might dare to venture would be struck
dead. So, if something happened to the High Priest inside, there was no way to remove him. Even
a quick appointment of a new High Priest wouldn’t help, because under no circumstance can a
High Priest handle a dead body…..not even a member of his own family. Incidentally, there is no
record, Biblical or otherwise, of a High Priest dying, and having to be dragged out of the Holy of
Holies by this rope.
Under the blue robe was a white tunic. It reached from neck to ankle. So far in chapter 39, all the
items listed were worn by the HIGH priest only. But, beginning with the white tunic, the remaining
garments were common to all of the priests, no matter their level of status or duty. The turban (a
head covering), sometimes called a mitre, although worn by all priestly levels did not include the
head plate that was exclusively for the High Priest. The head plate was a golden band with the
words “Holy to Yehoveh” engraved upon it.
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I would like you to take notice of how the chapter ends. The Tabernacle is completed. And, here we
have a very formal recounting of everything that the people made. While this may seem over-the-
top for us, these lengthy detailed repetitions of events fit a style and custom of that day. The
purpose is to declare to those members of Israel, who were present in the Wilderness, and for
posterity, that what they did was ALL that God had instructed, exactly as He instructed. And, they
are pretty pleased with themselves for having done it.
Now, we should also take notice of the parallels between this part of Exodus, the completion of the
Tabernacle, and the Genesis story of Creation. Since some of those parallels overlap chapters 39
and 40, let’s read chapter 40 before we discuss it a bit.

Israel has been gone from Egypt just a few days shy of a year. We really should be impressed by
the fact that this incredible Sanctuary complex, with its furnishings and the required priestly
garments, was completed in about 6 months. We know this is the time frame because it took a little
over 2 months for Israel to reach Mt. Sinai after leaving Egypt; then after a little time getting settled
Moses spent 40 days up on Mt. Sinai then he came down to attend to the Golden Calf rebellion,
and then went back up for another 40 day stay…..before the detailed blueprints were given by
Moses to the people in order that construction could begin. So Israel was at Mt. Sinai for 5-6
months when they began work on the Tabernacle.
Yehoveh tells Moses that on the 1st day of the 1st month they are to set up the Tabernacle and
consecrate it. This day is just a couple of weeks shy of Passover, the day they left Egypt. The
Hebrews operated on a lunar calendar. The New Moon was what they used to mark the first day of
each new month. The New Moon that was about to occur was not only going to be the 1st day of a
new month, it was also going to be the first month of a new year. So, by our reckoning, they were
to set up the Tabernacle on the 1st of Aviv (which is our March-April time frame). Now, understand,
this was the Hebrew religious event calendar year, NOT the Hebrew agricultural calendar year, not
the Hebrew civil calendar year, nor the Hebrew Regnal year (a Regnal year is how the length of
time a King held office was measured). And, they all existed simultaneously, and each began at
different times. This is why when people want to discuss with me calendars in regards to Biblical
events, I shy away from it, because it is a terribly complex that can only be dealt with in a fairly
extensive manner. There are no quick and easy to remember answers to those questions.
Now, even if their ancient, multiple calendar system seems hard for us to comprehend, understand
that it certainly made sense to the Hebrews. As an analogy, just look at our American calendar
system; we have our standard solar calendar year, that begins with January 1st, but we also have
a thing called the Fiscal Year, which a business can use to determine the 12 month cycle of income
and expenses for tax purposes. And, a fiscal year can begin any month a person chooses. Besides
that we have school years that vary from state to state, even county to county, and have no bearing
on calendar years OR fiscal years.
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Category: Exodus
So even though the erecting of the Tabernacle will occur on the 1st day of the 1st month of the
Hebrew religious observance calendar year, it is NOT New Years Day….it is NOT Rosh Hashanna,
which is the 1st day of the Hebrew civil calendar. Jewish New Year occurs on the first day of the
7th month of the religious event calendar year (fall, about our September). So, it was springtime
when the Tabernacle would be erected, and then consecrated, and put into use. In fact, the
construction and then consecration of the Tabernacle would occur just in time to use it as the
central feature for Passover, and then the Festival of Matza, which began on the 14th of Aviv. The
Tent is erected on the 1st of Aviv, and Passover will be just a day short of two weeks later on the
14th of Aviv.
Notice in verse 17 it says that the Tabernacle was erected on the 1st day of the 2nd year. That is
not a contradiction with what was said earlier. The “2nd year” is in reference to how long the
Israelites had been gone from Egypt. They were coming up on the first anniversary of their release
from Pharaoh’s grip……that is, the end of the 1st year, and therefore the beginning of the 2nd year
since they left. Are you with me? In Bible speak, the DAY Israel departed Egypt was the 1st day of
the 1st year. So, one year later is spoken of as either the last day of the 1st year, or, 1 day later, as
the 1st day of the 2nd year.
Beginning in verse 18, and continuing through verse33, we get a very climactic rundown of the
construction and consecration of the Tabernacle. It ends with the words “so Moses finished the
work”. The idea here is to bring us to a fitting completion of a task, the building of the
Tabernacle……it’s the end of a phase, which in turn readies Israel for the NEXT phase of God’s
plan for them, which is to begin their journey into the Promised Land.
The principle here is unmistakable: if you’re about to undertake a journey, then you must be
properly equipped. For the people of God, that means we MUST be equipped WITH God. And, that
was the whole purpose of the Tabernacle…that God might dwell WITH the Israelites. Once again
this brings us to St. Paul’s analogy that WE, as Believers, are God’s present day earthly
Tabernacles, or Temples…..God’s dwelling places on earth.
Once the Tabernacle was built in the midst of the encampment of Israel…..the tribes all carefully
arranged around the Tabernacle…..that temporary tent where God was meeting with Moses (the
one that was built OUTSIDE the encampment) would have been de-commissioned.
And, in verse 36, we are given the signal that Yehoveh will give Israel each time He is ready for
them to move on, and take the NEXT step towards His goal for them…..the Promised Land; the land
that was promised to Israel’s great ancestor, Abraham. And, the signal to break camp is the lifting
upward of the cloud of Glory that hovered above and upon the Tabernacle. To reinforce the
instruction, the negative is also given; that is, if the cloud does NOT go up, then they are to stay
right where they are.
This Exodus episode ends with another God-principle: when God wants you to move, He’ll show
you. All of Israel saw the cloud and knew the signal. All of Israel knew when it was time to move on,
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Category: Exodus
and time to stay put. This is a very visual parallel to the condition of the church-era believer, who is
indwelled by the Holy Spirit. God is not going to tell ME to tell YOU when its time to move. Oh, He
might use me, or your spouse, or someone else to encourage you, or to confirm to you something
He has been telling you. But, just as Yehoveh did for Israel, He’ll show each of us, one-on-one,
His will for our lives.
I’d like to conclude our study of Exodus by examining those parallels between the Creation Story
at the beginning of Genesis, and the building of the Wilderness Tabernacle.
Scholars, for quite some time actually, have noticed that beginning in Exodus 25:1 and ending in
Exodus 31:11, these verses are divided into 6 very apparent units. When viewed in the original
language, Hebrew, each of these distinctive units, or sections, is marked at its beginning by the
words, “Yehoveh said to Moses…..”. Immediately upon the completion of the 6th unit, we find a 7th
unit is introduced; and the subject of this unit is the Sabbath instruction.
It cannot be coincidental that the story of Creation tells of 6 days of “works”, and then a 7th day of
completion and rest, just as is the pattern for constructing the Wilderness Tabernacle. Here we
have emphasized the never-ending nature of the Sabbath, its connection to the 7th day, the
holiness intrinsic to it, and the ceasing from our works that is central to its meaning.
If one compares the Creation Story to the building of the Tabernacle, we see a very similar
structure and use of phrases. For instance, upon God’s completion of His creation, the Bible says
that Yehoveh “saw all that He had made, and found it very good”. In like pattern, upon completion
of the Tabernacle, Moses looked it all over and pronounced it completed, in accordance to God’s
plan. That is, the construction of the Universe and the construction of the Tabernacle both
represent God’s vision precisely brought into existence.
Another invaluable connection to observe in the similarity between the Creation and the building of
the Tabernacle is that Creation…..our Universe…..consists of 4 dimensions. Three of these
dimensions (length, width, and height) make up what we call “space”, and the 4th dimension is
time. Our Universe consists ONLY of these 4 dimensions. The Tabernacle enshrines the sacred
nature of space, and the Sabbath enshrines the sacred nature of time. Therefore the Tabernacle
together with the Sabbath is a monument to the Creation and the Bible will make this connection a
number of times.
Now, Moses certainly did not look over all that had been built and use God’s pronouncement that
“it was exceedingly good”…..that would have gone too far. For this dwelling and its furnishings had
been manmade, accomplished by human hands, even though it was God-ordained. It was a
SHADOW of perfection…..a shadow of God’s spiritual dwelling place in Heaven; but, while it strove
for perfection, it was NOT perfection as was the World that moment after God created it, and then
rested.
Yet, the intent was for the Wilderness Tabernacle to represent a piece of Heaven on earth. A Holy
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Category: Exodus
Place. And, when we get into Leviticus, we will see that the primary purpose of the sacrifices and
rituals was to protect and maintain, and at times repair, the relationship of holiness between God
and Israel.
We also find that the Tabernacle was erected on the first day of the first month of the New Year.
This, too, corresponds to the Creation narrative; that is, Creation marks the first day of the first
month of the first year in the history of history. Physical life had never before existed. After the
completion of the Tabernacle NEW life officially began with God now dwelling among His newly set
apart people. A whole new chapter in the Human Race had begun. Even more we see this same
pattern had occurred when God destroyed the world by flood; it was on the first day of the first
month of the new year that the earth was finally dry.
The 1st of Aviv, the Hebrew religious calendar’s first day of the New Year, is all about creation and
regeneration. And, it is accomplished, as is all else in the Bible, in a dual manner: spiritually AND
physically. Just as the Wilderness Tabernacle was a PHYSICAL earthly model of Yehoveh’s
SPIRITUAL dwelling place in Heaven, so is the Sabbath a spiritual concept with a physical
counterpart.
The Israelites were to PHYSICALLY rest after 6 days of work; Believers are to SPIRITUALLY rest
in Messiah, AS WELL AS physically rest on the 7th day, a day of holiness.
Was Moses right? HAD all that God ordained to make His earthly dwelling place acceptable to Him
been accomplished? Apparently. Because in vs. 34 we are told that the Glory of God, what would
later come to be called the Shekinah, filled the Wilderness Tabernacle….the Dwelling. And, vs. 35
tells us that due to God’s presence filling up the Dwelling, Moses could not enter it. So, since
that’s the case, how is it that shortly, with God’s presence still in the Tabernacle, that Moses
WOULD be able to enter it? Well, for the moment, Yehoveh was just stretching His legs. He was
occupying every area of the Tabernacle…..both the Holy Place, the front room of the Tabernacle,
and the Holy of Holies, the back room of the Tabernacle. But, soon, He would withdraw to
exclusively the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant with its Mercy Seat rested, and from
that point forward He would occupy only that portion of the Tent. THEN, Moses would be able to
enter.
Thus ends the book of Exodus; next up, Leviticus and the complex and all-important sacrificial
system that God has ordained for Israel.
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Old Testament Studies

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Genesis is often called the Book of Beginnings…….that’s “beginnings” ending in an

Roman historical records.

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Let’s read Exodus 1.

READ EXODUS 1 all

Anyway, let’s continue in Exodus.

Next week, we’ll begin Chapter 2.

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Lesson 3 Chapters 2 and 3

READ EXODUS 2 all

Let’s move on to Exodus chapter 3.

READ EXODUS 3 all

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Lesson 4 Chapter 3 continued

Let’s re-read part of Exodus chapter 3 to refresh our memories.

READ EXODUS 3:1 - 12

Let’s re-read a little more of Exodus 3.

Re-READ Exodus 3:13 - END

Next week, we’ll begin chapter 4.

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READ CHAPTER 4 all

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READ EXODUS CHAPTER 5 all

bricks, than more.

Let’s continue the story in chapter 6.

READ EXODUS 6 all

than He did to Moses’ ancestors…… Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Next week we’ll begin chapter 7.

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The Lord’s response to Moses is what begins Exodus chapter 7.

READ CHAPTER 7 all

saved. Well, Pharaoh believed, didn’t he?

READ EXODUS 8 all

This is a good place to end our lesson this week.

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Lesson 8 Chapters 8 and 9

Let’s move on to chapter 9.

READ CHAPTER 9 all

Next week we’ll get into chapter 10.

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Lesson 9 Chapters 10 and 11

READ CHAPTER 10 all

READ CHAPTER 11 all

Let’s stop here and we’ll pick up next week.

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