The name of our portion of the Torah is Shemot – Names – referring to the names of those first Jewish people who went down to Egypt in the time of Joseph. It also is the title of this second book of the Bible.
The Jewish people are now in the incubator of Egypt. We will be there for some 400 years. Chapter 1 records the fact that we had now been in Egypt for many years. And, a new Pharaoh came to power who did not remember Joseph, and the way God used that great man to save Egypt during the great famine, and instead of showing gratitude, and treating our people well, Pharaoh and the Egyptians mistreated the Chosen People.
They did not understand that God was revealing Himself to the nations of the world through this special people, and had chosen us to be a blessing to the nations, and the nation that blessed us would be blessed, and the nation that cursed us would be cursed.
They didn’t know God, and they ignored their history, and made a terrible decision to enter into a conflict with the Chosen People. After all, they were bigger and stronger, and had many gods – they could do what they wanted.
So they enslaved us, and made our lives bitter by slave labor. We built some of the storage cities of Egypt. But the more they persecuted us, like the Church, the more we were persecuted, the more we multiplied! Don’t be surprised if Christians and Messianic Jews are afflicted even here in the United States; and if that happens, the Church is purified and grows.
The conflict escalated. Jewish children were multiplying and were not convenient. They might cause problems when the grew up. Rather than allow these innocents to live, the Egyptians decided it was better to kill them. The Hebrew women who were in charge of helping the other women give birth were instructed by Pharaoh to kill all the Jewish sons. Within a generation, with no sons, the rest of the Jews would assimilate.
But these women feared God more than man. They understood that the unjust laws of men, unrighteous decrees that allow for the murder of children, must not be obeyed. The righteous laws of God must overrule the wicked decrees of men, and the righteous must not cooperate. Civil disobedience is called for. So, they defied Pharaoh. God blessed them, as He will ultimately reward all those who chose righteousness over wickedness.
The conflict escalates further. A decree is issued to all the king’s people to kill all the Jewish sons that are born. This is one of the first satanic attempts to destroy the holy people, the nation chosen to know God, and bring the truth about God and salvation to the other nations of the world, who had fallen away from God, and were without salvation, without hope, and without God in the world. This is the one of the first attempts by the god of this world, using the powers that be, to destroy the Chosen People, and it will not be the last.
But, the God of Israel, the true God, the great Creator of men and angels, will show Himself stronger than the god of this world. Israel will be seen to be stronger than Egypt, and righteousness stronger than wickedness. The God of Israel will demonstrate to the Egyptians, and to the entire world, for all generations, His superiority.
Chapter 2 records the birth of one of the very greatest men who ever lived – Moses. Son of Abraham through Levi, Prince of Egypt, great prophet, priest, leader, deliverer of the Jewish people, warrior, poet and writer of some of the Psalms, lawgiver, legislator, author of the foundational part of the Word of God. Instead of being thrown into the Nile and killed, through the providence of God he is spared death, and found by Pharaoh’s daughter. He is adopted by the family of Pharaoh. The first 40 years the savior of the Jews will be provided for and raised and trained in the house of Pharaoh, and in the wisdom of the Egyptians, and given much of the knowledge that he needs to accomplish the great tasks God is calling him to do. The wise God knows how to use the resources of the wicked to accomplish his purposes of salvation!
Moses knows that though he is a prince of Egypt, he is also a Hebrew. Even though he is rich and powerful, and enjoys all the comforts of one of the mightiest nations on Earth, Moses makes a decision to turn his back on all the wealth of Egypt, and identify with his enslaved people. One day he sees an Egyptian mistreating an Israeli, and Moses sides with the Jew and murders the Egyptian. The deed becomes known, and Pharaoh wants to kill him, and so Moses has to flee for his life. He goes east to Midian, to a nation that comes from Abraham and his second wife Keturah. He marries Tziporah, the daughter of Jethro, the priest of Midian. They have a son, Gershom. Even though the father is Jewish, and the mother is not, there is no question that Gershom is a Jew. According to the Torah, Jewish identity goes through the father, as well as through the mother.
Chapter 3 tells us that Moses, a once mighty prince of Egypt, becomes a shepherd for the next 40 years of his life. He learns how to shepherd a flock. He learns the ways of the desert. One day he comes to Mount Horeb, also known as Mount Sinai, and sees a bush that is burning, but is not consumed. The Creator speaks audibly to Moses from the midst of the burning bush. The Lord calls Moses to return to Egypt. The Pharaoh that wanted to kill Moses has died, but the Chosen People are still suffering terribly, and it is time to bring them out of Egypt, and fulfill God’s promises, and bring this people into the land that God has reserved for them, and Moses is the man to do it. What an honor!
But, this is a daunting task and Moses is reluctant. But, the Lord answers all the objections of His reluctant prophet. Together, Moses and the Lord, who reveals His special name, the Yud Hay Vav Hay, based on the Hebrew verb “to be” – the God who is who He is, who always is, always has been, always will be, who has life in Himself, will bring the Jews back to this very spot!
It will not be easy. The conflict will escalate further. Pharaoh won’t allow the Jewish people to go unless he is forced to. And Adonai will force him using signs and wonders.
Moses is still reluctant to take up this daunting task. So, the Lord gives him the ability to do several miracles. His hand will turn white, and then back to normal color. His staff will turn into a snake, and then back to a staff. If he takes water out of the mighty Nile, and pours it on the ground, it will turn to blood.
Moses is still reluctant to go. He is not a good speaker. The Lord assures His reluctant prophet that the One who created mankind with the ability to speak will help him. But, Moses is still unwilling to go. The Lord gets angry, but will allow Aaron, the brother of Moses, to be his spokesperson.
Moses heads back to Egypt. But, leaders are held to a higher standard, and the one who will lead Israel needs to follow God closely. But, he had not circumcised his son and made him part of the covenant between the Lord and Abraham and his descendants. The Lord is about to kill Moses, until Tziporah does the circumcision.
Moses and Aaron return to Egypt. They tell the Jewish people that they are here to save them. The people are happy, happy about Moses and Aaron, happy about the promises of escape from Egypt, hopeful about the future, and they praise God!
Next comes one of the greatest confrontations of all time. Good vs evil, truth vs lie, God vs Satan, a prophet vs false prophets, the outwardly weak vs the outwardly strong, Israel vs the mighty Egyptian empire, a nation of slaves vs a free people. Moses and Aaron come before Pharaoh, and demand that Israel be released. The king refuses. He escalates the conflict, demanding that the Jews not only not be released, but have to work harder than ever; they have to do the same amount of work, and make the same amount of bricks, but now they have to supply and gather the straw to make bricks.
Things are worse for the Jews, and we get discouraged. We are angry with Moses and Aaron – and not for the first time. It’s not easy being God’s man, and being a leader. Do what the Lord wants and it may make your life, and the life of those around you, more difficult, but follow the Lord anyway!