Beware Pharaoh cometh
Shabbat Shalom Kol
Yisrael. It is our pleasure to present this week's Torah Parsha commentary by
Nazarene Yisraelite Rabbi T. (Mordecai) Mitchell, Rabbi and Rosh Zaken of B'nai
Yeshurun Nazarene Yisraelite Synagogue, Kittanning, Pa., and board member of the
Union of Nazarene Yisraelite Congregations. It is our sincere hope and prayer
that these commentaries encourage, inspire, and strengthen the body of Messiah
in Kol Yisrael. Our Parsha this week is B'shalach
(After he had let go) Shemoth
(Exodus) 13:17
17:16. Our Haftarah is Shophtim (Judges) 4:4
5:31. Our suggested Brit Chadasha readings are: Yochanan 6:25 35 and
Revelation 15: 1 4. Also, please read Tehillim (Psalms) 16 and 96.
* See announcement
at end of commentary regarding Tu b-Shevat
13:17 And it came to be, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that Elohim
did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, though that was
nearer, for Elohim said, Lest the people regret when they see fighting, and
return to Mitsrayim.
The simple lesson we
have here is that immediately upon our own personal deliverance from our Egypt
Yahweh will, for a time, protect us from the trials He knows that as new
believers in the faith there are things we cannot endure. HaSatan is waiting for
new believers and for those who may be weak in the faith, and Yahweh knows that
some people (not just new believers) are too weak in the faith or too
inexperienced to deal with many issues. From this we also learn that what seems
to be the most simple, easy and direct path, may not always be the best. We must
learn to follow the leading of Yahweh.
As we read through the
outset of this Parsha we see that Yisrael was led from Sukkot (Tabernacles) to
Etham. As we discussed last week, their first stopping place when exiting Egypt
was Sukkot. In past lessons we equated Sukkot as a place and time of learning
learning sound doctrine hearing right teachings. Now they journey from Sukkot
to Etham. The Gematria value of Etham (Aleph = 1; Tau = 400 and Mem = 40) is
441. Without belaboring the point one of many words or phrases with a Gematria
value of 441 is Emeth (truth) spelled Aleph, Mem, Tau, a simple transposition of
the last two letters. So from this we may uncover a hidden lesson; after Sukkot,
we can expect to be led in to truth. Can we see the hidden gem here?
(Yahweh willing, at our Pesach observance this spring we'll do a study
on the meanings of the names of the various stopping places of Yisrael on their
[long] journey to the Promised Land).
In Chapter 14 we see
that Moshe is forewarned that Pharaoh will once again harden his heart, and
pursue after Yisrael in hopes of bringing them back into captivity or perhaps
slaughtering them outright. And so, Pharaoh did indeed launch his
pursuit:
14: 6 So he made his chariot ready and took his people with
him.
7. And he
took six hundred choice chariots, and all the chariots of Mitsrayim, with
officers over all of them.
We may consider
Pharaoh's change of heart. The plagues suffered by the Egyptians are now past,
and just as quickly is the memory of the pain and misery they brought. Despite
all the suffering his stubbornness had brought on his own people, Pharaoh's ego
drives him to disregard the very real possibility of additional death and
destruction.
But an important lesson
here is that sometimes, no matter how converted we may be, no matter how
spiritual we may be or how far we have progressed spiritually, we can be like
Pharaoh. In spite of the trouble and pain we have endured because of our
wrongful past actions and deeds, we sometimes return to the same destructive
behavior patterns and go back to square one or even further into negativity.
The Apostle Kepha
(Peter) knew and understood this principle. He writes in 2 Kepha (2 Peter) 2:22
For them the proverb has proved true, A dog returns
to his own vomit, and A washed sow returns to her rolling in the
mud.
The point is this, when
we see a brother or sister fall to a serious sin, it is a grievous thing to us.
Of course, we may try to reason with them, we must admonish them, and we must
certainly pray for them. But when we see anyone, whether a believer or
otherwise, taken in serious sin, we must realize that we have the potential to
commit the same sin(s).
We read in 1
Corinthians 10:12 So that he who thinks he stands, let
him take heed lest he fall.
And in Mattithyahu
24:12 we read: And because of the increase of
lawlessness, the love of many shall grow cold.
Pharaoh's attitude,
that is to allow ego to forget the sins of the past and eventually return to
them, is a very real and present danger that we must constantly be on guard
against.
However, we must also
realize that as Israel journeyed toward the Sea of Reeds they had supernatural
protection. That protection was of course, the pillar of cloud and fire. It led
them in the way they should travel and it was a shield to them, protecting them
from the pursuing Egyptians. The cloud and pillar of fire was both a physical
and metaphysical wall of protection. It was quite real, very physical in every
sense of the word, and it was also deeply spiritual.
To those whom Yahweh
wished to protect, it provided not only an impenetrable wall that prevented
their enemies from seeing them, but provided light, warmth, comfort and
assurance, even on the darkest of nights. But to the evil minded Egyptians,
approaching the pillar meant certain death. In all, it was ...the Messenger of Elohim who went before the camp of
Yisrael... Shemoth 14:19
What is indeed amazing
is that several times in the Parsha, and indeed throughout Shemoth, the
Israelites are ready to give up and return to Egypt. Like the dog and sow
spoken of by Kepha, they are ready to return to wallow in the same misery they
cried out to be delivered from.
However, what we must
keep in mind is that B'shalach can mean simply ...to send
away As we have said numerous times before, each
Parsha gives us a certain power to overcome adversity or temptation or gain a
certain spiritual insight. Reading and understanding this Parsha gives us the
power and understanding to send away or banish ego and negativity. We can let
go of these traits the same as the Israelites were willing to let go of the
pseudo comfort and security of Egypt. However again, letting go means taking
action, positive action. It means doing, not just talking and wishing.
May Almighty Abba
Yahweh bless us all, b'Shem Yahshua Meshikaynu, as we seek to follow the pillar
of Light and leave our own personal Egypt and all its trappings.
Please tune in to the
Pal Talk Bible studies on Erev
Shabbat (Friday evening) at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and again on Shabbat
Day at 1 p.m. EST. Go to Pal Talk, then click on Religion and
Spirituality' then on (the unfortunate designation of)
Christianity (Pal Talk has no
designation for 'Messianic' or
'Nazarene Yisraelite'). Then look
for the room B'nai Yeshurun.
All people of good will are welcome.
* This
Sabbath is Tu b-Shevat
(15th of the month of Shevat)
and known as the New Year of the Trees. Yahweh willing, this Erev Shabbat we will discuss the Scriptural and
mystical significance of trees as they are presented in Scripture on our
Pal Talk Bible study.
We are busy planning
for two upcoming events: the minor festival of Purim, and Pesach and the Holy
Days of Chag haMatzah. Those living near western Pennsylvania or able to travel
to our area may obtain additional details by e-mail at: yoel@windstreram.net or by writing:
B'nai Yeshurun Nazarene Yisraelite Synagogue, c/o
Mitchell's, 210 Garretts Run Road, Kittanning, PA 16201.
No phone calls please.
Our next regional
meeting is slated for Feb. 20. Please e-mail us for details.
Comments, questions or
criticisms of this commentary may be addressed to Rabbi Mitchell by e-mail: yoel@windstreram.net
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