- there are 70 faces to 
Post by alon on Dec 3, 2022 9:30:59 GMT -8
This Week’s Readings:
Parashah- Exodus 12:29-51
Haftara- Isaiah 21:11-22:4
D’rash: And now we get to the final, and most severe plague: the death of the firstborn of Mitzrayim. This could be seen as just retribution for the earlier slaying of the Hebrew children. However throughout this showdown between Pharaoh and Moshe’s God, not just the gods of Egypt have been attacked, but several Egyptian myths were invoked- the most serious of which was judgement by “Him-whose-name-is-hidden on this day of the slaying of the first-born.” Jonathon Perrin writing for ‘Ancient Origins” said:
“In the same Pyramid of Unas we have mentioned before, we read: “It is the king who will be judged with Him-whose-name-is-hidden on this day of the slaying of the first-born” (Unas spell 508, also in the Pyramid of Teti, spell 322). Centuries later, we read from the Coffin Texts that: “I am he who will be judged with Him-whose-name-is-hidden on this night of the slaying of the first-born” (CT 178, spell 573, ~2000 BC) and “this night of the slaying of the first-born, and this day of the slaying of the first-born” (CT 163, spell 136). As Mordechai Gilula, the scholar who first commented on these verses back in 1977, notes: “these passages are strong evidence that a mythological tale once circulated in which some or all of the first-born in Egypt – whether gods, mortals, or animals – were slain on a certain day or night. Such a myth may very likely lie in the background of the biblical account.””
So the Egyptians would have recognized this final plague from their mythology. Their judge, called “Him-Whose-Name-Is-Hidden” turns out to be in their minds our Shofet, Judge (Ps 75:7), the God of the Hebrews! What a shock this must have been to the already half-crazed people of Mitzrayim who had endured not only the other nine plagues; but they had seen their own gods challenged and bested one by one. Now this, the god whose name they did not know and whose judgement was so terrible turns out to be the God of a people they knew of as their slaves!
Pharaoh suggested this mythological application hen he said “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go?” Ex 5:2b.
Exodus 12:29-30 At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead.
- Isaiah 22:2 you who are full of shoutings, tumultuous city, exultant town? Your slain are not slain with the sword, or dead in battle.
Exodus 12:32 Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!”
Jewish tradition has it this is Pharaoh totally capitulating to Israel’s God. However this is not clear in the text. He could be saying “Bless me with your absence” or something similar. While this could be seen as capitulation itself, I think his capitulation is also seen in vs. 31: Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Up, go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as you have said. However ‘total’ capitulation would have looked more like Yule Brenner as Pharaoh in the movie classic when he slumped on his throne after his army was destroyed and said “Moses God IS God!”
Exodus 12:37 And the people of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand [אֶלֶף ‘eleph- thousand, or clan] men on foot, besides women and children.
It’s difficult to accurately peg a number here, as a “clan” could be any number in a family grouping as a subset of a tribe. If it literally means “thousand” here then 6000,000 Hebrew men, most of whom had wives and children, plus the elderly and the mixed multitude- you can see the problem.
Note this is one of the places Strong’s will get you in trouble, as it only says eleph means ‘thousands.’ However:
- Judges 6:15 And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.”
-- Strong’s here says אֶלֶף ‘eleph means “family,” and no mention of ‘thousand.’ And a family unit would make up a ‘clan.’
- If taken literally, 600,000 men could yield more than three million people. Yet:
-- Deuteronomy 7:7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples
-- Three million people is nowhere near the smallest of peoples. That many would have smothered any of the various peoples they had to conquer to enter the land.
Exodus 12:38 A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds.
God allowed these non-Hebrew peoples to leave with them. They would likely later convert to worship this God whose miracles they had only begun to see. As was mentioned in an earlier parashah, Judaism is more about who and how one worships and less about bloodlines. In fact:
- Exodus 12:48 If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it.
-- Here circumcision means more than just the physical act. My opinion it is also used alegorically for one whose heart has turned to the Hebrew God:
-- Romans 2:28-29 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.
Exodus 12:49 There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.”
This verse works two ways: first, it was unique in that it protected the sojourner just as it did the Hebrew citizen; and second (and most importantly) it applies to all men alike if they would be counted with the people of Melech ha’M’lechim, King of Kings (Rev 19:16). It enjoins all men to obey its’ precepts, especially if they claim the name of Menat Helqi, The Portion Of My Inheritance (Ps 16:5). Nowhere in scripture does it say “There shall be one law for you, and another for everyone else.” Nor does it ever say Yeshua either abolished Torah or that He gave anyone else the authority to do so. In fact, Yeshua Himself says:
- Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
No one in their right (thinking) mind could interpret this as “Jesus came to complete and do away with the Law,” as Christianity teaches. Then using the laws of substitution found in all logical societies, this would read:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to abolish them.”
In order to believe that, I believe one would have to worship “Him-Whose-Name-Is-Hidden,” because the God I worship clearly says His Torah that He gave to Moshe still remains in effect in the so called “New Testament Age.”
Mekorot: All scripture from the ESV unless otherwise specified; JPS Study TNK: D Prager: Dr Schaser of the IBC; Jonathon Perrin; my father and others
Next Week’s Readings:
Parashah- Ex 13:1-20
Haftara- Is 46:3–13
* Apostolic references will be given in the darashot
Parashah- Exodus 12:29-51
Haftara- Isaiah 21:11-22:4
D’rash: And now we get to the final, and most severe plague: the death of the firstborn of Mitzrayim. This could be seen as just retribution for the earlier slaying of the Hebrew children. However throughout this showdown between Pharaoh and Moshe’s God, not just the gods of Egypt have been attacked, but several Egyptian myths were invoked- the most serious of which was judgement by “Him-whose-name-is-hidden on this day of the slaying of the first-born.” Jonathon Perrin writing for ‘Ancient Origins” said:
“In the same Pyramid of Unas we have mentioned before, we read: “It is the king who will be judged with Him-whose-name-is-hidden on this day of the slaying of the first-born” (Unas spell 508, also in the Pyramid of Teti, spell 322). Centuries later, we read from the Coffin Texts that: “I am he who will be judged with Him-whose-name-is-hidden on this night of the slaying of the first-born” (CT 178, spell 573, ~2000 BC) and “this night of the slaying of the first-born, and this day of the slaying of the first-born” (CT 163, spell 136). As Mordechai Gilula, the scholar who first commented on these verses back in 1977, notes: “these passages are strong evidence that a mythological tale once circulated in which some or all of the first-born in Egypt – whether gods, mortals, or animals – were slain on a certain day or night. Such a myth may very likely lie in the background of the biblical account.””
So the Egyptians would have recognized this final plague from their mythology. Their judge, called “Him-Whose-Name-Is-Hidden” turns out to be in their minds our Shofet, Judge (Ps 75:7), the God of the Hebrews! What a shock this must have been to the already half-crazed people of Mitzrayim who had endured not only the other nine plagues; but they had seen their own gods challenged and bested one by one. Now this, the god whose name they did not know and whose judgement was so terrible turns out to be the God of a people they knew of as their slaves!
Pharaoh suggested this mythological application hen he said “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go?” Ex 5:2b.
Exodus 12:29-30 At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead.
- Isaiah 22:2 you who are full of shoutings, tumultuous city, exultant town? Your slain are not slain with the sword, or dead in battle.
Exodus 12:32 Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!”
Jewish tradition has it this is Pharaoh totally capitulating to Israel’s God. However this is not clear in the text. He could be saying “Bless me with your absence” or something similar. While this could be seen as capitulation itself, I think his capitulation is also seen in vs. 31: Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Up, go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as you have said. However ‘total’ capitulation would have looked more like Yule Brenner as Pharaoh in the movie classic when he slumped on his throne after his army was destroyed and said “Moses God IS God!”
Exodus 12:37 And the people of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand [אֶלֶף ‘eleph- thousand, or clan] men on foot, besides women and children.
It’s difficult to accurately peg a number here, as a “clan” could be any number in a family grouping as a subset of a tribe. If it literally means “thousand” here then 6000,000 Hebrew men, most of whom had wives and children, plus the elderly and the mixed multitude- you can see the problem.
Note this is one of the places Strong’s will get you in trouble, as it only says eleph means ‘thousands.’ However:
- Judges 6:15 And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.”
-- Strong’s here says אֶלֶף ‘eleph means “family,” and no mention of ‘thousand.’ And a family unit would make up a ‘clan.’
- If taken literally, 600,000 men could yield more than three million people. Yet:
-- Deuteronomy 7:7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples
-- Three million people is nowhere near the smallest of peoples. That many would have smothered any of the various peoples they had to conquer to enter the land.
Exodus 12:38 A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds.
God allowed these non-Hebrew peoples to leave with them. They would likely later convert to worship this God whose miracles they had only begun to see. As was mentioned in an earlier parashah, Judaism is more about who and how one worships and less about bloodlines. In fact:
- Exodus 12:48 If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it.
-- Here circumcision means more than just the physical act. My opinion it is also used alegorically for one whose heart has turned to the Hebrew God:
-- Romans 2:28-29 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.
Exodus 12:49 There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.”
This verse works two ways: first, it was unique in that it protected the sojourner just as it did the Hebrew citizen; and second (and most importantly) it applies to all men alike if they would be counted with the people of Melech ha’M’lechim, King of Kings (Rev 19:16). It enjoins all men to obey its’ precepts, especially if they claim the name of Menat Helqi, The Portion Of My Inheritance (Ps 16:5). Nowhere in scripture does it say “There shall be one law for you, and another for everyone else.” Nor does it ever say Yeshua either abolished Torah or that He gave anyone else the authority to do so. In fact, Yeshua Himself says:
- Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
No one in their right (thinking) mind could interpret this as “Jesus came to complete and do away with the Law,” as Christianity teaches. Then using the laws of substitution found in all logical societies, this would read:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to abolish them.”
In order to believe that, I believe one would have to worship “Him-Whose-Name-Is-Hidden,” because the God I worship clearly says His Torah that He gave to Moshe still remains in effect in the so called “New Testament Age.”
Mekorot: All scripture from the ESV unless otherwise specified; JPS Study TNK: D Prager: Dr Schaser of the IBC; Jonathon Perrin; my father and others
Next Week’s Readings:
Parashah- Ex 13:1-20
Haftara- Is 46:3–13
* Apostolic references will be given in the darashot
