| Shemot
Exodus 1:1-6:1
The Power of Respect
This weeks Torah portion covers the first six
chapters of Exodus. During these six chapters:
A new Pharaoh arises in Egypt. He makes a decree
to slay all male Hebrew children and the Levite
Moses is born. Moses is raised by Pharaoh's
daughter, but nursed by his original mother.
Moshe's true mother instilled within him, "that
he was a Hebrew, not an Egyptian and that the
God of the Hebrews was the LORD and God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob." After Moses was grown,
he saw an Egyptian flogging a Hebrew. He couldn't
stand to see the suffering of his brethren and
intervened by killing the Egyptian. This incident
caused him to flee from Egypt to Midian, where
he lived as a Shepherd for the next forty years.
One day, God called to him from a burning bush
and appointed him as Deliverer of His people
in Egypt. God gives Moshe signs to convince
him and increase his faith and trust in God's
sovereign power. God appoints Aaron, Moses brother
as an assistant and together with his family
they leave Midian for Egypt. Along the way God
almost kills Moses for his failure to circumcise
his son. Zipporah saves him. The portion concludes
with Moses and Aaron standing before Pharaoh.
There are so many exciting things one can comment
upon within these pages. One insightful event
was when Moses was asked to remove his shoes
while in the presence of God. One commentary
reads, "The correct path is always full
of thorns and rocks. When you wear shoes, you
don't feel them. Walk barefoot, however, and
you become sensitive to the smallest thorn or
pebble. That was the point God was trying to
get across to Moses. God told Moshe, who was
just about to become the leader of the Hebrew
people, to take off his shoes. The leader of
a nation must be sensitive to every emotion,
every problem that his people experience."
Another exciting event was when God revealed
His Name to Moses, "A God said unto Moses:
Y-H-V-H" I AM THAT I AM; and He said, Thus
shall you say unto the children of Israel: Yah-I
AM has sent me unto you." To Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob God revealed Himself as the Almighty
(El Shaddai) but to Moses as the "I AM."
The Y-H-V-H is known as the Tetragrammaton or
the ineffable name-The Holy Name of God. It
is also means, "The One Who Is, and Was
and Will Always Be." In John 8:58 Yeshua
reveals himself as the great "I AM--Yah."
And in Revelations 1:8, we see the Y-H-V-H and
El Shaddai (Shin) manifest as Yeshua says, "I
am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the
ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which
was, and which is to come, the Almighty."
Throughout these six chapters God is revealing
who He is and how He thinks-even through Moses.
For this weeks Torah Insight I chose Exodus
2:16-19. In these few passages we learn much
about Moses; including his sense of judgment
and respect for others. Let us take a brief
look into these verses.
After Moses fled Egypt, he found himself in
the land of Midian at the time when the daughters
of a Midian Priest were preparing to water their
father's flock. The seven daughters had labored
and already drawn water from the wells for the
troughs. After they had finished drawing the
water for their father's flocks, the Bible says,
"And the shepherds came and drove them
away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and
watered their flock. And when they came to Reuel
their father, he said: 'How is it that you are
come so soon to-day?" And they said: 'An
Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the
shepherds, and moreover he drew water for us,
and watered the flock.'"
Moses was not a respecter of persons and thus
was able to see clearly the circumstances surrounding
the daughters of Reuel. He reproved the shepherds
who were defrauding their neighbor by taking
advantage of his daughters and their labor.
Moses then restored to the women all that had
been taken from them-for it states that Moses
drew the water for them and watered the flock.
It is apparent that he wanted to redeem the
integrity of men and set an example for them,
as well as show his respect for the daughter's
hard work. Subsequently, Moses was granted favor
in Midian and chosen by God to be the one who
would deliver His own people from slavery.
How could an Egyptian Prince be so selfless?
Hebrews chapter 11:24 reads, "By faith,
Moses, when he was come to years, refused to
be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing
rather to suffer affliction with the people
of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for
a season; esteeming the reproach of Messiah
greater riches than the treasures of Egypt:
for he had respect unto the recompense of the
reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing
the king: for he endured, as seeing him who
is invisible."
Moses had "respect." Respect is one
the inalienable rights of mankind. An inalienable
right is, "something that cannot be taken
away be mere men; it is an endowment from God."
Our human rights are inalienable-and being treated
with "respect" is one of those rights.
Alexander Hamilton, a signer of the Declaration,
said they (human rights) are sacred, and part
of our natural rights. God made us a living
soul, with the ability to think, reason and
make choices. Hence our rights cannot be taken
away. America thought they were worth fighting
over-and so did Moses.
When one has "respect" for God and
His rewards, he respects God's commandments
and ordinances as well as His creation. He fights
for the "respect" of others. He cannot
sit idly by and see the "oppression"
of others advance. He must speak out! He must
Act! The Holocaust is one of the saddest examples
of the depravation of humanity and its lack
of respect towards mankind-Jew and non-Jew alike-very
few spoke and less acted. But, thank God for
all who did. Jesus said that all the commandments
are bound up in one commandment, "you shall
love your neighbor as yourself." We are
to respect another's possessions, time, advice,
authority, favor, and personal boundaries. We
show respect in both our speech (law of kindness),
our rebuke of those who are disrespectful, and
our actions towards one another.
It is said of Jesus in the book of Acts that,
"he healed all that were oppressed by the
devil." Jesus never sat by and let man
or the devil continue their oppression upon
mankind. He rebuked the Pharisees as well as
the demons. He delivered women like Mary Magdalene,
the Samaritan woman, and the adulteress. He
allowed women to minister to Him and one of
ill repute to anoint him. He also did likewise
for his disciples and all who followed Him.
No wonder the scripture says, "I will raise
up a prophet like unto Moses and Him shall ye
hear." Moses respected God, His rewards
and His creation. The Midian's were shocked
it was an Egyptian that delivered them. Yet,
he was an Egyptian that had slain the body of
his flesh (He slew a fellow Egyptian symbolizing
the death of the sinful/carnal nature), and
in turn responded as a "Hebrew-One who
stands on the other side."
Baruch BaShem Adonai,
Hadassah Johnson
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