B. Scott 12/28/13 Va era 2013 Va era / And I Appeared, taken from Exodus 6:2-9:35, covers the first 7 of the 10 plagues upon Egypt (1. Water turned to blood 2. Frogs 3. Gnats 4. Flies 5. Pestilence upon the livestock 6. Boils 7. Hail and fire). Of this 7 there s a additional separation because the 1 st 3 fall upon Israel (Goshen) and Egypt alike. 1 Peter 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of Elohim: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of Elohim? If this is the pattern for you and I, it then would seem once again the house is going to have to endure some shaking. Yet we re reminded in Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love Yah, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Exodus 16:2-3 *What s the difference between appearing as El Shaddai (God Almighty) and being known as Yahweh? Appeared: Strong s #7200 ra ah ר א ה to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider, to let oneself be seen, to present oneself in order to be gazed at intently Gematria = 206, same value as dabar ד ב ר the promised Word or plague/pestilence; the way He first reveals Himself is directly connected to the dabar/his Word/Torah! (John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ). Depending on what they choose to do with the Dabar, whether they see and inspect it as its presented to be gazed at intently and realize its worth or choose to ignore it determines whether it becomes a promised Word or a plague and pestilence! God Almighty: Strong s #7706 El Shaddai א ל ש ד י almighty, most powerful; but a more accurate translation would be the self sufficient one, He who is more than enough Gematria = 345, same value as the phrase elohim acharim אחרים אלהים other gods *Previously, He revealed Himself as El Shaddai (the one who is sufficient, more than enough) and they were given the dabar/his Word! He presents Himself to be gazed at, inspected, and considered by His people, a test for them to see if their faith is really in Him! Is He the one that is sufficient for them? They then had the choice (as do you and I) to trust in Him or look to another! *While here in Egypt, they have went after elohim acharim other gods, forsaking the one their forefathers trusted in and worshipped as El Shaddai! Know: Strong s #3045 yada י ד ע to know, to be revealed, to be perceived, to know by experience, to be taught, an intimate term as in how a husband would know his wife Here it is conjugated as noda ti נו ד נודעתי (#5110) to shake, wander, waver, move to and fro, to be agitated, always carries with it the sense of being removed from the presence of 1
Yahweh; its connected to the ע ת י (#6261 ittiy) fit, ready to stand, refers to someone prepared and waiting to perform a task, timely, ready, this term is used only in Leviticus 16:21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: *It s been established that they have rejected El Shaddai and went after elohim acharim/other gods. Their punishment now requires them to wander (as a fugitive/vagabond), away from the presence of Yahweh! They re about to be sent into the wilderness much like the scapegoat! Yet we re being reminded that there is a fit man ( ittiy) who s ready for the task at hand (ready to lead them), whose hand they can in turn choose to be led by (a reference to the Messiah!). *On their own, they can t restore their access to El Shaddai s presence, but if they ll look to the ittiy/the fit man, there s a redemption that s available! In order to achieve that level of intimacy likened unto a husband and wife, it would require Israel to be agitated, shaken, they would have to be moved from their current place of complacency, and then they would be able to yada know Him! Yahweh: י ה ו ה Strong s #3068 the existing one; the roots infer the one who is, the absolute and unchangeable one, the existing/ever- living, the one ever coming into manifestation, He will be, He will approve Himself (give evidence of being, assert His being), this name connects us to Yahshua the manifestation, the evidence of Yahweh in the earth! *From #1961 hayah ה י ה to be, become, exist, come to pass, but can also infer to be to any one, to be a possession or to be intent upon anything, to desire or rush headlong after because of their sin and rejection of Him the law dictated that they would wander and be outside His presence, but He reminds them that He is Yahweh, in other words He s about to assert His being in order to possess them, make them His, His desire and what He is rushing headlong after is His Bride, Israel, and because of that, Yahshua pays the price of our sin to bring us back from our wandering! In this opening passage, 4x s the statement is made I am Yahweh (Exodus 6:2, 6, 7, & 8). 4 a door (John 10:7, the attention is being directed to the fact that there s a way back), it s,ד = also the number associated with division; there s about to be a division between Israel and Egypt, this division comes from who do we look to for our source, in who do we put our hope and trust? What is Israel s response to this challenge that s being issued? Exodus 6:9 And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel: but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage. 2
Anguish: Strong s #7115 qotser ק צ ר shortness, impatience, anguish; from #7114 qatsar to be short, impatient, vexed, grieved, to reap a harvest, a reaper (*Could it be that ק צ ר they were too busy reaping the harvest/benefits of Egypt that they didn t listen?); this term can also mean to be shortened, to cut off, as in making the statement my hand is too short, short of arm, used of a feeble person. *In other words they now viewed His hand (the hand of Yahweh, El Shaddai) as being too short to deliver them! The same issue follows Israel into the wilderness as well Numbers 11:23 And Yahweh said unto Moses, Is Yahweh s hand waxed short/qatsar? thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not. In Numbers, this statement was made following on the heels of Israel s rejection of the Manna (Dabar), and their desire for flesh: Strong s #1320 basar ב ש ר flesh; from #1319 basar ב ש ר good news, to bear news, preach, show forth; it s a wordplay reminding us that they had rejected the good news of the Torah (that same Torah would be made flesh in Yahshua, and it was this that was the good news to be shown forth the one who was the door that came to redeem), they loathed the Manna! Once again falling into the category of one who believed the arm of Yahweh to be feeble, too short, and unable to provide. *Notice the connection, when we reject the dabar (Torah/Manna/His Word), then we re susceptible to looking elsewhere for our source, and we wander longer in the wilderness because we ignore the very one that can lead us out! Now let s focus on the 3 plagues that Israel was shaken with! 1. Water turned to blood (Exodus 7:17 25) River: Strong s #2975 ye or י א ר Nile, river, stream, or canal; in the Hebrew it forms a play on words with owr או ר light; light, word, and seed are all synonymous; to the Egyptians the Nile represented their god Hapi, his followers worshipped him even above Ra, without the sun they d have darkness but without the Nile they would have perished. He represented the provider of food and water and nourishment. He was represented as a man with female breasts indicating his powers of nourishment. *It s the counterfeit of El Shaddai the 2 letter root is ש ד breast, inferring that Yahweh as El Shaddai was the many breasted one, literally the one who could nourish and sustain! Streams: Strong s #5104 nahar נ ה ר stream, river; from #5102 nahar נ ה ר to shine, beam, light, burn, to give light; נ = seed & הר = mountain, also the 2 letter root of the term harah meaning pregnant 3
Ponds: Strong s #98 agam א ג ם pool, troubled pool; gematria = 44, same as yeled י ל ד to birth, bring forth, travail; also the same as Yahweh Chai/Yahweh lives Pools: Strong s #4723 miqveh מ ק ו ה hope, expectation, the term describing the ritual bath of purification needed after someone had been niddah *The message wrapped up in this first plague dealt specifically with His people being made unclean/niddah because they had accepted another seed/a false light, another source other than El Shaddai for their nourishment and provision! So their light turns to blood marking them as being in a niddah/unclean condition with no way to cleanse themselves (miqveh), no hope, unless they chose to proclaim and realize that Yahweh lives He is the sustainer and the true source! = י seed; = open womb, one accepting מ water; מ י ם o Water: Strong s #4325 mayim hand of Yahweh; ם = closed womb, one rejecting seed The hand of Yahweh that was believed to be too short and feeble now begins to divide between those that will accept the His seed and those who will reject it! 2. Frogs (Exodus 8:2-6) Frogs: Strong s #6854 tsephardea צפרדע frogs From #6852 tsaphar צ פ ר to depart early, can also mean to go in a circle, to leap or to dance (*In Hebrew wedding customs the Bride circles the Groom, the circle represents something eternal, never ending); its connected to the root דע (#1843) knowledge, comes from the root yada י ד ע to have intimate knowledge gained through experience. It becomes the reminder that Israel, His Bride, has forsaken/departed from Yahweh, and is now encircling another, gaining intimate knowledge and experience of another husband. *To the Egyptians, the frog represented the goddess Heqet who was a goddess of fertility, childbirth and creation. Her servants would have been trained as midwives! *These midwives become the direct opposite of the Hebrew midwives Shiphrah and Puah who taught the knowledge of the Torah, essentially teaching Israel to revolve their lives around the truth of the Torah, the Word of Yahweh, which is eternal and never ending, the dabar that would either be their source or their pestilence! In Revelation 16:13, 14 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. *Once again the frogs are connected with the other knowledge/words that go forth, and whichever one we circle around determines whose camp you re gathered to! 3. Lice (Exodus 8:16-19) 4
This plague becomes unique because it s the first one that the magicians of Egypt are unable to duplicate, and it is the last one Israel is affected by! Lice: Strong s #3654 ken כ ן lice, gnats; from #3661 kanan כ נ ן root, support of a tree, shoot, stock, to cover, protect, and defend *The gnats came from the dust of the earth (dust of the earth is a symbol of dead seed/no life, Adam apart from the redemption of Yahweh would return unto the dust, the serpent consumes the dust), yet could the message of this plague be reminding Israel that the intent of Yahweh was to cover, protect, and defend them (kanan), redeem them from the dust by way of the shoot/tree that would grow from the stem of Jesse Messiah, the one who was fit and ready to lead them on their trek through the wilderness? *This was an attack on the Egyptian god Geb, god of the earth, who was often portrayed as laying on his side on the earth, a counterfeit of the Messiah who would be laid out in the earth in order to redeem man from the dust! But the Egyptian magicians couldn t copy this! There was only one fit sacrifice who would lay down His life, no other could redeem man from the dust. Exodus 8:19 Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God *Later in Exodus 31:18 Moses is given two tablets of stone (the Torah) written with the finger of God, providing for us another beautiful shadow picture of how the one that would redeem man from the dust by laying on his side as the sacrifice would be the WORD made flesh, the one written by the finger of Elohim! o Same Hebrew idiom is used in Luke 11:20 But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you. Yahshua was reminding Him that He was there to redeem them, He was the fit man who would become the sacrifice, the one written by the finger of Elohim! 5