Shabbat Midrash (Teaching) Outlines

• The second book of the Torah, Exodus, has us travel forward in time. From Yosef’s life, over 300 years have passed in the continued history of Ya’akov’s (Jacob’s) family, the Israelites.

• Sh’mot (Exodus) opens with the blessing that even though Ya’akov’s direct descendents have passed on along with that entire generation, their children were able to maintain their father’s identities. All 12 tribes were identifiable and unified all these years while they lived in Egypt. They did not intermingle with the Egyptians but kept set apart in their tribes. But the Egyptian influence was at work all around them. Scripture reports in Exodus 1:7 that “The Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous”.

• It is important to understand that the Hebrew name for Egypt is “Mitzrayim”, which means ‘to be hemmed in and besieged, troubled, and distressed.’ On a spiritual level it indicates the state of our world, where people are enslaved to a system, whether religious, financial, or political, that is killing them by keeping them separated from Yahweh. We were all born into a world that esteems mere things and human values over Yah’s principles, and many of His children have been tricked into believing that they are part of the system, and sadly, they become comfortable there. The Egyptians considered the Hebrews to be aliens, people who did not belong and they treated them so. But the Israelites continuously express regret to Moshe for having left the land of Egypt throughout the book of Sh’mot. This proved that the influence of the Egyptian or worldly system was a powerful force upon the lives of the Hebrews.

• As life within the Israelite camp flourished, Egyptian life came under the rule of a new Pharaoh, one who was not familiar with the past history of the Israelites or Joseph and his family. For no reason at all, the new Pharaoh began to focus his hatred toward the Israelites and devised ways to oppress them and bring them into servant hood to him. Soon we will see that even though Yahweh allowed the Pharaohs to play a role in history, it was His hand alone that delivered His people … at His appointed time!

• In B’resheet (Genesis) 15:13,14, Yahweh said to Avraham, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated 400 years. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.”

• The new Pharaoh began planning hardships for the Israelites to bring about cruelty and oppression. For a leader to do this, he would have had a very insecure background from childhood to adulthood. This leads to suspicion, and in turn to death. James 1:14,15 tells us, “But each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death”.

• In Sh’mot 1:9,10, Pharaoh began to manufacture suspicion in order to persuade the Egyptians to go along with his plans toward the Israelites. He mixed in a little jealousy and the stage was set for the delivery of Yah’s people. Pharaoh said, “the Israelites have become too numerous for us. Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies to fight against us and leave the country”.

• Even though the Israelites were a flourishing, fruitful and self-sufficient people, they had blessed Egypt through their economy and other ways but Pharaoh’s plan worked and soon the Hebrews were given Egyptian names and hard taskmasters were placed over them to oppress them. In their enslavement, the Israelites were forced to build the two cities of Pithom and Rameses.

• Pharaoh’s plan to enslave Yah’s people first unfolded as recruitment for public service. The second phase in Pharaoh’s plan was enslavement by hard labor by making bricks with mortar along with all kinds of field work that made their lives bitter. The third phase of oppression came by changing names from Hebrew to Egyptian to cause them to loose their identity. Phase four was the final solution; the killing of all male babies. The enemies of Israel have used these tactics throughout history. We have seen this in the pogroms, the Inquisitions and finally, the Holocaust.

• Because the Israelites were so fruitful and numerous, Pharaoh went after the children. In his book Devil Take the Youngest, Whitney Pratney talks about how the enemy seeks to woo the young people of every generation and eventually kill them. In Sh’mot 1:16 the scripture says, “When you help the Hebrew women in childbirth and observe them on the delivery stool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” It is here that we see Egyptian names being applied to the attending Hebrew midwives. The Rabbi’s believe that Shiphrah and Puah, the two midwives, are the Egyptian names of Yocheved and Miriam the mother and sister of Moses.

• The midwives feared Yahweh more than Pharaoh. Allowing the male babies to live soon had them standing before Pharaoh explaining their actions. They explained, “The Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.” Because of their courage and actions Yahweh blessed the midwives. The Hebrews continued to flourish, which made Pharaoh even more enraged, saying, “Every boy that is born you must throw into the river, but let every girl live.”

• Yah’s plans for the Israelites are about to unfold. He chooses a baby to carry out His great plan of redemption for all Israel. Moses’ life is prophetic of Yeshua’s life. Yeshua came as the kinsman redeemer for Israel and He came into this world as a baby. Yeshua, just like Moses, had his life threatened by a cruel ruler while he was yet an infant.

• Messianic Jews (Hebrews) 11:23 tells us that, “By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born because they saw that he was no ordinary child and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.” Moses’ parents were exceptional as well. Jachobed and Amram were from the tribe of Levi.

• Moses’ mother wove a basket to house him using pitch inside and out to keep the little ark afloat. The word for pitch is the same Hebrew word used for atonement (karph) meaning “a covering for sins”. She placed him in the ark and put him among the reeds along the bank of the Nile River. This child was not thrown into the river to drown, but was placed ‘on’ the water to be lead by the wind or Spirit of Yah. Just as Noah trusted his family into the care of Yah by placing them into an ark and allowing the Spirit of Yah to lead, preserving that small family, Yocheved placed Moses into an ark to preserve the whole nation of Israel, all twelve tribes. The Israelites were looking for a Savior. Moses became the forerunner of the Messiah. This ark preserved one who would redeem many, just as Messiah would become redeemer of the world with His sacrificed blood, the atonement that covered our sins.

• Moses was not hidden for long as Pharaoh’s daughter came to the river’s edge to bathe. Water is representative of change of status (or Mikvah) and when she does this, her eyes were opened and she saw a basket. The basket (ark) represents Torah. She had it brought near to her. We are to bring the Torah close to us to look into Yah’s teaching and instruction. There she saw one of the Hebrew babies (noted by his circumcision/represents Torah keeper). This baby would be the revealer of Yah’s Torah to the people and the prophet Moses who proclaimed the coming Messiah. We are to look into the Torah, which enables us to see the Redeemer of Israel, Yeshua. In Yochanan (John) 5:46 Yeshua said, “If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.”

• Miriam, Moses’ sister watches nearby and approaches Pharaoh’s daughter with the suggestion that she find a Hebrew wet nurse (one who would teach the child Torah). She ran and got Yocheved, Moses’ mother. Can you just imagine her joy at being reunited with her son and seeing the faithfulness of Yahweh! Yocheved took Moses and nursed him until he was old enough to be weaned and then she had to relinquish her son to Pharaoh’s daughter. He was called Moses, meaning “one who is drawn out”. Pharaoh, the great persecutor of the Hebrew people, now had the one who would deliver the Israelites from his wrath, living in his household.

Moses Flees to Midian

• When Moses was 40 years old, he witnessed one of his fellow Israelites being mistreated by an Egyptian and went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. Moses thought that his own people would realize that Yahweh was using him to rescue them but they did not. The next day Moses comes upon two Israelites who were fighting (representing the Two Houses of Israel, brother against brother). He tried to reconcile “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?” Does this sound familiar? Remember Yosef’s (Joseph’s) brothers asked him, “Do you intend to reign over us?” And like Yosef, Yeshua’s brothers were so jealous concerning the possibility of Him ruling over them that they plot his murder. When Pharaoh found out about the murder, Moses fled for his life to Midian.

• The Midianites came from the fourth son of Abraham by his wife, Keturah. They inhabited the desert north of the peninsula of Arabia. The peninsula of Sinai was the pasture-ground for their flocks. Being the dominant tribe, they were virtually the rulers of Arabia. A nomadic people, it was to one of their caravans that Yosef was sold.

• Arriving in Midian, Moses came to a well and sat down. We have learned through Avraham, Yitzchak, and Ya’akov that when we see stories of wells in scripture that they represent ‘Living Water’. Jethro, the priest of Midian had seven daughters. They are representative of the seven ‘ecclesia’ or churches mentioned in Revelation 1:11. Jethro at one time served in the courts of Pharaoh but became disillusioned with Pharaoh and left to reside in Midian and later recognizes the one true G-d. The gematria (Hebrew numerical value) of Jethro’s name equals the Hebrew word for “The Instruction”, which suggests that he had incorporated the Word of Yahweh into his life. Where did he learn it? His ancestor was Midian, son of Avraham.

• When the seven sisters try to draw living water from the well, shepherds (representative of false prophets) drive them away. It was Moses (representing Yah’s word/truth) who came forward to rescue the seven sisters (ecclesia) and water their Father’s flocks. This picture represents Yahweh’s flocks and the flocks represent His people. In these end-times, these Messianic times, it will be those who stand up ‘in Moses’ (Yah’s teaching given through Moses) who will be watering the Father’s sheep. Those are Yah’s true prophets today!

• As Moses was tending his father-in-law’s flock he saw a bush that was burning yet not consumed. As Yah got his attention, Moses approached and Yah called his name twice. He responded, “Here I am”. Yah tells him not to come any closer and to remove his sandals. Removing of the sandals is representative of the giving and receiving of the marriage covenant in Hebrew culture. Moses was about to enter into a covenant with Yah just as did Avraham, Yitzchak, and Ya’akov.

• When Yah informs Moses that He has heard the cries of the Israelites and that He is going to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and bring them into a land flowing with milk and honey, Moses must have said, “You go Yahweh!”. But when Yah informs Moses that He is sending him to be their deliverer, his entire countenance takes on a different look. He was not the least thrilled about this revelation and so he immediately lists five attitudes that would keep him (and us) from answering Yahweh’s call.

• 1) Exodus 3:11: Pride in the feeling of unworthiness. Moses said to Yah, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” Yah’s response: “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship Me on this mountain.”

• 2) Exodus 3:13: Fear of man. Moses said to Yah, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The G-d of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” Yah’s response: “I AM WHO I AM.” This is what you are to say to them: ‘I AM has sent me to you.”

• 3) Exodus 4:1: Fear of rejection. Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘Yah did not appear to you.” Yah has Moses to throw his staff on the ground and a snake appears. Then He has Moses pick up the snake and it turns back to a staff again. Then Yah has Moses put his hand inside his cloak and pull it out. It is covered with a skin affliction. Yah has him to put it back inside and it comes out well.

• 4) Exodus 4:10: Influence of previous experiences. Moses says to Yah, “O, Yah, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” Yah’s response: “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or dumb? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, Yahweh? Now go; I will help you to speak and will teach you what to say”.

• 5) Exodus 4:13: Need for a mandate from Yahweh. Moses said, “O, Yah, please send someone else to do it.” This is the last straw for Yah. Five represents grace and Moses has used up all of his. Yah’s response: He sends Moses’ brother Aaron to assist him. Yah says to them, “ I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do.”

• This same promise of Yahweh holds true for all of us today. Don’t allow any of these attitudes to hold you back from serving in the calling that the G-d of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Ya’akov has on your life. Take up the staff that Yahweh gives you and be obedient to His instructions, His Torah.

posted by Chris Phillips, Congregational Leader  # 1/20/2006