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In this parashah we read that Pharaoh tells the Hebrew
midwives to kill all the new born sons of the Jews? Why
do you think he directed this only at the male infants
and not the female? It was always understood that the
lineage for the next generation would come through the
male. Pharaoh in trying to destroy the Hebrew race knew
that that the girls would grow up, marry Egyptians men
and be integrated into their peoples. A simple solution
to destroying the Jews! Isn't it sad that the modern Judaism
has accepted this as well? When the Rabbis changed halachah
where being Jewish comes through the mother and not the
father, they have unwittingly destroyed more than half
the Jewish population. They are doing what they think
is right but miss the point. Anytime we change the Word
of God, we suffer the consequences.
Satan's
ultimate goal is to destroy the Jewish people. The verse
in Genesis 3:15 "And
I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your
seed and her seed; he shall bruise you head and you shall
bruise his heel…" is clearly a messianic
prophesy. The Messiah would come from a woman. The enmity
here is between the woman and Satan. If the woman is completely
lost within a foreign culture, the end of the Jewish people
has been accomplished and Satan has won.
At
the time of Ezra, all marriages to the gentile women were
disavowed (Ezra 9:1-15). He did not want the Jewish children
to grow up under the influence of the pagan culture of
those women. Pharaoh knew the Jewish identity would be
completely lost if the Jewish girls would be raised as
Egyptians and then married Egyptian men. His plan however
was thwarted by the midwives who feared God more than
they feared Pharaoh.
Keeping
our Jewish identity means following G-d's leadership.
If we as a people are lost in the sea of the gentile world,
then we unknowingly make G-d a failure; thus proving that
G-d does not keep His own Word. Being a Jew is not a matter
of race or position; it is by G-d's design. He has opened
His loving arms to welcome into Israel all those who have
the desire to enter in. G-d teaches that Israel is to
be a light, a door or even a window through which the
rest of the world can come in and be a part of the people
of G-d.
In
this parashah, Moshe Rabbeinu becomes the mediator between
G-d and Israel. The "Moses redivivus" or Moses
revived has been coined to describe the person who would
be the second Moses, another liberator for our people.
We as Messianic Jews believe that Yeshua our Messiah fulfilled
that purpose. Several years ago I wrote a paper "The
Calling of Moses-Our Calling" in which I
draw a comparison of their lives. We can see that Yeshua
and Moses had many things in common. Moses was called
the humblest man in the world; he was a friend of G-d;
he lost his temper when he struck the rock in the same
way as Yeshua lost his at the clearing of the temple.
No other human being had the relationship that Moses had
with G-d other than Yeshua (Numbers 20:1 ff &. Matthew
21:12-17)
Moses
was a reluctant leader. He tried over and over to tell
G-d to use someone else instead of him to do the job which
G-d had called him to do.
How
does this apply to our lives today? How many of you who
are called to be leaders are reluctant to step into the
place to which he has called you? If G-d has given you
a special gift and you are not using it, there will be
consequences in your life. "To whom much is given,
much is required."
In
order to grow as leaders it is important to understand
that we all need to accept constructive criticism from
one another. We must always be ready to examine ourselves
and be open to what is said. It is better to receive the
truth from a friend than the kisses of an enemy (Proverbs
27:6). When we make a mistake, let us learn from them
instead of making excuses for our behavior. What good
does it do to mistreat the person who is bringing you
this constructive criticism? Moshe always humbled himself,
even when under attack and we need to be like him.
It
takes courage to tell each other things which we need
to hear to grow in our walk with G-d. It also takes courage
and humility to accept them from others who tell us out
of their love for us. When we speak strong words to our
children and discipline them, it is not because we hate
them; it is because we love them. If you do not love them,
you wouldn't bother at all with them. It is time to stop
finding excuses for our behavior even though they may
be unconscious. It is time to serve G-d fully.
The
walk in the desert with Moses is like our walk with Messiah.
We all start out as little children, crying and complaining;
then we get to our teen-age years of rebellion where we
want to run away from G-d. When we finally arrive as adults
to the Promised Land we know that the only way to survive
is by clinging to Messiah. In the next weeks we will read
of the different stages from mountain top, down and at
the end that we are so much better because He is with
us. He continues to show us that if we are not trusting
in Him we will live in fear. We are living in a world
where terrorism is the word of the day. The goal of terrorism
is exactly what it says…to cause terror in the hearts
of people. Remember that perfect love casts out all fear
(1 John 4:18) so let us walk with G-d throughout our days,
cling to Messiah and not to allow fear to be a part of
our lives.
May
G-d add blessings to His Word!
Rabbi
Percy Johnson
Netanel
ben Yochanan
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[b lantn
©
2008 Use by Permission
Kehilat
She’ar Yashuv
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