SERIES C --- EXODUS FROM BONDAGE --- LESSON 02
THE SHEPHERD PRINCE
BY A WELL IN MIDIAN
From Exodus 2:11-25
One day when Moses had grown to be a man, he went out among the Hebrew slaves and watched them toil under the hot sun. When Moses saw an Egyptian beating one of the Hebrew slaves, he became angry, looked about to be sure no one was watching, then killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand. The next day Moses returned and found two of the Hebrews fighting. [Why are you hitting one of your own people like that?] Moses shouted at the man who had started the fight. But the man snarled back at Moses, [who made you our prince and judge? Do you plan to kill me as you did that Egyptian?] Moses grew frightened, for he realized that he had been discovered. [Surely others know about this, too,] Moses thought. Soon Pharaoh heard what Moses had done and made plans to kill him. But Moses escaped from Pharaoh and ran away to the land of Midian, where he stopped to rest beside a well. The seven daughters of the priest of Midian often came to this well to water their father’s flocks. While Moses watched them arrive on this day, some shepherds came too and forced the girls away so that their flocks could get water first. But Moses drove the shepherds aside and helped the girls water their flocks. When the girls returned home to their father Reuel, who was also called Jethro, he was puzzled. [How did you finish so quickly today?] he asked. The girls told him what had happened. [An Egyptian rescued us from some shepherds and even drew water from the well to water our flocks for us,] they said. [But where is this fellow?] Jethro asked. [Why did you leave him there? Go find him so that he may eat with us.] When Moses had come, Jethro invited him to live there with him and Moses gladly accepted. In time, he married Zipporah, one of Jethro’s seven daughters, and they had a son. Moses named the child Gershom, which meant -- Foreigner, -- for he said, “[I am a stranger in a foreign land.] As the years passed, the king of Egypt died. But the people of Israel continued to work as slaves for the new king, groaning under their bondage and crying out for YHVH’s help. YHVH heard the cries of His people and remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. As He looked upon His people in their misery, He knew that it was time for YHVH to set them free.
COMMENTARY
HATSHEPSUT: WAS THIS THE PRINCESS?
Moses was educated as an Egyptian prince. But he never forgot his roots. The New Testament tells us that when he was grown up, he refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose rather to be mistreated along with the people of YHVH. When Moses was about forty, he was forced to flee Egypt, and met his future wife by a well in Midian. For four more decades he lived as a shepherd in Midian, while in Egypt the bondage of the Israelites grew worse. One of the most fascinating mysteries of the Bible is the identity of the princess who rescued Moses and made him her son. No one knows for sure who she was, but there are two main theories. Some believe the princess was the daughter of Pharaoh Ramses II. If so, Moses grew up during his cruel reign and led the Israelites from Egypt during the reign of Merneptah, the next ruler. Others think the princess was the daughter of Thutmose I, who lived about two hundred years earlier. This daughter, named Hatshepsut, was married to her half-brother, Thutmose II, who became pharaoh when his father, Thutmose I died. Although Thutmose II was the pharaoh, Hatshepsut was a much stronger person and ruled the land as the power behind the throne. This must have created a quarrel between the royal couple, for at one point, Thutmose II wanted to make his son by a harem girl the next pharaoh. This would have taken the power away from Hatshepsut and any of her descendants. Since she had no children, Hatshepsut may have raised Moses to be the next pharaoh. This would have been sweet revenge, to put a hated Hebrew on the throne of Egypt instead of her husband’s son. Or she may have done this at a later time, after her husband died. Hatshepsut seized the throne immediately after the death of Thutmose II, called herself -- king, -- and became the only known female ruler of ancient Egypt. Twenty-two years later, her husband’s hated son gathered enough strength to seize the throne from her. Again, Hatshepsut had a motive to raise a Hebrew to become the next pharaoh. Nobody knows for sure, but these theories are as fascinating as the mystery.
Thought for Today: Friday December 23:
A refuge is a place safely out of harm’s way. A fortress is a fortified building that is virtually impenetrable by conventional means. Martin Luther wrote a wonderful hymn that says: [A Mighty Fortress is our Elohiym; a Bulwark never failing. Our Helper He amidst the flood; of mortal ills prevailing.] What a statement about the magnificent Power and Protect of HaShem! Does YHVH care for you and me? Can we turn to Him in trust and faith when troubles and temptations threaten to overwhelm us? YES! – A thousand times yes! What greater proof do we need than that He sent His Son Yeshua Moshiach to die in our place?
NEW VIDEO UP NOW! Watch our latest short video entitled, The Cloud and The Fire In The New Covenant”, on our YouTube channel! If you enjoy these short videos let us know by sharing the videos and leaving us a like. Check it out now!
Join me at https://discord.gg/erAy5kcQrZ to discuss scripture, encourage each other, and work towards the return of Yeshua.
The Law of Moses is another name for the Law of God as it was given through Moses. God tailored the instructions he gave Israel through Moses to fit their specific circumstances, and this leads to some theologians to differentiate between the Law of Moses and the Law of God, but this is a shallow, self-serving doctrine that is completely foreign to the Scriptures.
Every single instruction that God gave to Moses was an expression of his own character and will. He told Israel to behave in a particular way because that behavior pleases him. No commandment is arbitrary. Every commandment is instruction in how to love God and love one another. Every single one.
God didn't give Israel different rules than gentiles just to make them stand out from the other nations. He gave his Law to Israel and not to the nations because he chose Israel to be the conduit through which the rest of the world would learn his standards of behavior. He wasn't establishing special handshakes for his special club. He was teaching right and wrong and expecting Israel to teach the rest of the world.
If God had given Moses his law today, it might mention cars and cell phones instead of donkeys and clay pots, but that doesn't nullify any of the Law of Moses. It only means that it must be understood within the ancient context in which it was given and that modern applications must frequently be extrapolated.
The Law of Moses IS the Law of God as it applies in an ancient, agrarian context. Our job is to study it and figure out how to apply it in a modern, technological context.
CHRISTMAS AND SABBATH-KEEPING
The most common objection I get when discussing Sabbath- keeping with Christians, is an objection to doing something that was commanded in the Law. If we observe the Sabbath day, then we have made null the grace of Christ – that is the objection.
Let us think about this for a moment. Every believer who I have ever known who has raised that objection, observes Christmas. Religiously, when December 25th rolls around, they set aside the day as a holy day. The Church is getting ready to observe Christmas. What will she do on it?
• Businesses remain closed (and do so, no matter what day of the week Christmas falls on, every year);
• Most family providers do not go to work, but set aside the day to rest;
• Friends and families gather together;
• Houses are decorated and made festive;
• Special (and often expensive) food is prepared and lots of it;
• Drink flows;
• Gifts are given;
• Games and merry making are planned;
• Special music commemorates the day.
In keeping Christmas, the Church sets apart a holy day, to honor it, remember it, and keep it holy. The Church knows how to sanctify a holy day to do no work on it and to keep it holy. They do it every year, for a holy day which was not ordained by God, but by man.
It is a matter of record that Jesus was not born on December 25; however, it is the date from antiquity – from the Tower of Babel rebellion – that the rebirth of the sun god has been set apart as a holy day.
There are God-ordained holy days, such as the Sabbath and the Feast days of the Lord (Lev 23) and there are man- ordained holy days, such as December 25.
Christians may continue to object to setting apart the Sabbath day, or the other Feast days of the Lord, to keep them holy, but if they do so on the basis of religious obligation to observe God’s Law, then why do they submit to a religious obligation to observe days of man’s law?
I cannot imagine that God wrings His hands over our day off work, parades, picnics, and fireworks every July 4th, or other days we honor. But since we are already setting aside holy days to honor them and keep them holy, then let us set aside God’s ordained holy days of Sabbath and His Feasts which proclaim the Gospel of grace.
https://alittleperspective.com..../christmas-and-sabba
#christmas #holydays #godlinesswithcontentment #alittleperspective
As it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
Romans 3:10-12
The original in Psalm 14:1-3 was an emotional outburst, intended to be understood as hyperbolic. It's not technically true that nobody is righteous, understands, or seeks God. Rather, nobody is sufficiently righteous, sufficiently understanding, or seeks God diligently enough. Everyone has gone astray, even if in some small way. Everyone is worthless and no good compared to Yeshua.
What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin...
Romans 3:9
Not only that, but God holds those with greater understanding to a higher standard. He is somewhat lenient on those who have a legitimate excuse to be ignorant.
SERIES C --- EXODUS FROM BONDAGE --- LESSON 01
DELIVERANCE
AMONG THE BULRUSHES
From Exodus 1:1 – 2:10
Many years had passed since Jacob had come to live with his son Joseph in Egypt, leaving his home in the Promised Land. His other eleven sons had come with him; Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher; along with their families. There were seventy in the entire clan who had migrated to Egypt. As time passed, Joseph and his brothers died, bringing that generation to an end. But because their children and grandchildren and following generations all had large families, with the passing of years the land of Goshen was filled with the descendants of Israel, another name for Jacob. The passing of years also brought new kings to Egypt. At last, there came a king who did not care that Joseph had saved Egypt from starvation. He felt that he owed nothing to Joseph’s descendants. [There are too many people of Israel,] the king complained. [They are building too much power as they multiply. If war comes, they may side with our enemies and escape from the land. We must find a way to decrease their number.] The king’s plan was to make slaves of the people of Israel and he did so, setting taskmasters over them and forcing them to build the store-cities Pithom and Ramses for him. But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more the people of Israel multiplied. And the more they multiplied, the more the Egyptians became alarmed. The Egyptians, therefore, oppressed them even more, making life bitter for the people of Israel, forcing them to work hard for long hours cultivating fields and making bricks with mortar. Moreover, the king, who was also called Pharaoh in Egypt, gave orders to the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah: [When a Hebrew baby boy is born, you must kill him,] he said. [But you may let the baby girls live.] The midwives feared YHVH, so they refused to obey the king’s order to kill the baby boys. Before long, the king discovered their disobedience and called the midwives before him. [Why have you disobeyed my orders?] he demanded. [Why are you letting the baby boys live?] [The Hebrew women have their babies much faster than the Egyptian women,” the midwives told Pharaoh. “By the time we arrive, the baby is already born.] Adonai blessed the midwives and gave them families of their own. He also continued to bless the Hebrews with children and they continued to multiply and grow strong. Then Pharaoh gave orders to his own people, the Egyptians, to destroy the Hebrew boys. [Throw every new Hebrew baby boy into the Nile River!] he ordered. [But let the baby girls live. About this time a man and woman of the tribe of Levi were married. Pharaoh's orders to destroy the Hebrew baby boys came when this couple had their third child; a son. Jochebed, the mother, tried to hide the child at home for three months, but she realized at last that she could hide him there no longer. One day Jochebed made a basket of papyrus reeds or bulrushes, covered it with tar to keep out the water and placed her baby in it. Then she hid it among the bulrushes along the Nile River. The baby’s older sister Miriam stayed nearby to watch the basket. While she was there, a daughter of Pharaoh came to the Nile River to bathe. As the princess walked with her maids along the river, she saw the basket and sent a maid to get it. When she opened the basket, she found a baby crying and felt compassion for him. [He must be a Hebrew baby,] she said. Immediately Miriam ran to the princess. [Shall I find a Hebrew woman to be the baby’s nurse?] she asked. [Yes, go find one,] the princess ordered. Miriam ran home quickly to tell her mother what had happened. When Jochebed returned, the princess made arrangements with her for the child. [Take the child to your home and be his nurse,] said the princess. [I will pay you.] So Jochebed took the child home and nursed him and he grew to be a strong boy. In time, Jochebed took him to live with the princess, who raised him as her son. The princess named the child Moses, which meant [To Draw Out,] for as she said, [I have drawn him out of the water.
COMMENTARY
MAKING BRICKS IN PHARAOH'S EGYPT
Hundreds of years passed since the days of Joseph. The Israelites multiplied in Egypt: they filled the land. Fear moved the Egyptians to enslave these now unwelcome guests. Finally, YHVH acted in a quiet, unusual way. A boy was born to a slave family. He was hidden in a floating basket in the rushes that grew along the Nile. There the baby was discovered by a princess, and named Moses. With Moses, the story of YHVH’s deliverance of His people begins. Most of what is known today about brick making in Moses’ time comes from two sources. One is the Bible. In Exodus 5:7-8, it is mentioned as the primary task of the Hebrew slaves. The second source is a wall painting in an ancient tomb. It was built about the time of the Exodus. About 1450 B.C., a high-ranking official of Upper Egypt died; the Vizier Rehkmire, or Rehk-mi-re. Since he had been a wealthy and important person, he was buried in a richly decorated tomb. The walls were painted with scenes of daily life as it was lived during his time. One of the wall scenes showed brick makers at work. Although the drawing looks strange by today’s standards, the steps involved in making bricks are clearly seen. The drawing follows the sequence from collecting raw materials to laying the finished brick. The workmen all wear very simple clothes. Their Egyptian taskmasters are almost as simply dressed, but they wear a headdress of some kind that looks like a turban. They also carry a stick, which was probably used to discipline the workers. The slaves in the painting have not been identified, but they may well be the Hebrew slaves mentioned in the Book of Exodus.
Our newest video on Torah Tube. :-)
https://tube.thetorahnetwork.c....om/watch/MMVlVe1QAgb
TTN Music 
TTN Ads 
