Attending a church, synagogue or fellowship is a vital part of growing spiritually. We attend to learn, to meet with believers and to be part of an extended family. But, we need to remember the pastors, Rabbis or leaders are only human. Don’t be afraid to ask questions when you hear something that contradicts the Bible. Iron sharpening iron is a Biblical concept.

This week's parsha (#yitro - Exodus 18:1-20:23) begins a potential chiasm that spans two books and focuses on God's glory in the Tabernacle. It begins with blessings and curses at #exodus 19:5-6 and ends with blessings and curses at #leviticus 26-27.

- A - Exo 19:5-6 - Blessings and curses
-- B - Exo 20:1-11 - First 3 commandments
--- C - Exo 23:10-11 - Release and jubilee
---- D - Exo 21:12, Ex 23-25 - Blasphemer and justice
----- E - Exo 25:30, 27:20-21 - Menorah and showbread
------ F - Exo 31:12-17, 35:2-3 - Mo'edim
------- G - Lev 1-5 - Animals fit to offer
-------- H - Lev 6-8 - Holiness among priests
--------- I - Shekinah and Holiness
-------- H - Lev 21 - Holiness among priests
------- G - Lev 22 - Animals fit to offer
------ F - Lev 23 - Mo'edim
----- E - Lev 24:1-9 - Menorah and showbread
---- D - Lev 24:10-23 - Blasphemer and justice
--- C - Lev 25:1-55 - Release and jubilee
-- B - Lev 26:1-2 - First 3 commandments
- A - Lev 26-27 - Blessings and curses

#biblepatterns

THIS WEEK
YITRO יִתְרוֹ
Jethro
TORAH : EXODUS 18:1-20:23
PROPHETS : ISAIAH 6:1-7:6, 9:5-6
GOSPEL : MATTHEW 19:16-26

Portion Outline
TORAH
Exodus 18:1 Jethro's Advice
Exodus 19:1 The Israelites Reach Mount Sinai
Exodus 19:9 The People Consecrated
Exodus 20:1 The Ten Commandments
Exodus 20:22 The Law concerning the Altar

PROPHETS
Isaiah 6:1 A Vision of God in the Temple
Isaiah 9:1 The Righteous Reign of the Coming King

SERIES G --- THE PROMISED LAND --- LESSON 09

HASTY TREATY

WOODCUTTERS AND WATER CARRIERS

From Joshua 9

There was much concern among the kings west of the Jordan River when they learned what had happened to Jericho and Ai. The territory of these kings stretched from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea and northward to the mountains of Lebanon. Fearing for their own safety, they joined their forces to fight against Joshua. This force included the troops of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. When the people of Gibeon heard how Joshua had defeated Jericho and Ai, they decided to survive by tricking him. They sent to Joshua some men with worn-out sacks on their donkeys, old wineskins with patches, patched shoes and clothing and dry, crumbled bread. When these men reached Gilgal, they told Joshua and his people, [we have come from a land far away. Make a covenant with us.] [But you may live near here,] Joshua answered the men. [If that were true, we couldn’t make a covenant with you.] [We are your servants,] the men answered. [Who are you?] Joshua kept asking. [Where are you from?] [From a land far away,] the men repeated. [News has come to our land of all that your Adonai did for you in Egypt and all that He did to Sihon, king of Heshbon and Og, king of Bashan who lived at Ashtaroth, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River.] [Our elders and people have sent us here. Take provisions for a long trip, they told us. Meet with the people of Israel. Tell them we are their servants and make a peace treaty with them.] When we left, this bread was hot, fresh from our homes, but now it is dry and crumbled. These wineskins were new when we filled them, but now they are torn. Our clothing and shoes are worn out because we have been on our trip so long.] The men of Israel handled their provisions and believed them. They did not ask for YHVH’s counsel concerning these men. Joshua made a peace treaty with the strangers, a covenant to let them live, with the leaders of Israel confirming the covenant with an oath. The truth, that these men were Hivites who lived nearby at Gibeon, was learned three days later. The army of Israel set out immediately to confirm this fact and in three days reached the cluster of cities that the strangers represented; Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth and Kirjath-jearim. But the army did not harm these cities because of the peace treaty which the leaders of Israel had made. The people of Israel grumbled about this peace treaty, for now they were angry that their leaders had made it. But the leaders of Israel told the people, [we have made this treaty in the Name of our Adonai and we cannot harm the people now. We must let them live, for if we do not, YHVH’s anger will be upon us because we broke our oath.] Joshua spoke sternly to their leaders about their trick. [Why did you lie to us, telling us that you lived far away when you live nearby?] he demanded. [For this you will have a curse upon you. You must always provide servants to cut our wood and carry our water for the house of Adonai.] [We learned how Adonai had told Moses to conquer all the land and destroy the people,] they answered. [Because we were so afraid that you would destroy us, we did this to save ourselves. Now we place ourselves at your mercy, to do what you believe is right.] Joshua refused to let his people kill them and made them woodcutters and water carriers for the altar of Adonai, wherever Adonai would choose to build it.

COMMENTARY

OTHER CONQUESTS FROM EGYPT: MERNEPTAH

YHVH had Commanded Israel to destroy completely the peoples who lived in the Promised Land. Archaeology has shown the depraved practices of these people, whom YHVH’s army would judge. With the Canaanites destroyed, Israel would be protected from contamination. But a people called the Gibeonites tricked Joshua into making a peace treaty. This one-time Joshua and the other leaders neglected to first seek YHVH’s Guidance. No one knows exactly when the Israelites crossed the Jordan River to enter the Promised Land. But an Egyptian pharaoh, boasting about his victories in Canaan, left one of the greatest clues in history; and did not know it. It was Pharaoh Merneptah, son of Ramses II who came to power in Egypt after he was sixty years old. Merneptah was involved in wars to defend his empire throughout his reign. Even before he came to power, the Sea People had been attacking Egypt and Canaan all along the Mediterranean Sea coast. They were particularly hard to get rid of, because they moved in with their families and all their possessions after they conquered an area. In addition to this threat, a revolt against Egypt broke out in Canaan only three years after Merneptah came to the throne. He moved quickly to stop it and invaded several cities in Canaan. The country was brought back into line. No sooner had he returned from this campaign than Merneptah was faced with problems from the west. Several countries had joined together and invaded Egypt. A huge battle with this powerful alliance resulted in the slaughter of over nine thousand enemy soldiers. To commemorate all these victories, Merneptah had a ten-foot stone column; called a stele {pronounced STEE-lee}; inscribed with his victories. In it, he mentions the {tribe of Israel.} From this it is believed that by Merneptah’s time, the Israelites were already in the Promised Land. Little did this Egyptian pharaoh know that his {Israel stele} would become one of the most important historical records of the Israelites in Canaan.

I put together a list of Apostolic scriptures to read and study with parsha #yitro (Exodus 18:1-20:23), plus links to related commentary and videos: https://www.americantorah.com/....2021/01/24/parsha-yi

#biblestudy

I was wondering over the past week whether it would be a benefit to the wider Torah Observant (TO) community if I create a search engine which exclusively has content created by the community.
Only ministries and business pages created by and submitted for indexing by the TO community would be included.

That way we can support each other's businesses and get teaching material all searchable in one place.

If this sounds like a good idea then please give this post a thumbs up and/or leave your thoughts below. ?