Parasha V’eira

Sh’mot (Exodus) 6:2 – 9:35
Haftarah:  Yechezk’el (Ezekiel) 28:25 – 29:21
Brit Chadasha:  Rom. 9:14 – 17 and
2 Corin. 6:14 – 7:1

וָאֵרָ֗א meaning to see or have vision

• It is important to note that many scholars do not adhere to the Exodus story. Because the Exodus lays a foundation for the Biblical faith and the hope for future redemption, it is no wonder that it is relentlessly attacked as ahistorical, with numerous scholars declaring that the events of the Exodus never happened. Some religious scholars, even modern rabbis, have ceded the historical argument, emphasizing that the meaning of the Exodus is true, as opposed to its historicity. If the Exodus never happened, what about Moses? Did he even exist? Many mythicists say no.
• Some atheists and religious individuals agree that faith and evidence are opposed. For the religious, no facts will change their mind. For atheists, no faith will change their ‘facts.’ For both, there is no need for evidence when one has faith, and there is no need for faith where one has evidence. This separation must be maintained at all costs. 
• These arguments should be emphatically rejected. The Bible does not claim that faith and evidence are opposed. It is a false dichotomy, a Berlin Wall blocking understanding on both sides of the discussion between believers and non-believers. Our culture pressures believers to reject the importance of evidence while concealing pertinent facts from the eyes of unbelievers. Yet the New Testament teaches in the book of Hebrews, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of realities not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1, Tree of Life Version)

Our Scriptures are not the only written authority on this event. During this early time frame, an Egyptian manuscript named the Ipuwer Papyrus was written. Currently held in the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, the document appears to describe disastrous events in Egypt that many have viewed as significantly parallel to the Ten Plagues.

Our Parasha opens with Ex. 6:2 – 8:  “And Elohim spoke to Moshe and said to him: ‘I am YaHaVah. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty (El Shaddai), but by My name YaHaVah I was not known to them. I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, in which they were strangers. And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant.’ Therefore say to the children of Israel: ‘I am YaHaVah; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.

• I will take you as My people, and I will be your Elohay. Then you shall know that I am YaHaVah your Elohim who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you into the land which I swore by My hand to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am YaHaVah.’”

• The judgment of Egypt begins in Ex. 7:17:  “Thus says YaHaVah: ‘by this you shall know that I am YaHaVah. Behold, I will strike the waters which are in the river with the rod that is in my hand, and they shall be turned to blood.”

Ex. 7:20:  “And Moses and Aaron did so, just as YaHaVah commanded. So he lifted up the rod and struck the waters (אֶת־הַמַּ֨יִם֙ )that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants. And all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.

• The question for us is why was the first plague of Egypt was water and blood?

• We have the “strength of the covenant” water which provides a link to Yeshua as He is the Aleph Tav. The water turns to blood. These two items are symbolic of Yeshua, i.e. Yeshua at His first advent. 

• Yeshua is the Aleph Tav.  See Rev. 1:8: “I am the Aleph and the Tav, the Beginning and the End, says Yeshua, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”  See also 1:11, 21:6 and 22:13.

• Yeshua is the “living water.” John 7:37-38:  “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Yeshua stood and cried out, saying, ‘if anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

• Ex. 12:13:  “Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood (אֶת־הַדָּ֔ם), I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.”

• The water and blood belong to Yeshua, the Aleph Tav.

• On the beginning of day three of creation, i.e. Ge. 1:9:  “Then Yah said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear; and it was so.”

• All seed bearing vegetation was also a creation of day three. Yeshua being the “pure seed.”  The “pure seed” will be buried in the borrowed tomb for three days then resurrected making it possible for all men to b grafted into Him.

• It was the blood of Yeshua that ratified the Book of the Covenant.    Ex. 20:7 – 8:  “Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, ‘all that YaHaVah has said we will do, and be obedient.’ And Moses took the blood (אֶת־הַדָּ֔ם ) sprinkled it on the people, and said, ‘this is the blood of the covenant which YaHaVah has made with you according to all these words.’”

• The Hebrew word for blood is דם  with a numerical value of 44; 4 + 4 = 8.  Eight is symbolic of the number for covenant.

• On a deeper level, this sidra speaks to a series of firsts. The first redemption, the first plague of water and blood and the first advent of Yeshua HaMashiach.

• Jn. 19:34: “But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.”

• This would be the exact required process for “grafting in.”              Rom. 11:13 – 18:  “For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.”

• Rev. 16 also speaks to a plague of water and blood with regard to the bowls of wrath.

• Rev. 16:4:  “The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood.”  **We are still speaking to day three of creation.

• The bowls of wrath precede the second advent of King Messiah.

Haftarah

• Ezekiel 28:25 – 29:21 

• The connection to the Torah portion is v 25 – 26:  “Thus says YaHaVah Adonai: ‘when I have gathered the houseאֶת־בֵּית )  ) of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and am hallowed in them in the sight of the Gentiles, then they will dwell in their own land which I gave to My servant Jacob.  And they will dwell safely there, build houses, and plant vineyards; yes, they will dwell securely, when I execute judgments on all those around them who despise them. Then they shall know that I am YaHaVah their Elohay.  **Speaking to the second redemption, the 7^th millennia.

Brit Chadasha

• Rom. 9:17: “It is for this very reason that I raised you up, so that in connection with you I might demonstrate my power, so that my name might be known throughout the world.” (Ex. 9:16)

• 2^nd Corin. 6:16: “I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their El and they shall be my people.” (Ex. 6:7)

• In conclusion, the first redemption begins with the first plague of water and blood.  The first redemption was designed by YaHaVah for the direct purpose of bringing Am Israel back into a covenant relationship with Him.

• The Father had been silent while they remained in bondage until His express appointed time.  The Scripture narrative shows the reader all that Israel, the mixed multitude, endured during their forty year wilderness journey.  There were many signs and wonders not to mention the direct teaching of Moshe.

• The Aleph Tav led them out of Egypt just as He will lead us out of the bondage of the world system into the second redemption.