1.In our Torah portion we see people who had choices to make. Some made good choices some did not. How many people do you find making choices that took courage in this Torah portion? What is our message here?
First of all, we have Moses’ Mother Jochebed.
She had the courage to first hide her son instead of obeying the orders.
Then she had the courage to release all control over her son in order to save his life.
Second, we have the two mid-wives.
Hebrew midwives were to kill all male children they helped deliver.
Scripture names two who did not follow that command, Shiphrah and Puah.. (1:15-17)
These women chose to let the male babies live.
Because of their refusal G-d blessed them.
Why didn’t they do as they were ordered?
Exodus 1:17 says they did not obey because they feared G-d more than Pharaoh.
We also have Pharaoh’s daughter.
She defied her father and saved this Hebrew baby, Moses.
Had she not taken this step what would have been with Moses?
G-d’s plan would have been carried on through some other means but she seized the moment and did the right thing. She saved the life of Moses who would go on to lead the people for forty years.
She also did not forget.
When Moses was brought back to her after being weaned she took him in as her own son.
The story of Pharaoh’s daughter reminds us never to generalize or stereotype people.
All Egyptians were not evil.
Choices
We all are confronted with choices every day.
How do we look at these choices?
Do we live in the moment enough to see the opportunities G-d puts before us
or are we too focused on the next thing on our schedule? Are we flexible enough to take a little extra time to speak a word or offer a hand.
Are we like the mid-wives?
Do we trust G-d’s leading to go against the popular direction of the day?
Do we trust G-d enough to take risks when He directs us to do that?
In this Torah portion we see people who saw further than what their eyes told them.
They stepped out and took responsibility. I pray we take advantage of every G-d given opportunity He brings our way.
2.Exodus 5:1, “And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus said the L-rd G-d of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast for me in the wilderness.” Later, in Exodus 5:10 Pharaoh’s task masters used the same phrase for Pharaoh’s command, “Thus said Pharaoh, I will not give you straw.” This phrase in Hebrew is koh amor. It is showing the authority of the sender. Why do you think Pharaoh’s men chose the same wording as Moses? We have another example of koh amor in Jeremiah 27:21-22 where Jeremiah said, “Thus says the L-rd” Later in Jeremiah 28:1-4 Hananiah used this same phrase giving a different prophesy than Jeremiah. What similarities do we see in these two stories and what is the lesson for us?
The phrase koh amor is found 461 times in the Hebrew scriptures, 291 of those times are used referring to G-d. It is a way of introducing the words of the sender of the message. It shows the authority of the sender.
Sh’mot 5:1 is G-d’s message to Pharaoh.
Sh’mot 5:10 the exact same words used by Pharaoh when he denies straw to the people making bricks. This is no accident on Pharaoh’s part. Why do you think he uses the same words? He wants to set his authority over and against G-d’s. It is a test of who is the real authority. Pharaoh was in a collision course with G-d. Who was really in charge? Ultimately, this is settled by G-d Himself and Pharaoh loses.
Another example – Jeremiah 27:21-22.
Jeremiah uses phrase, “thus says” or Koh amor to give G-d’s judgment on the exile of the people to Babylon.
Jeremiah 28:2-4 the prophet Hananiah contradicted the words of Jeremiah. He also used the same phrase koh amor. Two different prophets – two different prophesies. Who would the people believe?
In Jeremiah 28:15-17 Jeremiah spoke directly to Hananiah in front of everyone. He said G-d had not sent Hananiah. He prophesied that G-d would remove him from the face of the earth. Jeremiah told him he would die that year because he had uttered rebellion against the L-rd. The false prophet, Hananiah, died two months later.
In both cases there was a conflict, a power struggle.
In Exodus Pharaoh was saying he was stronger than G-d.
In Jeremiah both were prophets but only one was speaking truth.
The people had to discern what was truth.
Our lesson?
We must discern truth for ourselves.
Even when people say they are speaking with the authority of G-d and are telling us what’s right and what’s wrong we must stop and check for truth.
Hananiah’s prophesy was more appealing but it was false.
Today some are prophesying what is coming in the future.
We must be able to search the scripture and find truth for ourselves.
We take each sermon, each prophesy, each piece of advice before the L-rd and see if it is truth. In other words we must think before going along with what we are told is right and acceptable.
3.In Exodus 4:10-14 Moses tells G-d he is slow of speech and tongue and asks G-d to send someone else. But in Acts 7:17-35 while speaking to the Sanhedrin, Stephen describes Moses as “powerful in speech and action. “ How do we reconcile these two descriptions of Moses? Is there a lesson here for us?
So how do you reconcile these verses in Exodus and Acts?
Stephen gives us a hint in Acts 7:23-29.
23 “When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. 24 He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian.25 Moses thought that his own people would realize that G-d was using him to rescue them, but they did not.26 The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?’ 27 “But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us? 28 Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.
Moses at 40 years old already had the idea to redeem his people.
He made two attempts -killed an Egyptian, tried to separate two Israelites
But was frustrated by the reaction of his people
They didn’t understand.
So he fled to the wilderness and became a shepherd herding sheep for a pagan.
After shepherding 40 years his dream of rescuing his people had probably died.
Only then, when Moses stopped trying to achieve it G-d called him.
All the pride was gone. Moses could then be used by G-d.
Forty years later G-d knew he was ready to be used to rescue His people.
Not because Moses thought he was ready but because G-d knew he was ready.
Have you ever had this happen to you?
Have you ever done what you thought was right and good but you were totally misunderstood? Have you ever given up and fled to Midian and just stayed in the desert for a while?
Look at how G-d met him at the burning bush
How did G-d talk to him? -Did He say, “You can do it Moses!
Exodus 3:6 He reminded Moses of his heritage.He explained the task
When Moses had doubts G-d did not give him a pep talk on what a great job he would do
G-d reminded Moses in Exodus 3:12-15 of who He was and that He would be with him.
It can be the same with us. It is so easy to get off course because of criticism from people we care about. It is also easy to get ahead of G-d and not understand why things are not working out. But our Heavenly Father is always there ready to remind us of who He is, who we are in Him, and what he wants to do through us in His perfect timing.