Tag: Exodus

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Discussions Torah

How to live with as much grace as the Torah commands (Exodus 21:1–24:18)

Does the Torah promote vigilantism (taking the law into your own hands)? Some years ago, those who were against Torah would ask facetious questions like, “If I see my neighbor mowing the lawn on the Shabbat, do I have permission to kill him?” This ridiculous line of argument even ended up as an episode plot for a popular show (“The Midterms,” The West Wing, October 2000). 

Are these judgments ignorant and obsolete? For example, in this section of the Torah refers to daughter literally as their father’s silver. Are daughter just the property of their fathers freely passed around and bought and sold?

We just read the “Big 10,” the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20). Torah reading מִּשְׁפָּטִים Mishpatim (“judgments,” Ex. 21:1–24:18) covers case law results from the Ten Commandments. It covers how to live them out in a world of idolatry (yes, it’s even a modern problem), cruelty, oppression, selfishness, disrespect for authority, apathy and envy.

Yeshua haMashiakh (Jesus the Christ) taught that God’s second-greatest commandment is “love your neighbor as [you love] yourself” (Matt. 22:39; Mark 12:31; quoting Lev. 19:18).

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Discussions Torah

Bread of Heaven, bread of vengeance, bread of mercy (Exodus 10:1–13:16)

When God says, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay” (Deut. 32:35; Rom. 12:19; Heb. 10:30), He means it. We can take matters into our own hands and enact a form of justice on those who commit evil against us and our people, but we can only right the wrong done to us. Our acts of justice don’t vindicate God and bring Him honor and glory.

We see the intersection of vengeance and mercy in the 10th plague on Egypt, memorialized in the annual remembrances of Passover and Unleavened Bread, two key lessons in the Torah reading בוא Bo (“come,” Exodus 10:1-13:16).

They also are key lessons that teach us about the Messiah in the Gospels.

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Discussions Torah

How to be a righteous leader (Exodus 1:1–6:1)

In the Torah reading שמות Shemot (“names,” Ex. 1:1–6:1) and its parallel passage, we learn about Moses and Samuel, great leaders of ancient Israel. But their greatness came from their humility, not grasping at the reins of power. Because of their meekness, Heaven appointed them to be chief agents of the power of Heaven on Earth.

How much more does the Messiah, the exact representation of Heaven (Heb. 1:3), show us what a faith-worth leader should be.

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Discussions Torah

Exodus 25:1-27:19: Is your house God-built?

From “The House That Jack Built” to the parable by Yeshua the Mashiakh (Jesus the Christ) of the wise homeowner’s constructing it on a rock (Matt. 7:24–27; Luke 6:47–49), the metaphor of a house representing one’s character and lifestyle is widely employed over eons and continents.

The architectural and interior-design details about Israel’s Tabernacle in Torah reading תרומה Terumah (“contribution,” Exodus 25:1-27:19) may seem like needless and tiresome minutia. But why they deserve close, repeated reflection is they are a “pattern” for what the Heaven-transformed life looks like. That’s the pattern Yeshua, the ultimate Tabernacle from Heaven (John 1:14), lived out, as recorded in the Gospels.

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Apostolic Writings Appointments With God Discussions Torah Unleavened Bread

Exodus 14:1–15:21: Seventh day of Unleavened Bread teaches repentance, salvation and righteousness

Crossing the sea in the 1956 movie "The Ten Commandments" (PARAMOUNT PICTURES)
Crossing the sea in the 1956 movie "The Ten Commandments" (PARAMOUNT PICTURES)

The seventh day of Chag Matzot (Feast of Unleavened Bread) is a memorial to the crossing of the Red Sea. It’s not only the zenith of most movies about Israel’s flight from Egypt but also a parable about every believer’s path to repentance, salvation and righteousness.

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Discussions Torah

Exodus 30:11–34:35: You are not ‘just a number’ to God

How are we made holy or “set apart”? Our good deeds or the good deeds of an illustrious ancestor? It isn’t by genealogy — Yokhanan (John the Baptist) made that clear. He counts us among His people when we answer God’s call upon our heart and actions through Mashiakh Yeshua (Christ Jesus). The foundation for that holiness through the Messiah is put down in Torah reading כי תשא Ki Tisa (“when you take,” Exodus 30:11–34:35).

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Discussions Torah

Judgment that doesn’t have to come: Lessons from Egypt’s plagues (Exodus 10:1–13:16)

The Death of the First-born by Lawrence Alma Tadema. Published by Ebers, Georg. "Egypt: Descriptive, Historical, and Picturesque." Volume 1. Cassell & Company, Limited: New York, 1878. p 264b. Photo in Public Domain

The cost of freedom for enslaved Yisra’el was the death of the firstborn of Mitzraim, and the cost of our freedom from slavery to the deathward lifestyle away from the Creator is the death of the LORD’s Firstborn.

The last three plagues, including the coming of the Destroyer for the firstborn of Mitzraim, and the first Pesakh are the focus of Torah reading בוא Bo (“come,” Exodus 10:1-13:16).