Exodus 14 The Chase and the Baptism

The Chase and the Baptism

Background and Printed Text: Exodus chapter 14

¹And Yehovah spoke unto Draw [Moshe] to say, ²“Speak unto the children of Israel. And they have sat. And they have camped to the faces of Mouth-Of-The-Holes between Tower and between the Sea to the faces of North-Lord. Ye shall camp directly-in-front of him upon the Sea. ³And Pharaoh shall say to the children of Israel, ‘They are confused in the land! The desert shut upon them!’ ⁴And I will grip the heart of Pharaoh. And he will chase after them. And I have been demonstrated-important via Pharaoh and via all his army. And Egyptians shall know that I am Yehovah!” And they did so.

⁵And he told to the king of Egypt that the people fled. And the heart of Pharaoh and his slaves flipped-over unto the people. And they said, “What is this we did? For we sent Israel from our slavery!”

⁶And he harnessed his chariot. And he took his people with him. ⁷And he took 600 chosen chariot and every chariot of Egypt, and their third over all of him. ⁸And Yehovah gripped the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And he chased after the children of Israel. And the children of Israel are exiting via an elevated hand. ⁹And Egyptians chased after them.

And every horse, chariot of Pharaoh and his horsemen and his army reached them camping upon the Sea, upon Mouth-Of-The-Holes to the faces of North-Lord.

¹⁰And Pharaoh approached. And the children of Israel lifted their eyes. And behold, Egypt is journeying after them. And they feared very much! And the children of Israel screamed unto Yehovah. ¹¹And they said unto Draw [Moshe], “Is without—there are no tombs in Egypt—thou hast taken us to die in the desert?? What is this thou hast done to us to make-us-exit from Egypt? ¹²Isn’t this the speech that we spoke unto thee in Egypt to say, ‘Cease from us, and we have served Egypt’? For better to us to serve Egypt than our death in the desert!”

¹³And Draw [Moshe] said unto the people, “Fear ye not! Position yourselves! And see-ye the Salvation of Yehovah that He will do for you today. For what ye have seen with Egypt today, ye will not redouble to see them again unto Hider! ¹⁴Yehovah will war for you. And ye: ye shall hush!”

¹⁵And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe], “What? Wilt thou scream unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel! And they have journeyed! ¹⁶And thou, elevate thy rod and stretch thine hand upon the sea. And split him. And the children of Israel have come into the midst of the Sea via the dry! ¹⁷And I: behold, I am gripping the heart of Egypt. And they have come after them! And I have been demonstrated-important via Pharaoh and via all his army, via his chariot and via his horsemen! ¹⁸And Egyptians shall know that I am Yehovah via my being demonstrated-important via Pharaoh, via his chariot and via his horsemen!”

¹⁹And Messenger of the Elohim who walks to the faces of the camp of Israel journeyed. And He walked from after them. And the pillar of the cloud journeyed from their faces. And He stood from after them. ²⁰And He came between the camp of Egypt and between the camp of Israel. And He was the cloud and the darkness, and He lit the night. And this did not come-near unto this all the night.

²¹And Draw [Moshe] stretched his hand upon the Sea. And Yehovah walked the Sea via a strong wind of the east all the night. And He put the Sea to drought. And the waters split. ²²And the children of Israel came into the midst of the Sea via the dry. And the waters are a wall to them from their right and from their left.

²³And Egyptians chased them. And every horse of Pharaoh, his chariot and his horsemen came after them unto the midst of the Sea. ²⁴And it was in the guarding of the morning. And Yehovah overlooked unto the camp of Egypt in the Pillar of fire and cloud. And He hummed the camp of Egypt. ²⁵And He removed the wheel of his charioteers. And He guided him via heaviness. And Egypt said, “I will flee from the faces of Israel! For Yehovah is warring for them in Egypt!”

²⁶And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe], “Stretch thine hand upon the Sea. And the waters have returned upon Egypt, upon his chariot and upon his horsemen.” ²⁷And Draw [Moshe] stretched his hand upon the Sea. And the Sea returned to his vigour to the turnings of the morning. And Egyptians are fleeing to meet him! And Yehovah shook-off Egypt in the midst of the Sea. ²⁸And the waters returned. And they covered the chariot and the horsemen to all the army of Pharaoh coming after them in the Sea. None remained in them unto one!

²⁹And the children of Israel walked via the dry in the midst of the Sea. And the waters are a wall to them from their right and from their left. ³⁰And Yehovah saved Israel from the hand of Egypt in that day.

And Israel saw Egypt dead upon the lip of the Sea. ³¹And Israel saw the Big Hand that Yehovah made in Egypt. And they—the people—feared Yehovah. And they believed in Yehovah and in Draw [Moshe] His slave.

I. Camping and Confusion (verses 1-4)

Yehovah spoke directions unto Moshe to give to the children of Israel. The Israelis have sat and camped in front of Mouth of the Holes which is located between Tower and the Sea; it is also in front of North Lord.

Yehovah told the Israelis to camp upon the Sea. This will give Pharaoh the impression that the Israelis are confused. Pharaoh will say to the children of Israel, “They are confused in the land! The desert shut upon them!” In the meantime, Yehovah will grip the heart of Pharaoh, and he will chase after the Israelis. Yehovah stated, “And I have been demonstrated-important via Pharaoh and via all his army. And Egyptians shall know that I am Yehovah!”

The Israelis did what they were told.

Questions

1. What did Yehovah tell Moshe to command the children of Israel?

2. Why would a place be called Mouth of the Holes?

3. Why would a place be named Tower?

4. What Sea is this?

5. Why would a location be named North Lord?

6. The next statement says, “Ye shall camp directly-in-front of him upon the Sea.” Who is him?

7. The text then states, “And Pharaoh shall say to the children of Israel, ‘They are confused in the land!’” Will Pharaoh directly speak to the Israelis?

8. What will Pharaoh mean by, “They are confused in the land”?

9. What does Pharaoh mean by, “The desert shut upon them”?

10. Was Pharaoh right? Were the Israelis confused in the land, and did the desert shut upon them?

11. For what purpose will Yehovah grip the heart of Pharaoh?

12. What will Pharaoh decide to do?

13. What will be the result of Pharaoh’s chasing after the Israelis, according to the next part of the text?

14. The next statement is, “And they did so.” Who are they, and what did they do?

II. Heart Flip (verse 5)

Someone told the king of Egypt that the people of Israel fled. This caused an immediate reaction in Pharaoh and his slaves: their heart (mind) ‘flipped over’ unto the people of Israel. They said, “What is this we did? For we sent Israel from our slavery!”

Questions

1. Who told the king of Egypt that the people fled?

2. What does “the heart of Pharaoh and his slaves flipped-over unto the people” mean?

3. Why did they say, “What is this we did? For we sent Israel from our slavery”?

III. The Chase (verses 6-9)

Pharaoh harnessed his chariot. He took his people with him including 600 chosen chariot(s) and every chariot of Egypt! He took their third (of what?) over all of Egypt!

Yehovah gripped the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Pharaoh chased after the children of Israel! In the meantime, the children of Israel are exiting via an elevated hand! The Egyptians chased after them.

Questions

1. Who harnessed Pharaoh’s chariot??

2. Who are his people that he took with him?

3. Why does the text state that he took 600 chosen chariot instead of 600 chosen chariots?

4. What is the distinction between chosen chariots and every chariot of Egypt?

5. What was so important about bringing all the chariots into this chase?

6. The last part of the statement is, “…and their third over all of him.” Identify their, the third, and him:

7. Why does the text again state, “And Yehovah gripped the heart of Pharaoh”?

8. What does “And the children of Israel are exiting via an elevated hand” mean?

9. The text again states, “And Egyptians chased after them.” Why say this so often?

IV. The Army Approaches (verse 9)

Every horse of Pharaoh, every chariot of Pharaoh and Pharaoh’s horsemen reached the Israelis camping upon the Sea, camping at a location called Mouth of the Holes, which was located directly in front of a place called North-Lord.

Questions

1. How long was this chase from the time that the Egyptians decided to go after the Israelis, and how long had Israel been gone from Egyptian slavery?

2. The Israelis were camping upon the Sea. Did they think that they were safe from Egypt at this point?

3. How did they know which way the Israelis went?

V. Terror (verses 10-12)

Pharaoh approached the Israelis. The children of Israel lifted their eyes. They saw that Egypt is journeying after them! The Israelis greatly feared. They then screamed unto Yehovah. They then said unto Moshe, “Is without—there are no tombs in Egypt—thou hast taken us to die in the desert??”

They then directly blamed Moshe: “What is this thou hast done to us to make-us-exit from Egypt? Isn’t this the speech that we spoke unto thee in Egypt to say, ‘Cease from us, and we have served Egypt’?”

The Israelis then told Moshe, “For better to us to serve Egypt than our death in the wilderness!”

Questions

1. Why did the Israelis fear so much when they lifted their eyes and saw Egypt journeying after them?

2. The text states that the Israelis screamed unto Yehovah! Did they have faith in Yehovah?

3. What did they scream when they screamed unto Yehovah?

4. The Israelis next spoke to Moshe. Look at the wording: “Is without—there are no tombs in Egypt—thou hast taken us to die in the desert??” What does this wording indicate?

5. Of what were the Israelis accusing Moshe when they said, “Is without—there are no tombs in Egypt—thou hast taken us to die in the desert?”

6. The Israelis next question Moshe, “What is this thou hast done to us to make-us-exit from Egypt?” What were they saying?

7. They next stated, “Isn’t this the speech that we spoke unto thee in Egypt to say, ‘Cease from us, and we have served Egypt’?” Did they say this, and didn’t they have the right to choose where they would live and whom they would serve?

8. They angrily stated, “For better to us to serve Egypt than our death in the desert!” Was this true?

9. The Israelis show much more bitterness toward Moshe in verse 12 than toward the Egyptians. Why is this, and how characteristic is this?

VI. Moshe’s Faith-filled Reply (verses 13-14)

Moshe responded to the people, “Fear ye not!” He also told them, “Position yourselves!” They will then see “the Salvation of Yehovah that He will do for you today.” What will be the result? “For what ye have seen with Egypt today, ye will not redouble to see them again unto Hider!”

Moshe told them what would occur: “Yehovah will war for you.” He then strongly spoke to the Israelis: “And ye: ye shall hush!”

Questions

1. Moshe’s response to the violent anger wasn’t accusation. Instead, he commanded them, “Fear ye not!” wouldn’t this have increased their anger at him?

2. Moshe commanded, “Position yourselves!” What was he telling them to do?

3. Moshe then said, “And see-ye the Salvation of Yehovah that He will do for you today.” What salvation was Yehovah about to do?

4. What did Moshe mean by, “For what ye have seen with Egypt today, ye will not redouble to see them again unto Hider”?

5. The text states, “Yehovah will war for you.” Is Yehovah against war?

6. If Yehovah will war for the Israelis, how much must they do to show their faith in Him?

7. Moshe added, “And ye: ye shall hush!” Why did he command that?

8. Yehovah didn’t tell Moshe that He would fight for Israel. Was Moshe being presumptive? How is this different from a Christian claiming what God will do for him today?

VII. The Order to Travel (verses 15-18)

Moshe must have then screamed unto Yehovah with some frustration; for, Yehovah said to Moshe, “What? Wilt thou scream unto me? Speak unto the children of Israel! And they have journeyed!”

Yehovah now had instructions for Moshe: “And thou, elevate thy rod and stretch thine hand upon the sea. And split him. And the children of Israel have come into the midst of the Sea via the dry!”

In the meantime, Yehovah will be active in this way: “And I: behold, I am gripping the heart of Egypt. And they have come after them! And I have been demonstrated-important via Pharaoh and via all his army, via his chariot and via his horsemen! And Egyptians shall know that I am Yehovah via my being demonstrated-important via Pharaoh, via his chariot and via his horsemen!”

Questions

1. Why did Yehovah say to Moshe, “What? Wilt thou scream unto me?” What took place that is unrecorded?

2. What was Moshe commanded to speak to the Israelis?

3. What was unreasonable about telling the Israelis to prepare to journey?

4. Yehovah now told Moshe to elevate his rod and stretch his hand upon the sea; He also told him to split the sea. What must have been going through Moshe’s mind at this time?

5. Yehovah continued, “And the children of Israel have come into the midst of the Sea via the dry!” What is the dry?

6. Yehovah said (verse 16), “And thou, elevate thy rod and stretch thine hand upon the sea. And split him. And the children of Israel have come into the midst of the Sea via the dry!” The description of the events sounds like Moshe will lift his rod, stretch out his hand, split the sea, and immediately the Israelis will come into the midst of the sea on the dry. Is this what happened?

7. Why did Yehovah make the Israelis wait all night instead of causing the events to immediately occur with the Sea splitting and the sand immediately becoming dry?

8. Since the bottom of the sea is sand, won’t this be very difficult for the Israelis to cross (since sinking in sand is very tiring)?

9. Yehovah stated, “And I: behold, I am gripping the heart of Egypt. And they have come after them!” Yehovah knew that this would result in all their deaths. Why didn’t Yehovah do something else so that all the Egyptian soldiers would live? What does this tell the reader about Yehovah when it comes to death?

10. How will Yehovah be demonstrated as important via (by means of) Pharaoh, his army, his chariot and his horsemen?

11. Why did Yehovah view as so important that the Egyptians know that He is Yehovah?

VIII. The Angel and the Pillar (verses 19-20)

Messenger of the Elohim (of the Gods) walks directly in front of the camp of Israel. He journeyed, and He walked “from after them”—that is, behind them.

The pillar of the cloud also journeyed from in front of them, and He stood behind them. He came between the Egyptian camp and the Israeli camp. He was the cloud and the darkness; yet He lit the night! This (referring to the camp of the Egyptians) did not come near unto this (referring to the camp of the Israelis) all the night!

Questions

1. Who is Messenger of the Elohim?

2. Why is Messenger of the Elohim described with, “who walks to the faces of the camp”?

3. Where did Messenger of the Elohim go?

4. The text next describes, “And the pillar of the cloud journeyed from their faces.” Exactly what is this pillar, and did it journey separately from Messenger of the Elohim?

5. How did Moshe know all this to write all these details?

6. Why did the pillar stand after (behind) them (the Israelis)?

7. Did the Egyptians see this pillar and its movements?

8. The next statement is, “And He was the cloud and the darkness, and He lit the night.” How could He be both darkness and light the night?

9. The last statement is, “And this did not come-near unto this all the night.” What does that mean?

10. Why didn’t the Egyptians just walk through the cloud wall, and take the Israelis?

11. Will this cloud ever show up on Earth again?

IX. Moshe Splits the Sea (verses 21-22)

Moshe stretched his hand upon the Sea as he was told. Yehovah “walked the Sea,” moving it from in front of the Israelis until it was gone from that location. He used a strong wind from the east all night to do this: to put the Sea “to drought”—that is, to a totally dry seabed. The waters were split by this means.

The children of Israel came into the middle of the Sea by means of walking on this dry section. The waters are a wall to them from their right and from their left.

Questions

1. Verse 21 states, “And Draw [Moshe] stretched his hand upon the Sea.” Did Moshe do this again (since a text above already states the same thing)?

2. What does “And Yehovah walked the Sea” mean?

3. If the wind was strong enough to “walk the Sea,” wouldn’t it have been like a hurricane, and wouldn’t it have blown sand, Israelis, sheep and animals around?

4. What does “And He put the Sea to drought” mean?

5. What does “And the children of Israel came into the midst of the Sea via the dry” mean?

7. How did the waters stack up without flowing down?

8. If the Israelis had walked up to the walls of water, would they have seen fish in the water, and could they have pushed their fists into the water? Would the water have felt like water, or would it have felt like Jell-o?

X. The Bravery of the Egyptians (verses 23-25)

The Egyptians chased them! Every horse, chariot and all the horsemen of Pharaoh came after them unto the middle of the Sea! This occurred during the morning guard. All were up early.

Yehovah “overlooked” (looked over) unto the camp of Egypt in the Pillar of fire and cloud. He “hummed” the camp of Egypt. He then removed the wheel of his charioteers! Yehovah guided Pharaoh via heaviness.

Egypt (the army) now spoke as one person: “I will flee from the faces of Israel! For Yehovah is warring for them in Egypt!”

Questions

1. Why did the Egyptians chase them? Couldn’t they see the walls of water, and wasn’t the cloud still standing between?

2. How big was this area into which the Egyptian army, all the horses and all the chariots came?

3. Did the Egyptians realize that they were running into the Sea?

4. What is the guarding of the morning?

5. Where was Yehovah located during this event when Egypt began chasing the Israelis again?

6. What does overlooked mean in this text?

7. The next statement is this: “And He hummed the camp of Egypt.” What does this mean?

8. Explain what took place when Yehovah removed the wheel of Pharaoh’s charioteers:

9. What does “He guided him via heaviness” mean, and who are he and him?

10. The text states, “And Egypt said…” How can Egypt speak as if it is one person?

11. What caused Egypt to flee from the faces of Israel (instead of from the faces of Yehovah)?

12. Was Yehovah warring for the Israelis?

13. If the Egyptians had shouted out to Yehovah to save them, would Yehovah have saved them?

XI. Egypt Fails a Swim Lesson (verses 26-28)

Yehovah next said unto Moshe, “Stretch thine hand upon the Sea. And the waters have returned upon Egypt, upon his chariot and upon his horsemen.” Moshe did this; he stretched his hand upon the Sea. The Sea now returned to its vigour—its great strength. This occurred “to the turnings of the morning”—just as the sun was rising. The Egyptians are fleeing to meet the morning! Thus, Yehovah shook off Egypt in the middle of the Sea!

The waters returned, and they covered the chariot, the horsemen, and indeed all the army of Pharaoh coming after them in the Sea. None remained in Pharaoh’s groups—not even one person!

Questions

1. What was Yehovah commanding Moshe to do when He told Moshe to “Stretch thine hand upon the Sea; and the waters have returned upon Egypt, upon his chariot and upon his horsemen”?

2. What does “the Sea returned to his vigour” mean?

3. What are the turnings of the morning?

4. Did the Egyptians see the waters coming at them?

5. The next statement is, “And Egyptians are fleeing to meet him!” Who is him that they are fleeing to meet?

6. What picture is being described by the wording, “And Yehovah shook-off Egypt in the midst of the Sea”?

7. The text states, “And the waters returned.” What form was this return?

8. How did the waters cover the chariot, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh?

9. How many Egyptians remained alive after this event?

XII. Israeli Baptism (verses 29-30)

The Children of Israel walked by means of the dry Seabed in the middle of the Sea. The waters are a wall to them from their right and from the left!

Yehovah saved Israel from the ‘hand’ of Egypt in that day.

Questions

1. Did any Israelis get wet in this event?

2. How tall were these walls of water that were to their right and left?

3. Could all the Israelis see these walls of water?

4. What is the hand of Egypt (from which Yehovah saved the Israelis)?

5. Will Yehovah save Israel from the hands of other groups?

XIII. Dead Egyptians, Fear and Belief (verses 30-31)

Israel saw Egypt dead upon the ‘lip’ (shore) of the Sea. Israel also saw the Big Hand that Yehovah made in Egypt! The Israelis—the people of Israel—feared Yehovah. They even believed in Yehovah and in Moshe, Yehovah’s slave!

Questions

1. If the Egyptians drowned in the middle of the Sea, how did their bodies manage to come to the lip of the Sea, and what is a lip of a sea?

2. Why was the Israelis seeing the Egyptian bodies on the shore so important?

3. What Big Hand did Yehovah make in Egypt?

4. Why did the people fear Yehovah?

5. Is fearing Yehovah good?

6. The text states that they believed in Yehovah. Since they also feared Him, were they born of God (that is, did they now have the everlasting Salvation of God, and the resulting everlasting life)?

7. Was their believing in Moshe useful?

January 11, 2011July 5, 2017

Exodus 13 Sanctification and Light

Sanctification and Light

Background and Printed Text: Exodus chapter 13

¹And Yehovah spoke unto Draw [Moshe] to say, ² “Sanctify to me every firstborn bursting-through every womb in the children of Israel—in adam and in animal. He is to Me!”

³And Draw [Moshe] said unto the people, “Remember this day that ye exited from Egypt from the house of slaves. For Yehovah made you exit from this via grip of hand. And vinegar shall not be eaten.

⁴ “Today ye are exiting in the Month of the Spring. ⁵And he shall be. For Yehovah will bring thee unto the land of the Canaani and the Khiti and the Emori and the Khivi and the Yevoosi that He swore to thy fathers to give to thee, a land oozing milk and honey. And thou shalt serve this service in this month. ⁶Thou shalt eat Matzahs seven days. And a solemnity is to Yehovah in Day Seven. ⁷He shall eat Matzahs with seven of the days. And vinegar shall not be seen to thee. And leavening shall not be seen to thee in all thy border.

⁸ “And thou shalt tell to thy son in that day to say, ‘Yehovah did to me when I came from Egypt on-account-of this!’ ⁹And he shall be to thee for a sign upon thine hand and for a remembrance between thine eyes so that the Teaching of Yehovah shall be in thy mouth. For Yehovah made thee exit from Egypt via a gripping hand! ¹⁰And thou shalt guard this statute to her appointment from days days-ward!

¹¹ “And he shall be. For Yehovah shall bring thee unto the land of the Canaani just as He swore to thee and to thy fathers. And He shall give her to thee. ¹²And thou shalt cause- every burster-through of womb -to-cross-over to Yehovah, and every burster-through of fetus of beast that will be to thee. The males are to Yehovah! ¹³And thou shalt redeem every burster-through of an ass via a lamb. And if thou wilt not redeem, and thou shalt neck him! And thou shalt redeem every firstborn of Adam in thy sons.

¹⁴ “And he shall be. For thy son shall ask thee tomorrow to say, ‘What is this?’ And thou shalt say unto him, ‘Yehovah exited us from Egypt from the house of slaves via grip of hand. ¹⁵And he was. For Pharaoh hardened to send us. And Yehovah killed every firstborn in the Land of Egypt from the firstborn of adam and unto the firstborn of beast. I am therefore sacrificing every burster-through of the womb to Yehovah, the males. And I will redeem every firstborn of my sons! ¹⁶And he shall be for a sign upon thy hand and for frontlets between thine eyes. For Yehovah exited us from Egypt via grip of hand!’”

¹⁷And he was in Pharaoh’s sending the People. And Elohim did not lead them the way of the land of the Palestinians. For he is near. For Elohim said, “Lest the People will be grieved in their seeing war, and they shall return to Egypt.” ¹⁸And Elohim circled the People the way of the desert of the Ending Sea.

And the children of Israel ascended fives from the land of Egypt. ¹⁹And Draw [Moshe] took the bones of Yosef with him. For making-swear, he made- the children of Israel -swear, saying, “Visiting, Elohim shall visit you. And ye shall ascend my bones with you from this.”

²⁰And they journeyed from Succot. And they camped in Aytam at the edge of the desert. ²¹And Yehovah is walking to their faces daily in a cloud pillar to lead them the way, and night in a fire pillar to enlighten to them to walk daily and night. ²²The cloud pillar will not yield daily, and the pillar of the fire, night, to the faces of the People.

I. Sanctification (verses 1-2)

The Israelis had just come out of Egypt. The firstborn of the Egyptians had just been killed. Yehovah now told Moshe, “Sanctify to me every firstborn bursting-through every womb in the children of Israel—in adam and in animal. He is to Me!”

Questions

1. What does sanctify mean?

2. Why did Yehovah only command that the firstborn must be sanctified to Him? Doesn’t He care about the rest of the Israelis?

3. What does “bursting through every womb” mean?

4. What does adam mean (“in adam”)?

5. What, besides humans, did Yehovah command the Israelis to sanctify to Him?

6. Did these animals include dogs and cats?

7. What did Yehovah desire to do with the firstborn?

II. Remembering and Vinegar (verse 3)

Moshe commanded the people of Israel to “Remember this day that ye exited from Egypt from the house of slaves.” He explained how this happened: “For Yehovah made you exit from this via grip of hand.” Moshe then added one warning: “And vinegar shall not be eaten.”

Questions

1. What was so important about the people of Israel remembering that they went out from Egypt and from the house of slaves on this day?

2. What does “Yehovah made you exit from this via grip of hand” mean?

3. What is wrong with eating vinegar?

III. Land Takeover and Matzahs (verses 4-7)

Moshe told the Israelis what they were about to do, and he reminded them when this occurred: “Today ye are going out in the Month of the Spring.” He declared, “And he shall be.”

Where were they going? “For Yehovah will bring thee unto the land of the Canaani and the Khiti and the Emori and the Khivi and the Yevoosi that He swore to thy fathers to give to thee…” Moshe switched from the plural form (ye) to the singular (thee).

What was that land like? It is “a land oozing milk and honey.”

What were the people’s orders? “And thou shalt serve this service in this month. Thou shalt eat Matzos seven days. And a solemnity is to Yehovah in Day Seven.”

Moshe then stated, “He shall eat Matzahs with seven of the days.”

Moshe continued, prophesying as the Spirit of Yehovah taught him what to say, “And vinegar shall not be seen to thee. And leavening shall not be seen to thee in all thy border.”

Questions

1. What is the Month of Spring? Do we have that month?

2. The text states that Yehovah will bring thee unto the land of… and it mentions five persons from five races. Who is thee, and who are these five races?

3. The text states that Yehovah will bring Israel unto the land belonging to these other folks in order to give that land to Israel. How will this be accomplished if the land belongs to others?

4. What is a land that oozes milk and honey, and what does that mean?

5. In what month must he serve this service?

6. When will Israel serve this service in the way that Yehovah has commanded it?

7. Why must Israel eat Matzahs seven days, and what are Matzahs?

8. What is a solemnity?

9. Why is the solemnity to Yehovah instead of being to Israel?

10. Verse 6 states, “Thou shalt eat Matzahs seven days. Verse 7 states, “He shall eat Matzahs with seven of the days.” Who is He, and why is it worded, “with seven of the days”?

11. Why must vinegar not be seen to Israel?

12. Why must leavening not be seen to Israel in all Israel’s border?

IV. Sign, Memorial, Telling (verses 8-10)

Moshe continued speaking as if he were only speaking to one person. This one person now had to know what to say to one son: “And thou shalt tell to thy son in that day to say, ‘Yehovah did to me when I came from Egypt on-account-of this!’”

This event had to become a sign upon this single individual’s hand and for a remembrance between his eyes in order for the Teaching (Torah) of Yehovah to be in his mouth. Why? “For Yehovah made thee exit from Egypt via a gripping hand!”

How long must this person guard this statute? “And thou shalt guard this statute to her appointment from days days-ward!”

Questions

1. Verse 8 states, “And thou shalt tell to thy son in that day…” Yehovah is referring to what day?

3. This text states, “Yehovah did to me when I came from Egypt on-account-of this!” Yehovah is referring to what when He says, “on account of this”?

4. Verse 9 states, “And he shall be to thee for a sign…” To whom does he refer?

5. What is a sign in the Bible?

6. Why is the remembrance between the eyes?

7. If the sign is located on the hand of Israel and if the remembrance is between the eyes of Israel, what will occur in the mouth of Israel?

8. How did Yehovah take Israel out of Egypt?

9. What does “to her appointment” mean?

10. What is a statute?

11. What does “days days-ward” mean?

V. Firstborn Commandments (verses 11-13)

Moshe again prophesied, “And he shall be.” He continued, “For Yehovah shall bring thee unto the land of the Canaani just as He swore to thee and to thy fathers. And He shall give her to thee.”

Yehovah (through Moshe) commanded this singular individual to remember this event by doing the following: “And thou shalt cause- every burster-through of womb -to-cross-over to Yehovah.” A burster-through of womb is the first child to open the womb. That child had to be given to Yehovah. That wasn’t the only living being that must be given; Moshe continued, “and every burster-through of fetus of beast that will be to thee.” These all crossed over to Yehovah, becoming Yehovah’s property! He then became more specific: “The males are to Yehovah!”

Not every animal is kosher, however—that is, not every animal can be sacrificed. Thus, Yehovah commanded, “And thou shalt redeem every burster-through of an ass via a lamb.” But what if the person didn’t want to lose a lamb over an ass? “And if thou wilt not redeem, and thou shalt neck him!”—that is, break the animal’s neck!

What if the person didn’t want the child about to be born? “And thou shalt redeem every firstborn of Adam in thy sons.”

Questions

1. Why will Yehovah bring Israel unto the land of the Canaani if the land belongs to the Canaani people?

2. Who is her in, “And He shall give her to thee”?

3. Does He permanently give the land to the people of Israel?

4. Identify thee and thy fathers in, “just as He swore to thee and to thy fathers”:

5. Where (in the text) did Yehovah swear to give this land?

6. What is a “burster-through of womb”?

7. If the burster through must “cross over” to Yehovah, what is it doing?

8. Why must the bursting through fetuses of beasts also become Yehovah’s property?

9. Why did Yehovah specify only the males? Didn’t He want the females?

10. What must the Israelis do to every baby ass that bursts through the womb?

11. The next statement says, “And if thou wilt not redeem, and thou shalt neck him!” What does that mean?

12. Why must the ass be put to death if it will not be redeemed?

13. If no one wants to redeem a human male baby that is the first from his mother’s womb, is his neck broken?

VI. “What is this?” (verses 14-16)

Moshe again stated, “And he shall be.” This event is certain to occur. He then assured this people of Israel, “For thy son shall ask thee tomorrow to say, ‘What is this?’” Yehovah through Moshe then gives the answer that this people must give:

“And thou shalt say unto him, ‘Yehovah exited us from Egypt from the house of slaves via grip of hand. And he was. For Pharaoh hardened to send us. And Yehovah killed every firstborn in the Land of Egypt from the firstborn of adam and unto the firstborn of beast. I am therefore sacrificing every burster-through of the womb to Yehovah, the males. And I will redeem every firstborn of my sons! And he shall be for a sign upon thy hand and for frontlets between thine eyes. For Yehovah exited us from Egypt via grip of hand!’”

Questions

1. Who is he in, “And he shall be”?

2. Whose son is in mind in this text?

3. Won’t any daughter of Israel ask the question?

4. Yehovah said that this son will ask tomorrow. Why didn’t Yehovah say that this son will ask many years from now?

5. What does the son mean by, “What is this?”

7. Verse 15 states, “And he was.” Who was?

8. Yehovah stated, “I am therefore sacrificing every burster-through of the womb to Yehovah, the males.” Why is He sacrificing every burster-through of the womb?

9. Has Yehovah redeemed every firstborn of His sons yet, to this day?

10. Verse 16 again returns to the singular: thy hand: “And he shall be for a sign upon thy hand and for frontlets between thine eyes.” Whose hand is in mind?

11. What does the hand of Israel do?

12. What are frontlets? What does this word mean in Hebrew?

13. Why must this teaching be upon the hand and between the eyes, again?

VII. Avoidance (verses 17-18)

The next event took place during the time that Pharaoh was sending the People of Israel out of Egypt. Elohim didn’t lead them to go by the way of the Palestinians, though that land was near. Elohim said, “Lest the People will be grieved in their seeing war, and they shall return to Egypt.” Elohim instead circled this people via the way of the desert of the Ending Sea (what is today called the Red Sea).

Questions

1. Who actually sent the Israelis from Egypt?

2. Why didn’t Elohim lead the Israelis the way of the land of the Palestinians? Who are the Palestinians?

3. The text states, “And Elohim circled the People the way of the desert of the Ending Sea.” Which way was this?

VIII. Yosef’s Bones (verses 18-19)

The Israelis (the children of Israel) ascended toward the sea in groups of fives as they exited from Egypt.

Moshe took Joseph’s bones with him, since Joseph had caused the Israelis to vow that they would ascend his bones with them when they exited from Egypt. Joseph had said, “Visiting, Elohim shall visit you. And ye shall ascend my bones with you from this.”

Questions

1. The text states, “And the children of Israel ascended fives from the land of Egypt.” What did this look like?

2. Why did the Israelis line up in such an orderly fashion?

3. Why did Moshe take the bones of Yoseph (Joseph)?

4. If a person’s body had been blown up by a bomb, and thus dispersed all over the place, what soil would make up the person’s body in the resurrection?

IX. Light and Leading (verses 20-22)

The Israelis journeyed from the location called Succot (Camouflages). They camped in the region known as Aytam that was located where the desert ended (or began, depending on the direction in which one is walking).

Yehovah was “walking to their faces”—that is, He was in front of them every day they walked. Yehovah was located in a cloud pillar during daytime so that they knew which way to walk. The cloud pillar became a fire pillar as it became evening and night so that they had light, and they wouldn’t stumble. It was always to the faces of the People of Israel both day and night without disappearing.

Questions

1. Where is Succot?

2. Where is Aytam?

3. What does “Yehovah is walking to their faces” mean?

4. Could they see Yehovah?

5. What does “The cloud pillar will not yield daily, and the pillar of the fire, night, to the faces of the People” mean?

6. Was the fire pillar comforting at night?

January 11, 2011July 5, 2017

Exodus 13 Sanctification and Light QA

Sanctification and Light

With Questions and Proposed Answers

Background and Printed Text: Exodus chapter 13

¹And Yehovah spoke unto Draw [Moshe] to say, ² “Sanctify to me every firstborn bursting-through every womb in the children of Israel—in adam and in animal. He is to Me!”

I. Sanctification (verses 1-2)

Questions

1. What does sanctify mean? It means to cause something or someone to become owned. Anything or anyone not owned is unsanctified. Since holy and sanctified mean exactly the same thing, anything or anyone not owned is not holy.

Since being owned doesn’t tell who the owner is, being holy doesn’t mean that the person or object is owned by the Gods of Israel; thus, holiness in the Bible doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with Yehovah. This is why texts tell who the owner is.

2. Why did Yehovah only command that the firstborn must be sanctified to Him? Doesn’t He care about the rest of the Israelis? Sanctification isn’t a matter of caring or not caring; Yehovah owns all the Israelis. His command was given so that every firstborn of the Israelis will be His direct slaves on earth; they won’t be private citizens of Israel. (He will then do an exchange—read further down.) Yehovah gave a very important picture, since the baby Yeshua who will be born many centuries from this time will be a firstborn child; He will certainly belong to Yehovah.

3. What does “bursting through every womb” mean? When a woman births her first child, that child breaks through the womb. The rest of the children that she births are not described as breaking through or bursting through.

4. What does adam mean (“in adam”)? The word adam, when not referring to the first person among humans, refers to the human race—all humans who are alive at the time being described.

5. What, besides humans, did Yehovah command the Israelis to sanctify to Him? He commanded that every firstborn of the animals of the Israelis also be sanctified to Him.

6. Did these animals include dogs and cats? The text states, “in animal,” and a dog and a cat are animals. I could not exclude them.

7. What did Yehovah desire to do with the firstborn? The reader must read on to see!

II. Remembering and Vinegar (verse 3)

Moshe commanded the people of Israel to “Remember this day that ye went out from Egypt from the house of slaves.” He explained how this happened: “For Yehovah made you exit from this via grip of hand.” Moshe then added one warning: “And vinegar shall not be eaten.”

Questions

1. What was so important about the people of Israel remembering that they exited from Egypt and from the house of slaves on this day? The wording is more like this: “Remember this day”—that is, don’t ever forget the very day ye Israelis exited from Egypt. The reason why that is so important is because it will happen again in the distant future! Everything they can learn about what occurred in the past will help them in the future when they go through it again. If they don’t forget, the future event will make much sense to them. If they do forget, they won’t know what is occurring, and they will put themselves and others into needless danger.

2. What does “Yehovah made you exit from this via grip of hand” mean? This describes Yehovah taking hold of the Israelis, and tightly holding their hand (as if they all have one hand) as He took them out from Egypt.

3. What is wrong with eating vinegar? Nothing is wrong with eating vinegar except during this period of time. Vinegar is a type—that is, it is a real object that pictures something else that is also real, and much more important! Vinegar pictures cruelty and violence. Thus, eating/drinking vinegar pictures intentionally taking cruelty and violence into oneself. Yehovah commanded the Israelis to not do this. Yeshua later drank vinegar on the cross in order to take away the cruelty and violence for all Israel.

III. Land Takeover and Matzahs (verses 4-7)

Moshe told the Israelis what they were about to do, and he reminded them when this occurred: “Today ye are going out in the Month of the Spring.” He declared, “And he shall be.”

What was that land like? It is “a land oozing milk and honey.”

What were the people’s orders? “And thou shalt serve this service in this month. Thou shalt eat Matzos seven days. And a solemnity is to Yehovah in Day Seven.”

Moshe then stated, “He shall eat Matzahs with seven of the days.”

Moshe continued, prophesying as the Spirit of Yehovah taught him what to say, “And vinegar shall not be seen to thee. And leavening shall not be seen to thee in all thy border.”

Questions

1. What is the Month of Spring? Do we have that month? We don’t have a month called Spring. The spring of the year comes around March and April, but Yehovah assigned the month Aviv in the Jewish calendar to be the Month of Spring. In 2011, Passover will be April 19; that will be the 14th day of the month Aviv. Therefore, the month Aviv starts on April 5 in 2011. You can look on the internet to see when it begins for each year. See the following website to determine when Passover is, and then back up 14 days to find the beginning of spring according to Yehovah’s reckoning:

http://www.when-is.com/passover-2012.asp

2. The text states that Yehovah will bring thee unto the land of… and it mentions five persons from five races. Who is thee, and who are these five races? Thee refers to Israel (as if Israel is one person). The five races mentioned here are:

Canaani—the Canaanites who came from the first person named Canaan, who is a direct son of Kham (Ham), the son of Noah. The Canaanites were the main and strongest group in the land named after them: Canaan, which later became the Land of Israel. Yehovah sought to destroy the Canaanites because they became so evil, violent and sexually perverted. They had everything they needed, so that they had time on their hands. Human populations that become self-sufficient with time tend to experiment in perversion for entertainment. Yehovah gives them time and warnings, and then He either destroys them or sends them into slavery from a violent and strong group that doesn’t practice perversion like that.
Khiti—the Hittites—where like the Canaanites in perversion; they just weren’t as militarily strong as the Canaanites. They came from the original person named Heth, who was a son of the original Canaanite.
Emori—the Amorites were from the original person named Emor, who was also a son of the original Canaanite.
Khivi—the Hivites came from the original person named Khiv (I propose), who was a direct son of Canaan, the original Canaanite.
Yevoosi—the Jebusites came from Canaan in the same manner as all of the above. They all became equally perverted, evil and violent, doing human sacrifices.

3. The text states that Yehovah will bring Israel unto the land belonging to these other folks in order to give that land to Israel. How will this be accomplished if the land belongs to others? Yehovah will command the Israelis to commit genocide on all those races and on two others in that land. He will command them to do the genocide slowly enough to be able to take over their homes and their villages and their fields and their crops, making sure to do the genocide at a slow-enough rate so that they can secure their property without the land going wild. Genocide, which is considered one of the worst crimes that humans can do against other humans is what Yehovah will command the Israelis to do against these vile races.

Yehovah will give these races centuries of time to turn, and much warning. Yet, they won’t turn, and therefore Yehovah will command their utter destruction.

4. What is a land that oozes milk and honey, and what does that mean? Cows eat grass and make milk. Goats and sheep do the same thing. Camels also do the same thing as well as asses and horses. A land that oozes milk has a continuous supply of milk from animals that give milk and that live off of that land. Desert lands do not ooze milk. They are normally very poor for grazing. Grasslands, on the other hand, are excellent for grazing. Forest lands have to be cut in order for plenty of milk production to occur, since trees shade the land and keep the grasses from growing as well as they could without the trees.

A land that oozes honey is a land that has regular and abundant flower production so that the bees have a continuous supply of flowers to attend. The Land of Israel contains every climate in the world except permafrost. There are snow-capped mountains, and there are tropical rainforests. There are deserts of the sand dune variety and of the rock variety. All parts of Israel experience the four seasons. The bees in Israel can continue to work throughout the year in parts of the land.

5. In what month must he serve this service? It is the Month Aviv.

6. When will Israel serve this service in the way that Yehovah has commanded it? Israel will do this during the Tribulation. Israel will know the Truth, by then, and will understand this. Israel will believe.

7. Why must Israel eat Matzahs seven days, and what are Matzahs? Matzahs are like crackers or tortillas that are made only with flour that has been mixed with water, and then baked until it holds together (or until it is crisp).

They must be eaten for seven days because of what they picture. Consider how a matzah is made. Wheat berries are ground into flour. They are thus separated into very small pieces, since flour is very finely ground. They do not cling together. When water is added, the flour becomes a dough that can be kneaded; it holds together very well, but it isn’t ready. When it is heated (after it has been rolled with a rolling pin or formed by hand), it forms a single bread that holds together very well.

Now, imagine that each single grain of flour is a person, and that groups of persons are brought together by water—that is, by the waters of life. They are then formed into groups—into lumps of dough, and shaped. They are then heated as if through fire and through trouble; they form an entirely righteous group that is without sin (since leaven, which typifies sin, isn’t present). When the Israelis eat matzahs, they are picturing living from food from these groups. Israel will see these groups at first as evil; yet Israel will live because of these very groups. This will occur during the Tribulation.

They must eat matzahs seven days because seven days are all the days in any year. No year has more than seven days; they are the following days in our language:

Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday

In Hebrew, they are the following days:

Day First
Day Second
Day Third
Day Revolution (as if four parts)
Day Fifth
Day Sixth
Day Ceasing

If the Israelis eat matzahs for seven days, they can eat matzahs and be without sin continually.

8. What is a solemnity? It is a serious occasion (even if it is of great joy). It is used for remembering an event. In Yehovah’s case, it is often for a future event that must be remembered until it occurs. He usually designed a historical event to give a small example of the much larger and far more important future event.

9. Why is the solemnity to Yehovah instead of being to Israel? Yehovah will be doing the action on that day; Israel won’t.

10. Verse 6 states, “Thou shalt eat Matzahs seven days. Verse 7 states, “He shall eat Matzahs with seven of the days.” Who is He, and why is it worded, “with seven of the days”? I propose that Yehovah will eat Matzahs, showing that He will be on earth and participating with Israelis at this time. I also propose that it is worded “with” seven of the days because He will be with Israel as a person during those seven days.

11. Why must vinegar not be seen to Israel? Since vinegar typifies cruelty and violence, Israel must not participate in cruelty or violence both in actions and in the food that typifies them. Yehovah is so serious about no vinegar, that He will kill any Israeli who even has any vinegar at this time.

12. Why must leavening not be seen to Israel in all Israel’s border? Since leaven typifies sin, and since there must not be sin in any Israeli and in anyone else in Israel’s border, Yehovah commanded that all leaven must be removed from all of Israel. This text will be fulfilled during the Tribulation. Anyone within Israel’s border who still has sin will be slaughtered.

IV. Sign, Memorial, Telling (verses 8-10)

How long must this person guard this statute? “And thou shalt guard this statute to her appointment from days days-ward!”

Questions

1. Verse 8 states, “And thou shalt tell to thy son in that day…” Yehovah is referring to what day? Since it is to “thy son,” and since thy refers to Israel, this refers to a son of Israel. That is Israel in a future generation—in a generation when Israel will be ready to obey.

The Bible often uses the expression, that day. When it does, it usually means the Day of Yehovah—that is, the period of time when Yehovah is now directly taking rule of Jerusalem. That starts with the Tribulation, and it continues into the Millennium. That entire period is called the Day of Yehovah, since the Bible uses the word day to mean a period of an evening and a morning, or, a lengthy period of time identified by a person or an event. Thus, the day of wrath is a period of time when great anger will be shown; the day of visitation is a period of time when Yehovah will visit some group (like Israel) to take action concerning that group.

In this case, that day refers to the Day of Yehovah; these events will occur during the Tribulation. Israel will tell Israel’s son these things; thus, every Israeli who has a child will explain to that child about what is occurring and what occurred in history.

2. Yehovah commands Israel to explain to Israel’s son, “Yehovah did to me when I came from Egypt on-account-of this!” Saying, “Yehovah did to me” is very personal. Why did Yehovah command this to be worded this way? Every Israeli will feel and be very attached to all of Israel in that Day. Though this event will occur thousands of years later from the original Skip-Over event, the Israelis participating in this event will feel as if they were right there in the original Skip-Over. Thus, they will speak of it very personally.

3. This text states, “Yehovah did to me when I came from Egypt on-account-of this!” Yehovah is referring to what when He says, “on account of this”? I propose that this refers to bringing Israel unto the land of the Canaani and the Khiti and the Emori and the Khivi and the Yevoosi that He swore to Israel’s fathers to give to Israel: a land oozing milk and honey. If I am correct, this will be when Israel finally permanently inherits the Land of Israel.

4. Verse 9 states, “And he shall be to thee for a sign…” To whom does he refer? I propose that he refers to the work—the action of having no vinegar and no leavening in all the border.

5. What is a sign in the Bible? It is something that is either very unusual or that is totally miraculous, and that also indicates something very specific. A sign must show something that is definite; it must refer to something certain. Thus, if Yehovah will provide a sign that shows that He will do a great miracle, the sign must point to that miracle, and not to anything else.

In this case, having no leavening or vinegar in all the borders of Israel is a sign so that all of Israel will remember the Teaching (Torah) of Yehovah, and all of Israel will speak that Teaching. The sign will be upon Israel’s hand—it will be in all of Israel’s works (since the hand has been given to do work). The idea that every Israeli and every guest will have absolutely no leaven and no vinegar in all the land of Israel during this one period of time is a miraculous idea!

6. Why is the remembrance between the eyes? That is where the brain is located in the human body. In the body of Israel—that is, in the group of Israel, the eyes are what see for the group; the prophets and prophetesses are the seers. The group thinks and remembers between the eyes just as a person thinks and remembers between the eyes.

7. If the sign is located on the hand of Israel and if the remembrance is between the eyes of Israel, what will occur in the mouth of Israel? The Teaching (Torah) of Yehovah will be in the mouth of Israel! The order is this:

Sign upon the hand: work; doing what is right
Remembrance between eyes; thinking
Teaching of Yehovah in the mouth; speaking the Truth—what Yehovah Teachings

Thus, Israel will speak exactly what is right.

8. How did Yehovah take Israel out of Egypt? He did it by gripping the hand of Israel and pulling Israel out of Egypt!

9. What does “to her appointment” mean? This means to the time when the time has been set for these things to be accomplished. The appointment is the time arranged for doing something.

In this case, the text states, “thou shalt guard this statute to her appointment.” That means that this statute includes an appointment—a time when the statute will be carried out exactly as described.

10. What is a statute? It is like a rule that has been engraved in stone! It is something that is fixed in the way it must be done and when it must be done. In this case, the statute refers to the rule that Israel must get rid of all leaven and all vinegar in all Israel’s border during this time of the year.

11. What does “days days-ward” mean? This means from the days specified—that is from the days of the Skip-Over and Unleavened Bread to the future days of the same events and time: every year at this time. Always, these things must be done with leaven and vinegar removed at this time.

The Israelis will also live according to this; they will no longer have violence, cruelty or sin as part of what they do.

V. Firstborn Commandments (verses 11-13)

What if the person didn’t want the child about to be born? “And thou shalt redeem every firstborn of Adam in thy sons.”

Questions

1. Why will Yehovah bring Israel unto the land of the Canaani if the land belongs to the Canaani people? Yehovah will throw the Canaani people out of the land because this people has sinned so greatly against Yehovah. He will therefore replace the Canaani people with the people of Israel. If the people of Israel sin against Yehovah, He will throw them off that land, too. Only when a people is willing to live on that land without sinning will that people be permitted to stay. The Israelis will be willing many centuries from now; in the meantime, they will not be willing, and will sin just like the Canaani people sinned.

2. Who is her in, “And He shall give her to thee”? Her refers to the land.

3. Does He permanently give the land to the people of Israel? He doesn’t permanently give her to the people of Israel until the people of Israel is ready to live righteously on her!

4. Identify thee and thy fathers in, “just as He swore to thee and to thy fathers”: Thee is Israel. Thy fathers are Avraham and Isaac.

5. Where (in the text) did Yehovah swear to give this land? This is found in Genesis 17, as in verse 8.

6. What is a “burster-through of womb”? It is a baby that is the first one out of its mother’s womb. This refers to the firstborn to a female, but in a different way than saying firstborn. It is the first little one out of one particular womb. All other little ones from that same womb are not bursting through, but are just coming out.

7. If the burster through must “cross over” to Yehovah, what is it doing? It is going through a change of ownership, becoming Yehovah’s property. The text states that ‘thou’ shalt cause every burster through of womb to cross over to Yehovah. Israel is responsible to do this.

8. Why must the bursting through fetuses of beasts also become Yehovah’s property? Yehovah claims them to be His property, as well as humans. This includes the males.

9. Why did Yehovah specify only the males? Didn’t He want the females? This is a type, like so many other things. If all the males that burst through the wombs in Israel belong to Yehovah, they will include the Messiah (Yeshua) Himself when He will later be born to a virgin. While He has ownership over all the Israelis, He is taking the womb-opening males for special purposes.

10. What must the Israelis do to every baby ass that bursts through the womb? Since an ass in an unclean animal (like a horse and a camel), it must be redeemed—that is, it must be freed from its held state by the price of a clean animal—a lamb. Thus, a lamb is given to Yehovah instead of the ass. That shows one that is clean being offered in the place of one that is unclean. (Animals that are clean are animals that the Israelis may freely eat. Yehovah describes what is required for an animal to be clean. See if you can find a text describing what makes an animal clean.)

11. The next statement says, “And if thou wilt not redeem, and thou shalt neck him!” What does that mean? It means to break his neck—to kill the ass in that way. If the animal will not be redeemed, it must be put to death.

12. Why must the ass be put to death if it will not be redeemed? Humans, like asses, are unclean! This is a warning regarding humans: any human that won’t be redeemed by the Lamb of God will be put to death. Breaking the ass’s neck is therefore a simple way to teach children that the first one coming out of the womb among the males belongs to Yehovah, and must be redeemed, or it must be killed.

13. If no one wants to redeem a human male baby that is the first from his mother’s womb, is his neck broken? No; the text states, “thou shalt redeem every firstborn of Adam in thy sons.” Thus, the baby must be redeemed with a lamb.

VI. “What is this?” (verses 14-16)

Questions

1. Who is he in, “And he shall be”? He is the event that will take place in the future. The event will include this son asking, “What is this?”

2. Whose son is in mind in this text? This is the son of Israel—the son of the people of Israel. Every son born to any Israeli is a son of Israel!

3. Won’t any daughter of Israel ask the question? Yes, daughters will also ask—perhaps will even ask more questions. The way that the Hebrew language is designed, if the reference is to a non-specific son, it can just as easily refer to a non-specific daughter in many texts. (Some daughters don’t need to ask some questions, instead observing what is occurring and figuring things out!) Yehovah is not ignoring Israel’s daughter; He is focusing on Israel’s son who will ask the question.

4. Yehovah said that this son will ask tomorrow. Why didn’t Yehovah say that this son will ask many years from now? Tomorrow includes the day after today, two weeks after today, two hundred years after today, and 20,000 years after today.

5. What does the son mean by, “What is this?” He is asking about sacrificing every male burster-through of the womb. Since this involves males, and he is a male, the son will become curious about this practice and what it means.

6. The answer, “Yehovah exited us from Egypt from the house of slaves,” implies that the answers are more than one (“us”) and that the answers were there. Why did Yehovah command the Israelis to answer the question this way? The answerer must identify himself/herself as part of the Israeli group: us. Also, no matter how much later the answerer is born, he/she is still part of the group of Israelis that Yehovah exited from Egypt and part of the slaves that had been there in Egypt! We don’t usually think this way; we feel separated from what our ancestors endured. Yehovah doesn’t see it this way, however; we are very much part of what our ancestors did and experienced! This is even true of folks from other races who joined themselves to Israel many centuries from the time of the events in Egypt.

7. Verse 15 states, “And he was.” Who was? The event of the killing of the firstborn in Egypt took place (the next statement explains why: “For Pharaoh hardened to send us”).

8. Yehovah stated, “I am therefore sacrificing every burster-through of the womb to Yehovah, the males.” Why is He sacrificing every burster-through of the womb? The text explains, “Yehovah killed every firstborn in the Land of Egypt from the firstborn of adam and unto the firstborn of beast.” That is why He is sacrificing every burster-through of the womb. He will redeem every firstborn of His sons, however, just as He did in the original event.

9. Has Yehovah redeemed every firstborn of His sons yet, to this day? He hasn’t yet; this is a future event. If a son is redeemed, that son will be born of God. Most Israelis (sons or not) who die die unredeemed at this time. When this text will be fulfilled, there will be no exceptions; every son will be redeemed.

10. Verse 16 again returns to the singular: thy hand: “And he shall be for a sign upon thy hand and for frontlets between thine eyes.” Whose hand is in mind? It is the hand of Israel as a group, as if Israel is one being with a hand.

11. What does the hand of Israel do? The hand of any creature does works—does actions for that creature. Everything that the Israelis do Israel is doing. That is true of any group. If one part of the group does something, the entire group is doing that very thing.

12. What are frontlets? What does this word mean in Hebrew? The word ,`p7y¨Dy, totephot has the following acceptations: bands, phylacteries, frontlets, marks. These do not really explain the word. It is supposedly from an unused root indicating binding, winding around. vuy, tavah means to spin, and ;y, top means children, little children, little ones, especially referring to toddlers. Put together, the two words indicate the spinning of a toddler (feminine). Thus, if he will be a sign upon the hand (indicating one’s works) and the spinning of toddlers between the eyes (watching and rearing toddlers in motion), the adult will both practice and playfully (yet firmly) instruct little ones while watching them (I propose).

13. Why must this teaching be upon the hand and between the eyes, again? The text explains, “For Yehovah exited us from Egypt via grip of hand!”

VII. Avoidance (verses 17-18)

Questions

1. Who actually sent the Israelis from Egypt? Pharaoh actually sent them, as Yehovah said he would do!

2. Why didn’t Elohim lead the Israelis the way of the land of the Palestinians? Who are the Palestinians? The Palestinians came from the original Egyptian ancestor. The Palestinians became a seafaring people—a people that specialized in going by ship to many places. This people later settled in cities by the seaside along the Mediterranean. The Palestinians will become permanent enemies of the Israelis, as they are to this very day. They are also called the Philistines; I will call them the Palestinians.

Yehovah didn’t lead the Israelis the way of the land of the Palestinians because Yehovah said, “Lest the People will be grieved in their seeing war, and they shall return to Egypt.” Yehovah knew that the Israelis were not ready to fight in wars, yet. The Palestinians would have easily defeated them since the Israelis had no confidence. Thus, Yehovah took them away from the Palestinians in order for them to fight less strong peoples until the Israelis gain confidence.

3. The text states, “And Elohim circled the People the way of the desert of the Ending Sea.” Which way was this? Yehovah took them east and south. Look at the following map to get an idea:

Route of Exodus

While this map shows a number of routes, just follow the route from Goshen to the larger body of water called Yam Suph (Ending Sea). The area is a desert, with very little rainfall in any year.

VIII. Yosef’s Bones (verses 18-19)

The Israelis (the children of Israel) ascended toward the sea in groups of fives as they exited from Egypt.

Questions

1. The text states, “And the children of Israel ascended fives from the land of Egypt.” What did this look like? I thought about this. If the Israelis lined up like this, it would have taken years to cross the Ending Sea:

If, instead, the Israelis were lined up like this (below), and there were miles of the groups of five next to each other, crossing would have taken hours instead of years:

Five Multiples

This line-up would have permitted the Israelis to take their cattle between the sections, like this:

Five Multiples Cattle

2. Why did the Israelis line up in such an orderly fashion? I suspect that the Egyptians used to line them up like this as they marched them to the places where they did their slave labours. It seems that the Israelis were used to being set in order like this (set in array is another way of saying this).

3. Why did Moshe take the bones of Yoseph (Joseph)? The text explains, “For making-swear, he made- the children of Israel -swear, saying, ‘Visiting, Elohim shall visit you. And ye shall ascend my bones with you from this.’” Joseph made the Israelis vow that they would take his bones with them when they left Egypt to return to the Land of Canaan (the future Land of Israel). Joseph didn’t desire to be buried in Egypt; he desired to be buried in the Land of Israel so that he will be resurrected from Israel in the resurrection, and so that his body will be composed of Israeli soil in the resurrection. (Wherever a person is resurrected, that person’s physical body will be made of the soil in that area.)

4. If a person’s body had been blown up by a bomb, and thus dispersed all over the place, what soil would make up the person’s body in the resurrection? No matter how great the explosion, the person who will be resurrected will be made of soil from the area where the person’s body was exploded. If a person dies on another planet, the person will be made of soil from that planet. If the person dies in outer space, the person’s body will be made from space dust! If the person’s body sinks to the lowest of the oceans, the person’s body will be made of the soil found on the bottom of the ocean. I cannot say that these soils will change how the person will look; the person will look exactly right no matter what.

IX. Light and Leading (verses 20-22)

Questions

1. Where is Succot? Look at the map above, and look under the red, blue and green lines by Raamses.

2. Where is Aytam? It is located at the edge of the desert. The map doesn’t show it. Some of these locations have temporarily disappeared from maps since the areas change.

3. What does “Yehovah is walking to their faces” mean? This means that He is walking straight in front of them—right where they are looking.

4. Could they see Yehovah? He was in a cloud pillar—a cloud that starts at the land and goes up like the pillar of a very tall building. They could easily see the cloud. The same cloud pillar became a fire pillar at night—not a pillar of fire that was dangerous with heat, but rather was really pretty with light (and, I propose, would give some heat during cold nights). This way, the Israelis could walk during the day and during the night; they could easily see where they were going.

5. What does “The cloud pillar will not yield daily, and the pillar of the fire, night, to the faces of the People” mean? This means that the pillar (of cloud and of fire) won’t go away at any time; it remained visible 24 hours a day. That way, the people of Israel always had confidence that Yehovah was still there.

6. Was the fire pillar comforting at night? It was! The motion of fire and the light of fire is very comforting. Think of a campfire, and how it mesmerizes some who watch its motion and feel its heat. This giant night light was very comforting, and would put children and adults quickly to sleep when it came time to stop. The animals also found it very comforting.

October 22, 2010July 5, 2017

Exodus 10 Locusts and Horrifying Darkness QA Supplied

Locusts and Horrifying Darkness

With Questions and Proposed Answers

Background and Printed Text: Exodus chapter 10

Locust

Exodus 10:1 And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe], “Come unto Pharaoh. For I, I weighted his heart and the heart of his slaves so that I put these my signs in his midst ²and so that thou wilt scroll what I have acted myself in Double-Adversity [Egypt] in the ears of thy son and the son of thy son, and my signs that I placed in them. And ye shall know that I am Yehovah!”

³And Draw [Moshe] came, and Oy!-Conception! [Aharon], unto Pharaoh. And they said unto him, “So said Yehovah Gods of the Hebrews, ‘Until when hast thou refused to humble from my faces? Send my people, and he has served me! ⁴For if thou art refusing to send my people, behold I am bringing a locust into thy border tomorrow. ⁵And he will cover the eye of the land. And he will not be able to see the land. And he will eat the excess of the escapee remaining to you from the hail. And he will eat all the tree that springs-forth to you from the field! ⁶And they shall fill thy houses and the houses of all thy slaves and the houses of all Double-Adversity [Egypt] that thy fathers and fathers of thy fathers did not see from the day of their being upon the soil unto this day!’” And he turned. And he exited from with Pharaoh.

⁷And the slaves of Pharaoh said unto him, “Until when will this be to us for a snare? Send the men! And they have served Yehovah their Gods! Is it before thou wilt know that Double-Adversity [Egypt] perished?”

⁸And he returned Draw [Moshe] and Oy!-Conception! [Aharon] unto Pharaoh. And he said unto them, “Go ye! Serve ye Yehovah your Gods! Who and who are the walking?” ⁹And Draw [Moshe] said, “We will walk with our youths and with our elders; we will walk with our sons and with our daughters, with our flock and with our herd. For the solemnity of Yehovah is to us!” ¹⁰And he said unto them, “He will be so! Yehovah is with you, just as I will send you and your little-one! See ye that bad is straight-to your faces! ¹¹Not established! Go-ye, na, valiant-ones! And serve ye Yehovah! For ye are seeking her!” And he forced them from with the faces of Pharaoh.

¹²And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe], “Stretch thine hand upon the land of Double-Adversity [Egypt] via the locust. And he has ascended upon the land of Double-Adversity [Egypt]. And he has eaten every herb of the land, all that remained the hail.” ¹³And Draw [Moshe] stretched his rod upon the land of Double-Adversity [Egypt]. And Yehovah guided the spirit of east in the land all that day and all the night. The morning was. And the spirit of the east carried the locust. ¹⁴And the locust ascended upon all the land of Double-Adversity [Egypt]. And he rested in every border of Double-Adversity [Egypt], very heavy. To his faces there was not established a locust like him, and after him he will not be established. ¹⁵And he covered the eye of all the land. And the land was darkened. And he ate every herb of the land and every fruit of the tree that remained the hail. And every green did not remain in a tree and in the herb of the field in all the land of Double-Adversity [Egypt].

¹⁶And Pharaoh hurried to call to Draw [Moshe] and to Oy!-Conception! [Aharon]. And he said, “I sinned to Yehovah your Gods and to you! ¹⁷And now, carry thou, na, my sin but the stroke, and entreat ye to Yehovah your Gods! And He has turned-away from upon me only this death!” ¹⁸And he exited from with Pharaoh.

And he entreated unto Yehovah. ¹⁹And Yehovah flipped-over the spirit of the sea, very gripping. And he carried the locust. And he blasted Ending Seaward. One locust did not remain in all the border of Double-Adversity [Egypt]. ²⁰And Yehovah gripped the heart of Pharaoh. And he did not send the children of Israel.

Felt Darkness

²¹And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe], “Stretch thine hand upon the heavens. And darkness was upon the land of Double-Adversity [Egypt]. And he felt darkness.” ²²And Draw [Moshe] stretched his hand upon the heavens. And darkness of gloom was in all the land of Double-Adversity [Egypt] three days. ²³They did not see—a man his brother, and they did not arise—a man from his tuchases three days! And light was to all the children of Israel in their settlements.

²⁴And Pharaoh called unto Draw [Moshe]. And he said, “Go ye! Serve ye Yehovah! Only your flock and your herd he will position. Also your little-one will walk with you!” ²⁵And Draw [Moshe] said, “Also thou, thou wilt give into our hand sacrifices and ascensions? And we will do to Yehovah our Gods? ²⁶And also our cattle will walk with us! A hoof will not remain! For we will take from us to serve Yehovah our Gods! And we, we will not know what we will serve Yehovah until our coming there!”

²⁷And Yehovah gripped the heart of Pharaoh. And he did not consent to send them. ²⁸And Pharaoh said to him, “Walk from upon me! Guard to thee! Do not add to see my faces! For in the day of thy seeing my faces, thou shalt die!” ²⁹And Draw [Moshe] said, “Established! Thou hast spoken! I will not add further to see thy faces!”

I. The Purpose of Weighting a Heart (verses 1-2)

Yehovah told Moshe to again come unto Pharaoh. Yehovah took credit for ‘weighting’ Pharaoh’s heart and the heart of his slaves, giving the reasons:

In order to put Yehovah’s signs in his midst
So that this ‘thou’ will scroll what Yehovah Himself did in Egypt in the ears of his son and the son of his son
So that this same ‘thou’ will scroll Yehovah’s signs that He placed in them
So that this ‘ye’ will know that He is Yehovah.

Questions

1. What did Yehovah do when He weighted the heart of Pharaoh and Pharaoh’s slaves? Yehovah filled their minds with thoughts about what would happen to Egypt if the Israelis were to leave. Those thoughts were so heavy that they couldn’t think of other things.

2. Why did Yehovah do this? He did this in order to put these very signs (the plagues) in the midst (middle) of Pharaoh. He also did this so that the Israelis will tell in detail what Yehovah did in Egypt, including these signs. Later, the Israelis will come to know that He is Yehovah!

3. How did Yehovah put these signs in Pharaoh’s middle (midst)? Pharaoh represented all of Egypt. Yehovah put these miraculous signs in the very middle and heart of Egypt so that all the Egyptians and the Israelis knew that Yehovah was the source.

4. What does scroll mean in verse 2? It means to recount something in detailand in order.

5. Who is thy in, “in the ears of thy son and the son of thy son”? Yehovah is speaking to Moshe. Therefore, the obvious conclusion is that thy refers to Moshe. Yet, Yehovah also speaks to Moshe as if Moshe is all of Israel. He does this quite frequently. Thy in this text refers to Israel. All Israel will repeat what Yehovah did in the ears of Israel’s son and grandson—and not just one son, and not just one grandson; all Israel will repeat what Yehovah did in Egypt in the ears of every son, daughter, grandson, granddaughter, and so on!

6. Have the Israelis realized that He is Yehovah? They haven’t! They didn’t even in Moshe’s day! They thought, for example, that Yehovah was a calf. This statement isn’t for Moshe’s day, but is rather directed to a future day a very long time from now when all Israel will know who Yehovah is and what signs He did in the midst of Egypt. Those signs will be similar to these, but will be performed during the future time known as the Tribulation. Yehovah did what He did in Moshe’s day as a preparation for what He will do in that future day.

II. The Locust Threat (verses 3-6)

Moshe and Aharon came. They told Pharaoh that Yehovah Gods of the Hebrews said, “Until when hast thou refused to humble from my faces?”

They then told Pharaoh what Yehovah further said: “Send my people, and he has served me!” This was the same message that Yehovah kept sending to Pharaoh.

Yehovah then gave the threat: “For if thou art refusing to send my people, behold I am bringing a locust into thy border tomorrow. And he will cover the eye of the land. And he will not be able to see the land. And he will eat the excess of the escapee remaining to you from the hail. And he will eat all the tree that springs-forth to you from the field!” This destruction will destroy the rest of the field crops.

Yehovah also sent the locusts to invade another area: “And they shall fill thy houses and the houses of all thy slaves and the houses of all Double-Adversity [Egypt] that thy fathers and fathers of thy fathers did not see from the day of their being upon the soil unto this day!”

Moshe then turned and exited from being with Pharaoh.

Questions

1. Consider what Moshe and Aharon said to a great king and pharaoh: “So said Yehovah Gods of the Hebrews, ‘Until when hast thou refused to humble from my faces?’” Weren’t Moshe and Aharon afraid to say such words to a man who could order their deaths for being so rude to a king and pharaoh? By now, they were not afraid. They knew that Pharaoh and his slaves were afraid of them! Moshe and Aharon were angry at Pharaoh, but they didn’t show that anger at this time. Instead, Yehovah showed His anger at their refusal to humble themselves from Yehovah’s faces!

2. Why is Yehovah angry when He is the one who keeps working on Pharaoh’s mind so that Pharaoh won’t send the Israelis? It is true that Yehovah keeps working on Pharaoh’s mind, but Yehovah isn’t causing Pharaoh to refuse to send the Israelis; Yehovah is rather causing Pharaoh to consider what will occur if Pharaoh does send the Israelis. Pharaoh is acting upon his own fears. Yehovah isn’t causing Pharaoh to do wrong. Pharaoh needs no help when it comes to doing wrong. The great signs tend to weaken Pharaoh’s unwillingness to send the Israelis; Yehovah reminds Pharaoh what will occur if he does send them. He therefore weighs down Pharaoh’s mind/heart.

Yehovah is angry because Pharaoh has refused to humble himself before the faces of Yehovah!

3. Again, why didn’t Yehovah just take His people out of Egypt instead of insisting that Pharaoh send them? The Israelis were guests in the land. In those cultures, it was rude for a guest to just leave without being sent by the host. Yehovah desired the Egyptian host to willingly send the Israelis out of the land.

4. What does bringing a locust into the land have to do with their sending the Israelis out of the land? It is a matter of economy—that is, of business. Pharaoh and his slaves are unwilling to send the Israelis because they are afraid of economic ruin and disaster. Yehovah is showing the Egyptians that He has an army that can do far greater damage to the Egyptian economy than they will experience by sending the Israelis.

5. Is Yehovah bringing just one locust? Why does He refer to the locust as if it is one? The entire and huge cloud of locusts will act as if they together are one giant locust. That will be far more frightening than individual locusts.

6. Would a locust attack like this be scary? What would it be like? It is like small birds that are locusts landing everywhere. If one tries to walk outside, the person will step on the locusts, and they will be squished. The person will find them very slippery while other locusts land on them. The sounds and sights will be worse than Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds. While locusts don’t attack humans, they get in their hair, they land on their shoulders, they cling to their clothing, and they look rather fierce.

7. What does “he will cover the eye of the land” mean? The eye of anything is the most tender and delicate part, and is the most watered part. The locusts will land in all of Egypt, but especially in the best parts where the plants are growing well.

8. Who won’t be able to see the land, and what does this mean? The locust won’t be able to see the land because the locust is covering it!

9. What is “the escapee” that remains from the hail? The escapee refers to every green plant that didn’t get struck and ruined by the hail. Some plants survived the hail by being too young to be aboveground; other plants lost branches, but stayed alive.

10. How can the locust eat all the tree? Do locusts eat wood? These locusts will be very unusual since they will eat wood! They are more like termite locusts (which don’t exist).

11. What else, besides the above, will the locusts do? They will:

Fill Pharaoh’s houses
Fill Pharaoh’s slaves’ houses
Fill all the houses in Egypt
Be the worst locust attack that Egypt has ever experienced.

12. Did Pharaoh believe Moshe? Pharaoh knew that Moshe was speaking the truth. He believed him.

III. Slaves and Sense (verse 7)

Pharaoh’s slaves asked Pharaoh, “Until when will this be to us for a snare?” They wanted this destruction to stop. They then counseled Pharaoh: “Send the men! And they have served Yehovah their Gods!”

The slaves then asked Pharaoh a question: “Is it before thou wilt know that Double-Adversity [Egypt] perished?” They desired to know if Pharaoh would send the Israelis before or after Egypt finally is totally ruined.

Questions

1. What is this in, “Until when will this be to us for a snare?” This refers to Moshe. Folks refer to others as this in a number of texts. We would say something like this: this one or this person.

2. What did Pharaoh’s slaves advise Pharaoh to do? They advised Pharaoh to send the men.

3. When they said, “send the men,” did they mean the males? I propose that this is what he meant. He will shortly ask who will be going. The slaves thought that the men going alone would keep them from leaving, since their families and cattle were still in Egypt.

4. What did the slaves of Pharaoh mean by, “Is it before thou wilt know that Egypt perished?” They are asking if Pharaoh will refuse to send the Israelis until Egypt has completely perished and gone dead. Is Pharaoh waiting to see if Egypt will perish first?

IV. Pharaoh’s Strange Answer (verses 8-11)

Pharaoh now called Moshe and Aharon to return to Pharaoh. Pharaoh said, “Go ye! Serve ye Yehovah your Gods!” This very much sounded like permission! Yet, Pharaoh continued: “Who and who are the walking?” Pharaoh desired to know who all will be going!

Moshe answered, “We will walk with our youths and with our elders; we will walk with our sons and with our daughters, with our flock and with our herd.” Thus, everyone, including all the animals, will be walking. Moshe told why: “For the solemnity of Yehovah is to us!”

Pharaoh didn’t like this answer. He spoke sarcastically: “He will be so! Yehovah is with you, just as I will send you and your little-one!” He had no intention of sending them and their little-one—their children!

Pharaoh then threateningly spoke: “See ye that bad is straight-to your faces! Not established!” They are headed for trouble! His saying, “Not established,” is like saying, “No way!”

Pharaoh then told them who could go: “Go-ye, na, valiant-ones! And serve ye Yehovah! For ye are seeking her!” Thus, the valiant ones in Israel could go, but the rest could not.

In anger, Pharaoh forced Moshe and Aharon out of his faces—out of his sight.

Questions

1. Who returned Moshe and Aharon unto Pharaoh? Whoever this was had the authority to call them back. I can only think of three possibilities: Yehovah, the main slave of Pharaoh, or Pharaoh himself. The grammar doesn’t fit well for it being Pharaoh himself. If Yehovah returned them, Yehovah knew that Pharaoh desired to see them. If the main slave of Pharaoh did this, this would also show that Pharaoh was eager to speak with them.

2. When Pharaoh said, “Go ye! Serve ye Yehovah your Gods,” was he giving them permission? Yes, he was. As long as the group going out to serve Yehovah was approved, he was indeed giving permission.

3. What did Pharaoh mean by, “Who and who are the walking”? Pharaoh desired to know who will be going on this ‘serve Yehovah’ trip. He was not thinking that all Israel would go.

4. Who would be going, according to Moshe? All the Israelis would be going without exception. Their animals would also go.

5. What is a solemnity? It is a serious event—even if it is a happy event. It is an event that mustn’t be taken as a joke or as something both unimportant and fun. It is rather to be viewed as very important even if it is fun.

We speak of holidays (not referring to trips that Americans call vacations). A holiday at one time was a holy day—a serious day to remember something important. Yehovah calls important events to remember solemnities. All Yehovah’s solemnities are given to remember things in the future. They are not looking at past events except to show what will occur in the future. This is different from other gods and other religions.

6. What does “For the solemnity of Yehovah is to us” mean? This means that Yehovah’s solemnity must be done by us, and it belongs to us. We are the targets of Yehovah’s solemnity. (The us are the Israelis.)

7. Pharaoh’s next reply was, “He will be so!” What did he mean by this? He refers to the plan that Moshe just said. I propose that Pharaoh is sarcastically speaking—that is, that he is saying what sounds like his agreement when he is angrily telling them (by the next statement) that this will never occur.

8. Pharaoh continued, “Yehovah is with you, just as I will send you and your little-one!” What did he mean? Pharaoh determined to not send them and their little-one—that is, their children, but spoken as if they had only one child. Since he would never be sending them and their children, his reply was that Yehovah is with them to the same degree that he will send all the Israelis. In other words, Pharaoh is declaring that Yehovah isn’t with them at all! So, now, Pharaoh is acting as if he is a spokesperson for Yehovah!

9. What did Pharaoh mean by, “See ye that bad is straight-to your faces”? Pharaoh is now becoming threatening. The way they are going is going to lead them to harm or death. Bad in the Bible refers to some form of destruction, harm, loss, and even death.

10. When Pharaoh said, “Not established,” what was he saying? He was expressing the opposite of “He will be so”—that is, “He will be established.” He is declaring, “No way!”

11. To whom was he speaking when he said, “Go-ye, na, valiant-ones”? He was speaking to Moshe, to Aharon, and to all the strong Israeli men. He told them to go ahead, but in a threatening way—something like this: “You just try it!”

12. He continued with, “And serve ye Yehovah!” Was he giving permission? He was being very sarcastic. Sarcasm is a form of communication in which a person says the opposite of what the person means with a voice that shows contempt.

13. Pharaoh ended with this statement: “For ye are seeking her!” Who is the object of the pronoun, her? The word bad above is feminine. He is declaring that they are looking for bad—what we would say, looking for trouble.

14. Who forced them from Pharaoh? This appears to be the same one who brought them. If this is the case, I propose that it is the main slave of Pharaoh.

V. The Spirit and the Locust (verses 12-15)

Yehovah told Moshe to stretch his hand upon the land of Egypt by means of the locust. Once Moshe does this, the locust will have ascended upon the land of Egypt and will have eaten every herb of the land—everything that remains after the destruction of the hail. Moshe did this with his rod. Yehovah then guided the spirit of the east (which includes the east wind) in the land of Egypt all that day and through all the night.

When the morning came, the spirit of the east carried the locust! The locust ascended upon all the land of Egypt! The locust ‘rested’ (landed) in every border of Egypt in very heavy amounts! There was no locust that had ever been established like this, and there will never be like it again.

The locust covered ‘the eye of all the land’—the entire exposed portion of Egypt! The whole land became dark from the locust; its huge cloud covered the entire land!

The locust ate every herb of the land and every fruit of the tree that remained and that survived the hail! There wasn’t any green anywhere in any tree and among the herbs of the field in all the land of Egypt!

Questions

1. How could Moshe stretch his hand upon the land of Egypt via the locust? What does this mean? Moshe had the rod in his hand. This time, he was using that rod by means of the locust to call this creature to cover the land. The text doesn’t say that Moshe had to call the locust; stretching his hand was enough.

2. Did Pharaoh see Moshe do this? No! In this case, he didn’t. He is about to feel the results, but he forced Moshe and Aharon away from him.

3. What is “the spirit of east”? The same Hebrew word that means spirit also means wind. Yet, this text gives the reader the proper impression that there was a spirit who is over the east. There are four spirits who control and run the winds on earth, according to the Bible:

Revelation 7:1 And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the land holding the four winds of the land so that the wind won’t blow on the land nor on the sea nor on any tree!

Those four angels are assigned to deal with the winds on this planet. If the winds stop, as they will in the Revelation event, the results will be terrible for all living things on the planet.

In the case of Egypt, it is different. The east wind/spirit will deliver the locusts so that they will come and cover Egypt alone.

4. The text states that the locust rested in every border of Egypt. Did that include the Israeli area? No. The Israelis only felt the first three of these plagues. There were no locusts in the Israeli area.

5. Was this locust like other locust plagues? Yehovah said, “To his faces there was not established a locust like him, and after him he will not be established.” This means that there will never be a locust like this one. There can be another locust attack that is as bad or worse, but it will be different. This one was unique.

6. What does “to his faces” mean, and whose faces are in mind? The expression means, before him—that is, in his sight, and straight in front of his face. Faces is always plural in Hebrew. The word his in to his faces refers to the border of Egypt. (The word for land is feminine, so that it can’t refer to the land.) Every border has faces; it faces toward a land and toward the outside of the land.

7. What is the eye of a land? It is the most sensitive and productive part—the part that is well-watered, like the human eye is well-watered.

8. Why was the land darkened? The locusts are darker in color than the soil, and their flying blocks out the sunlight.

9. How much did the locusts eat? They ate everything that could be eaten! (They even ate the trees. See verse 5.)

10. What were the Egyptians going to eat now that all their crops were gone? They could eat locusts; after all, they are kosher! Apart from that, they would have to purchase food from the Israelis. Though the Israelis were slaves, the Egyptians didn’t just take their things; that would have caused them to rebel as if the Egyptians were trying to kill them. The Israelis had food and crops still growing. The Israelis and the Egyptians had cattle.

VI. Pharaoh Hurries (verses 16-18)

Pharaoh was in a hurry to call Moshe and Aharon. He was also quick to confess that he sinned—not only against Yehovah, but also against Moshe and Aharon! His confession came with a request for them to carry his sin at this time and to entreat Yehovah so that Yehovah will turn away this particular death from him. Moshe exited from being with Pharaoh.

Questions

1. Why did Pharaoh hurry to call them? He knew that these creatures were destroying the land of Egypt, and thus destabilizing his authority, as well as ruining the economy. His people, the Egyptians, were in danger of starvation.

2. Was Pharaoh serious when he said, “I sinned to Yehovah your Gods and to you”? He was serious at the time; he was terrified. That doesn’t mean that he would remain that way.

3. What did Pharaoh mean by, “carry thou my sin”? The Hebrew word carry means what we expect it to mean in English, but it also is the Hebrew (and obviously the Egyptian) way of saying forgive. If one forgives another in Hebrew, that person agrees to carry the offense and its harm so that there can be peace. Every offense is a burden that the offended party must carry, but it is also a debt that the offender carries. If the offender asks the one offended to carry it, and the offended person agrees, the offense is now gone as far as both of them are concerned. (Sin always has two or more offended parties: the person who was hurt by the sin, and Yehovah Who was harmed by the sin. Every sin harms Yehovah. Every sin drove Him to provide a sacrifice worth more than the person who sinned. That is why one must also obtain forgiveness from Him; that is why one asks Him to carry the sin. That is also a very good reason to stop sinning.)

4. Pharaoh said, “carry thou, na, my sin but the stroke.” What does “the stroke” mean? This refers to the rhythm of time. It is as if a clock with a pendulum is running, and strikes every time it stops at one side or the other. Pharaoh was saying, forgive thou my sin but this time. He is very fearful.

5. Why didn’t Pharaoh entreat to Yehovah himself? Yehovah wasn’t his god, and he didn’t know how to entreat to this invisible deity. Whenever Pharaoh had previously asked them to entreat to stop a plague, they had done so, and the plague had ceased.

6. What death did Pharaoh fear? He feared either the starvation of his people, and what they would do to him because of it, or he feared dying in the midst of these terrifying locusts. No one among the Egyptians was able to sleep. No tomb would have been free of a locust if the door was opened!

7. Why is Gods plural? Even Pharaoh knew that Yehovah was all the Gods of Moshe and Aharon—the God of the land and the God of the sea; the God of prosperity and the God of the locusts; the God of the heavens and the God of physical death.

8. The text says, “And he exited from with Pharaoh.” Why didn’t Moshe say something before he exited? He didn’t need to say anything; his actions will speak louder than his words. Besides this, I suspect that all communications needed to be both loud and protected from invasion. No one wants a locust jumping into his mouth while he speaks!

9. What does “he exited from with Pharaoh” mean? Moshe was with Pharaoh during this conversation. Moshe left being with him—that is, he left the room.

VII. The Opposite Wind (verses 18-20)

Moshe entreated unto Yehovah, and Yehovah flipped over the spirit of the sea that gripped the land of Egypt. The spirit/wind carried the locust and blasted the locust toward the Ending Sea. The force was so great and so complete that not a single locust remained in all the border of Egypt.

Yehovah gripped Pharaoh’s heart. Pharaoh refused to send the children of Israel.

Questions

1. What did Yehovah do when He flipped over the spirit of the sea? He changed it completely to its reverse course so that the wind went in exactly the opposite direction. This is the wind/spirit that is over the sea. Since the spirit/wind of east brought them, that wind/spirit changed to the east. The sea is east of Egypt; the wind took them from Egypt and threw them into the sea.

2. What was very gripping? The wind was very gripping on the locusts. It grabbed them and removed them to such a degree that not a single locust was found in all the border of Egypt! That was a wind that would be of hurricane strength.

3. Who carried the locust? The wind carried the locust—that is, the spirit of the sea.

4. What does Ending Seaward mean? The Ending Sea is what we call the Red Sea, though it isn’t red, and it has absolutely nothing to do with reeds. It is the Ending Sea because it is where the Land of Israel ends to the south.

The expression, Ending Seaward, means toward the Ending Sea. Thus, “And he blasted Ending Seaward” means “And he blasted toward the Ending Sea.” The Hebrew language is very brief in its expressions.

5. What does blasted mean? The winds were so strong that they were hurricane force; they blasted means they gusted—wind gusts that picked up all the locusts in the land.

6. If one locust didn’t remain in all the border of Egypt, did even the dead locusts disappear? Even the dead ones were gone, the winds were so strong. Yehovah entirely removed all traces of them except that the land was eaten.

7. What did Yehovah do—that is, what does “Yehovah gripped the heart of Pharaoh” describe? Yehovah caused Pharaoh’s heart—that is, his mind—to grip and to cling to what he already thought—that Egypt cannot and must not afford for the Israelis to leave even for a few days. Yehovah never swayed Pharaoh’s mind to do wrong; He strengthened Pharaoh’s resolve—that is, his decision to go in a direction—so that Pharaoh stood firm on his (wrong) decisions.

8. Doesn’t this make Yehovah responsible for Pharaoh doing wrong? Anyone can help another to be resolved—that is, to stand firm—in a decision without agreeing with that decision and without being an accomplice in that decision. Yehovah kept on telling Pharaoh to send His people Israel from Egypt. Pharaoh kept on being undecided. Thus, Yehovah told him the right thing to do, but also firmed Pharaoh’s mind to make his decision. That aided Pharaoh to be firm. Yehovah was not helping Pharaoh to disobey Yehovah. If a reader thinks that Yehovah is helping Pharaoh to sin by firming his mind, that same reader will think that Yehovah is involved in every sin of the world since Yehovah gave every human physical and mental abilities that they use when they sin. That doesn’t make good sense.

VIII. Darkness and Horror (verses 21-23)

Yehovah again spoke to Moshe: “Stretch thine hand upon the heavens. And darkness was upon the land of Double-Adversity [Egypt]. And he felt darkness.”

Moshe did as he was told, and stretched his hand upon the heavens. Darkness of gloom became in all the land of Egypt for three days. The Egyptians did not see each other; an Egyptian could not see his own brother. They also didn’t arise from their own tuchases three days!

Light was to all the children of Israel in their settlements!

Questions

1. Who felt darkness (in, “And he felt darkness”)? I propose that this refers to each individual Egyptian. This was not a group terror; it was a terror that separated every Egyptian man, woman, child and baby from every other man, woman, child and baby.

2. How can one feel darkness? This darkness had a physical component (a physical part to it). It was as if a person were in a fog where the feeling of water from the fog can be felt, but this wasn’t water, and it wasn’t wet. It was like some physical item moved against their skin. They breathed this darkness in even while they felt it. This is like nightmares that some folks have. A person who is claustrophobic—that is, who is deathly afraid of tight or small enclosed places—would have found this almost deadly.

3. What does gloom mean in this text? This refers to a darkness that doesn’t permit hope or an end. It is like what one might experience in a nightmare where there is this darkness and terror of something unknown, and no way to see it.

4. Was darkness also an Egyptian deity? I propose that darkness wasn’t the deity, but the sun was. The Egyptians worshipped the Sun god. This was a conquering of the power of the Sun god.

5. Could the Egyptians just be brave, waiting for the three days of darkness to end? They had no idea that this darkness would ever end. During those three days, most would have concluded that they would die of thirst or starvation in that state as if they had been buried alive! Had they prayed to their Sun god, they would have soon lost hope in an ending.

6. If several Egyptians were in the same house, wouldn’t this have given them a little comfort to know that they were not alone? They didn’t even get up to go to each other! They heard each other, and the terrifying sounds and conversations would have made it worse, not better.

7. What does “they did not arise—a man from his tuchases three days” mean? The word tuchas is a Hebrew word meaning underneath. Some in English speak of the butt or the buttox, or even the tush. It is the human rear end. They sat down, and they didn’t get up for three days. Thus, they urinated and defecated (went to the bathroom—but not going to the room itself) right in place. They must have thought they were dead, or wishing they were dead.

8. Why didn’t they get up and go? This darkness produced a terror that kept them from going anywhere. They couldn’t sleep, they couldn’t eat; the only thing they could do very well was think.

9. Were the Israelis suffering with the same darkness? The darkness was upon all the land of Egypt, and was therefore in the Israeli settlement, too. However, wherever the Israelis were located, they had light in their settlements and where they sat or stood. Thus, they moved around and did their chores without a problem. They didn’t even need a candle; they had light everywhere.

10. What was the source of the light that all the Israelis had?

11. If Egyptians were in the Israeli settlements, did the Egypt have and see light? Yes. If the Egyptians were with the Israelis, the Egyptians too would have light. Yeshua later stated regarding the Israelis, ye are the light of the world.

12. If the light was to all the children of Israel, was it also to their parents? The word children used in the Bible always refers to offspring, and has no connection to age. These are the offspring of the man named Israel. He died many generations ago from this time, but they are still his offspring—his great, great, great… great grandchildren.

IX. Pharaoh Again Says Go (verses 24-26)

Pharaoh called unto Moshe. He commanded, “Go ye! Serve ye Yehovah!” This sounded like he had finally relented. He then added, “Only your flock and your herd he will position.” Pharaoh was not permitting them to take their flocks and their herds; they had to keep them in Egypt. He did add, “Also your little-one will walk with you!” Thus, they could take their children.

Moshe responded, “Also thou, thou wilt give into our hand sacrifices and ascensions?” They had to take their sheep and cattle in order to do sacrifices. Even if the Egyptians gave the Israelis the animals for sacrifices, Moshe asked, “And we will do to Yehovah our Gods?” This made no sense. Thus, Moshe continued, “And also our cattle will walk with us! A hoof will not remain! For we will take from us to serve Yehovah our Gods!”

Besides this, Moshe explained, “And we, we will not know what we will serve Yehovah until our coming there!”

Questions

1. How did Pharaoh call unto Moshe? The text doesn’t say. This was three days after Moshe had brought this on, and the darkness left.

2. What was Pharaoh demanding when he said, “Only your flock and your herd he will position”? He was demanding that the Israelis leave their animals while they go to serve Yehovah.

3. Why did Pharaoh insist that they leave their animals? There were several reasons:

Pharaoh knew that the Israelis wouldn’t permanently leave their animals; those were their wealth and part of their diets.
They Egyptians needed the Israelis’ animals; they purchased them and the Israelis also provided for their slavemasters. Egypt needed what the Israelis produced.

4. Why was Pharaoh so willing for them to now travel with their little one? Traveling with children will slow folks down. If Pharaoh and his army must pursue the Israelis, the children will keep them from going so far so fast.

5. Why did Moshe ask, “Also thou, thou wilt give into our hand sacrifices and ascensions?” He is asking this because the Israelis were going to do sacrifices. Will the Egyptians pay for the Israeli Holy Days? This was totally unreasonable. Besides this, sheep are abominations to Egyptians at this time.

6. Moshe continued, “And we will do to Yehovah our Gods?” What did he mean by this? Doing, in this case, referred to setting up and performing the sacrifices. Moshe was asking Pharaoh if Pharaoh was going to permit the Israelis to do sacrifices to a god whom Pharaoh and his people didn’t acknowledge. Would Pharaoh provide sacrifices for that?

7. What was Moshe telling Pharaoh when he said, “And also our cattle will walk with us”? Moshe was telling Pharaoh that the Israelis will go when they can also take their cattle and sheep!

8. What did he mean by, “A hoof will not remain”? Not even a piece of an animal of the Israelis will remain in Egypt!

9. What will the Israelis take from themselves to serve Yehovah? They will take animals from their own herds and flocks for the sacrifices, not those that belong to the Egyptians.

10. What would have been wrong with taking and using Egyptian-provided sacrifices to serve Yehovah? There would have been no problem except this: the Egyptians would have attacked and killed Israelis for using them in sacrifices to gods in whom they didn’t believe or even like.

11. Since they will not know what they will serve Yehovah until their coming to the three-days-journey location, do they have any idea of what they will serve Him? What does this mean? We think of serving someone a meal. In Hebrew, serving Yehovah isn’t providing a meal for Him, but it is doing what He commands to do. The Israelis won’t know of what the sacrifices will consist until they arrive at the location that Yehovah specifies. Thus, even if the Egyptians were willing to provide the animals, they couldn’t, since they wouldn’t know what Yehovah will require.

X. Moshe Thrust Out (verses 27-29)

Yehovah once again gripped the heart of Pharaoh. He refused to send the Israelis by not consenting to send them. Pharaoh now was very angry. He threatened Moshe: “Walk from upon me! Guard to thee!” He then added, “Do not add to see my faces! For in the day of thy seeing my faces, thou shalt die!”

Moshe responded, “Established! Thou hast spoken! I will not add further to see thy faces!” Moshe was also quite angry.

Questions

1. Yehovah again gripped Pharaoh’s heart. What does this describe that Yehovah did? Yehovah held on to Pharaoh’s mind, steadying it; and thus He aided Pharaoh in steadying his own mind regarding what he (Pharaoh) had already decided that he must not do: he mustn’t send the Israelis. Both Yehovah and Pharaoh are taking hold of Pharaoh’s mind so that Pharaoh will be strong in his decisions.

2. Why did Yehovah keep gripping Pharaoh’s mind? Yehovah determined to show his own power in Pharaoh. Had Pharaoh finally done what was right and reasonable, the power of Yehovah would not have become obvious to all concerned. Pharaoh had set his own mind to keep the Israelis as slaves. Yehovah knew this, and thus He showed His power to the Israelis, the Egyptians, the slaves of Pharaoh, and Pharaoh himself. Yehovah was not pleased with Pharaoh; his hard-headedness was not good in Yehovah’s eyes even if Yehovah’s power was shown. Instead, Pharaoh is an example to all readers of how stupid and obstinate a fool can be. Yehovah also is warning readers that Yehovah can confirm fools who will not change so that the fools run headlong into a disaster because of their own foolishness. Since Pharaoh was already minded this way, Yehovah just made certain that he didn’t back down because of Yehovah’s forces. Yehovah never forced Pharaoh to do right.

3. What does “Walk from upon me” mean? It means, “Go away from me!”

4. What does “Guard to thee” mean? It means, “Look out!”

5. What does “Do not add to see my faces” mean? This means, “Don’t come to see me again!” The expression, see my faces, is much more personal, however. It is as if Pharaoh is also saying, “Don’t come to see me to make any more requests!”

6. What was Pharaoh doing when he said, “For in the day of thy seeing my faces, thou shalt die”? He was threatening Moshe to kill him. Pharaoh now behaved as a king; he was through playing with Moshe.

7. Did Moshe agree to not see Pharaoh again? He agreed to not seek to see Pharaoh again. He was fed up with Pharaoh and with his stupidity! That doesn’t mean that Moshe never saw Pharaoh again; he did see him later.

8. Did Moshe now leave Pharaoh? Read on! See if he left or if he stayed! Stay tuned… Now for a word from our sponsor…

October 22, 2010July 5, 2017

Exodus 10 Locusts and Horrifying Darkness

Locusts and Horrifying Darkness

Background and Printed Text: Exodus chapter 10

Locust

Felt Darkness

I. The Purpose of Weighting a Heart (verses 1-2)

Yehovah told Moshe to again come unto Pharaoh. Yehovah took credit for ‘weighting’ Pharaoh’s heart and the heart of his slaves, giving the reasons:

In order to put Yehovah’s signs in his midst
So that this ‘thou’ will scroll what Yehovah Himself did in Egypt in the ears of his son and the son of his son
So that this same ‘thou’ will scroll Yehovah’s signs that He placed in them
So that this ‘ye’ will know that He is Yehovah.

Questions

1. What did Yehovah do when He weighted the heart of Pharaoh and Pharaoh’s slaves?

2. Why did Yehovah do this?

3. How did Yehovah put these signs in Pharaoh’s middle (midst)?

4. What does scroll mean in verse 2?

5. Who is thy in, “in the ears of thy son and the son of thy son”?

6. Have the Israelis realized that He is Yehovah?

II. The Locust Threat (verses 3-6)

Moshe and Aharon came. They told Pharaoh that Yehovah Gods of the Hebrews said, “Until when hast thou refused to humble from my faces?”

They then told Pharaoh what Yehovah further said: “Send my people, and he has served me!” This was the same message that Yehovah kept sending to Pharaoh.

Moshe then turned and exited from being with Pharaoh.

Questions

2. Why is Yehovah angry when He is the one who keeps working on Pharaoh’s mind so that Pharaoh won’t send the Israelis?

3. Again, why didn’t Yehovah just take His people out of Egypt instead of insisting that Pharaoh send them?

4. What does bringing a locust into the land have to do with their sending the Israelis out of the land?

5. Is Yehovah bringing just one locust? Why does He refer to the locust as if it is one?

6. Would a locust attack like this be scary? What would it be like?

7. What does “he will cover the eye of the land” mean?

8. Who won’t be able to see the land, and what does this mean?

9. What is “the escapee” that remains from the hail?

10. How can the locust eat all the tree? Do locusts eat wood?

11. What else, besides the above, will the locusts do?

12. Did Pharaoh believe Moshe?

III. Slaves and Sense (verse 7)

Questions

1. What is this in, “Until when will this be to us for a snare?”

2. What did Pharaoh’s slaves advise Pharaoh to do?

3. When they said, “send the men,” did they mean the males?

4. What did the slaves of Pharaoh mean by, “Is it before thou wilt know that Egypt perished?”

IV. Pharaoh’s Strange Answer (verses 8-11)

Pharaoh then threateningly spoke: “See ye that bad is straight-to your faces! Not established!” They are headed for trouble! His saying, “Not established,” is like saying, “No way!”

Pharaoh then told them who could go: “Go-ye, na, valiant-ones! And serve ye Yehovah! For ye are seeking her!” Thus, the valiant ones in Israel could go, but the rest could not.

In anger, Pharaoh forced Moshe and Aharon out of his faces—out of his sight.

Questions

1. Who returned Moshe and Aharon unto Pharaoh?

2. When Pharaoh said, “Go ye! Serve ye Yehovah your Gods,” was he giving them permission?

3. What did Pharaoh mean by, “Who and who are the walking”?

4. Who would be going, according to Moshe?

5. What is a solemnity?

6. What does “For the solemnity of Yehovah is to us” mean?

7. Pharaoh’s next reply was, “He will be so!” What did he mean by this?

8. Pharaoh continued, “Yehovah is with you, just as I will send you and your little-one!” What did he mean?

9. What did Pharaoh mean by, “See ye that bad is straight-to your faces”?

10. When Pharaoh said, “Not established,” what was he saying?

11. To whom was he speaking when he said, “Go-ye, na, valiant-ones”?

12. He continued with, “And serve ye Yehovah!” Was he giving permission?

13. Pharaoh ended with this statement: “For ye are seeking her!” Who is the object of the pronoun, her?

14. Who forced them from Pharaoh?

V. The Spirit and the Locust (verses 12-15)

The locust covered ‘the eye of all the land’—the entire exposed portion of Egypt! The whole land became dark from the locust; its huge cloud covered the entire land!

Questions

1. How could Moshe stretch his hand upon the land of Egypt via the locust? What does this mean?

2. Did Pharaoh see Moshe do this?

3. What is “the spirit of east”?

4. The text states that the locust rested in every border of Egypt. Did that include the Israeli area?

5. Was this locust like other locust plagues?

6. What does “to his faces” mean, and whose faces are in mind?

7. What is the eye of a land?

8. Why was the land darkened?

9. How much did the locusts eat?

10. What were the Egyptians going to eat now that all their crops were gone?

VI. Pharaoh Hurries (verses 16-18)

Questions

1. Why did Pharaoh hurry to call them?

2. Was Pharaoh serious when he said, “I sinned to Yehovah your Gods and to you”?

3. What did Pharaoh mean by, “carry thou my sin”?

4. Pharaoh said, “carry thou, na, my sin but the stroke.” What does “the stroke” mean?

5. Why didn’t Pharaoh entreat to Yehovah himself?

6. What death did Pharaoh fear?

7. Why is Gods plural?

8. The text says, “And he exited from with Pharaoh.” Why didn’t Moshe say something before he exited?

9. What does “he exited from with Pharaoh” mean?

VII. The Opposite Wind (verses 18-20)

Yehovah gripped Pharaoh’s heart. Pharaoh refused to send the children of Israel.

Questions

1. What did Yehovah do when He flipped over the spirit of the sea?

2. What was very gripping?

3. Who carried the locust?

4. What does Ending Seaward mean?

5. What does blasted mean?

6. If one locust didn’t remain in all the border of Egypt, did even the dead locusts disappear?

7. What did Yehovah do—that is, what does “Yehovah gripped the heart of Pharaoh” describe?

8. Doesn’t this make Yehovah responsible for Pharaoh doing wrong?

VIII. Darkness and Horror (verses 21-23)

Yehovah again spoke to Moshe: “Stretch thine hand upon the heavens. And darkness was upon the land of Double-Adversity [Egypt]. And he felt darkness.”

Light was to all the children of Israel in their settlements!

Questions

1. Who felt darkness (in, “And he felt darkness”)?

2. How can one feel darkness?

3. What does gloom mean in this text?

4. Was darkness also an Egyptian deity?

5. Could the Egyptians just be brave, waiting for the three days of darkness to end?

6. If several Egyptians were in the same house, wouldn’t this have given them a little comfort to know that they were not alone?

7. What does “they did not arise—a man from his tuchases three days” mean?

8. Why didn’t they get up and go?

9. Were the Israelis suffering with the same darkness?

10. What was the source of the light that all the Israelis had?

11. If Egyptians were in the Israeli settlements, did the Egypt have and see light?

12. If the light was to all the children of Israel, was it also to their parents?

IX. Pharaoh Again Says Go (verses 24-26)

Besides this, Moshe explained, “And we, we will not know what we will serve Yehovah until our coming there!”

Questions

1. How did Pharaoh call unto Moshe?

2. What was Pharaoh demanding when he said, “Only your flock and your herd he will position”?

3. Why did Pharaoh insist that they leave their animals?

4. Why was Pharaoh so willing for them to now travel with their little one?

5. Why did Moshe ask, “Also thou, thou wilt give into our hand sacrifices and ascensions?”

6. Moshe continued, “And we will do to Yehovah our Gods?” What did he mean by this?

7. What was Moshe telling Pharaoh when he said, “And also our cattle will walk with us”?

8. What did he mean by, “A hoof will not remain”?

9. What will the Israelis take from themselves to serve Yehovah?

10. What would have been wrong with taking and using Egyptian-provided sacrifices to serve Yehovah?

11. Since they will not know what they will serve Yehovah until their coming to the three-days-journey location, do they have any idea of what they will serve Him? What does this mean?

X. Moshe Thrust Out (verses 27-29)

Moshe responded, “Established! Thou hast spoken! I will not add further to see thy faces!” Moshe was also quite angry.

Questions

1. Yehovah again gripped Pharaoh’s heart. What does this describe that Yehovah did?

2. Why did Yehovah keep gripping Pharaoh’s mind?

3. What does “Walk from upon me” mean?

4. What does “Guard to thee” mean?

5. What does “Do not add to see my faces” mean?

6. What was Pharaoh doing when he said, “For in the day of thy seeing my faces, thou shalt die”?

7. Did Moshe agree to not see Pharaoh again?

8. Did Moshe now leave Pharaoh?

October 4, 2010July 5, 2017

Exodus 9 Plague, Ashen Boil, Bombing Hail, Voices, Lightning, Rain

Plague, Ashen Boil, Bombing Hail, Voices, Lightning, Rain

Background and Printed Text: Exodus chapter 9

Exodus 9:1 And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe], “Come unto Pharaoh. And thou shalt speak unto him: ‘So said Yehovah Gods of the Hebrews, “Send my people, and he has served me!” ²For if thou art refusing to send, and thou art yet gripping into them, ³behold the Hand of Yehovah is being in thy cattle that is in the field—in horses, in asses, in camels, in herd and in flock, a very heavy plague! ⁴And Yehovah will segregate between the cattle of Israel and between the cattle of Egypt. And not a thing will die from all to the sons of Israel!’”

⁵And Yehovah put an appointment to say, “Tomorrow Yehovah will do this speech in the land.” ⁶And Yehovah did this speech from tomorrow. And every cattle of Egypt died. And not one from the cattle of the children of Israel died. ⁷And Pharaoh sent. And behold, not unto one from the cattle of Israel died. And the heart of Pharaoh weighted. And he did not send the people.

Ashen Boil

⁸And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe] and unto Aharon, “Take ye to you a fullness of your fists of ash of a furnace. And Draw [Moshe] shall sprinkle him heavens-ward to the eyes of Pharaoh. ⁹And he shall become to powder over all the land of Egypt. And he shall be upon the adam and upon the beast for a boil flowering eruptions-eruptions in all the land of Egypt.” ¹⁰And they took the ash of the furnace. And they stood to the faces of Pharaoh. And Draw [Moshe] sprinkled him heavens-ward. And the boil of the eruptions-eruptions flowered in adam and in beast. ¹¹And the diviners were not able to stand to the faces of Draw [Moshe] from the faces of the boil. For the boil is in their diviner and in all Egypt. ¹²And Yehovah gripped the heart of Pharaoh. And he did not hearken unto them just as Yehovah spoke unto Draw [Moshe].

Bombing Hail, Voices, Lightning, Rain

¹³And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe], “Early-rise in the morning. And position thyself to the faces of Pharaoh. And thou shalt say unto him, ‘So said Yehovah Gods of the Hebrews, “Send my people, and he has served me! ¹⁴For in this stroke I am sending all my plagues unto thine heart and into thy slaves and into thy people for the sake that thou shalt know that there is not like me in all the land! ¹⁵For now I sent my hand and I smote thee and thy people via pestilence. And thou hast been expunged from the land! ¹⁶And silently for the sake of this I ‘stood’ thee—for the sake of showing thee my power and in order to publish my Name in all the land! ¹⁷Thou art yet building-up thyself via my people to not send them! ¹⁸Behold I am raining very heavy hail as a time tomorrow, that there was not like him in Egypt from the day of her being founded and unto now! ¹⁹And now, send! Firm thy cattle and all that is to thee in the field. All the adam and the beast that he will find in the field, and he will not be gathered to the house, and the hail will descend upon them, and they shall die!”’”

²⁰The fearer of the speech of Yehovah from the slaves of Pharaoh made his slaves and his cattle flee unto the houses. ²¹And who did not put his heart unto the speech of Yehovah, and he forsook his slaves and his cattle in the field.

²²And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe], “Stretch thine hand upon the heavens! And hail was in all the land of Egypt—upon the adam and upon the beast and upon every herb of the field in the land of Egypt!” ²³And Draw [Moshe] stretched his rod upon the heavens. And Yehovah gave voices and hail! And fire walked landward! And Yehovah rained hail upon the land of Egypt!

²⁴And hail was very heavy, and fire taking herself in the midst of the hail—that there wasn’t like him in all the land of Egypt from then, her becoming to a race!²⁵And the hail smote all that is in the field from adam and unto beast in all the land of Egypt. And the hail smote every herb of the field. And he broke every tree of the field. ²⁶Only in the land of Goshen where the sons of Israel are there, hail wasn’t.

²⁷And Pharaoh sent. And he called to Draw [Moshe] and to Aharon. And he said unto them, “I sinned the stroke! Yehovah is the righteous! And I and my people are the culpable-ones! ²⁸Entreat-ye unto Yehovah, and multiply from there being voices of gods and hail. And I have sent you. And ye shall not add to stand!”²⁹And Draw [Moshe] said unto him, “As my going out of the city, I will spread my palms unto Yehovah. The voices shall cease and the hail will not be any more, so that thou shalt know that the land is to Yehovah! ³⁰And thou and thy slaves—I knew! For before ye will fear from the faces of Yehovah Gods, ³¹and the flax and the barley—she was smitten!” For the barley is spring, and the flax is exalted-above. ³²And the wheat and the spelt were not smitten, for they are darkened.

³³And Draw [Moshe] exited the city from with Pharaoh. And he spread his palms unto Yehovah. And the voices ceased, and the hail and rain. And he did not pour-forth landward. ³⁴And Pharaoh saw that the rain ceased, and the hail and the voices. And he added to sin. And his heart heavied—he and his slaves. ³⁵And the heart of Pharaoh gripped. And he did not send the children of Israel just as Yehovah spoke via the hand of Draw [Moshe].

I. The Threat to Herd and Flock (verses 1-4)

Yehovah commanded Moshe to come unto Pharaoh. Moshe introduced whom he was quoting: “So said Yehovah Gods of the Hebrews.” Yehovah’s command to Pharaoh was the same as it had previously been: “Send my people, and he has served me!” Moshe then gave Yehovah’s threat: “For if thou art refusing to send, and thou art yet gripping into them, behold the Hand of Yehovah is being in thy cattle that is in the field—in horses, in asses, in camels, in herd and in flock, a very heavy plague!”

Moshe then declared the segregation that Yehovah will perform: “And Yehovah will segregate between the cattle of Israel and between the cattle of Egypt. And not a thing will die from all to the sons of Israel!”

Questions

1. Why did Yehovah insist that Pharaoh send Yehovah’s people (instead of just leading them out, and stopping Pharaoh from stopping them)?

2. Does Yehovah ever threaten anyone?

3. What is the Hand of Yehovah, and how does this hand differ from Yehovah?

4. Yehovah threatened the horses, asses, camels, herd and flock of Pharaoh and all Egypt (except for the Israeli herds and flocks) if Pharaoh didn’t send the people of Israel. Why was Yehovah willing to harm animals that couldn’t do anything about what Pharaoh chose to do?

5. Why did Yehovah segregate between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt? Define segregation:

6. How many animals of the Israelis normally died on a daily basis in Egypt?

II. One Day’s Notice (verses 5-7)

Yehovah Himself set the appointment for this event, and Moshe told Pharaoh this: “Tomorrow Yehovah will do this speech in the land.”

The text then explained that Yehovah did this speech (what He said) from tomorrow—that is, it began starting the next day. Every cattle of Egypt died. Not even one of the Israelis’ cattle died!

Pharaoh sent investigators to see if any of the Israelis’ cattle died, and they found that not a single animal died. How did Pharaoh respond? His heart (mind) weighted—he became concerned about what would happen if he sent the Israelis. He didn’t send the people.

Questions

1. What is an appointment in the Bible, and why is this word so important?

2. Verse 5 states, “Tomorrow Yehovah will do this speech in the land.” What speech will He do?

3. The next statement says, “And Yehovah did this speech from tomorrow.” What does from tomorrow mean?

4. How many of the Egyptian cattle died in this plague?

5. How many died from the Israeli cattle?

6. For what purpose did Pharaoh send, and whom did he send?

7. Why did Pharaoh’s heart weigh, this time, and what does this mean?

III. Boils with Eruptions (verses 8-12)

Yehovah now directed both Moshe and Aharon: “Take ye to you a fullness of your fists of ash of a furnace.” Thus, they filled their four fists with furnace ash. Yehovah told only Moshe to sprinkle the ash toward the heavens directly in the sight of Pharaoh. When Moshe does this, the ash shall become a powder over all the land of Egypt! The powder will land upon ‘the adam’ (the human, referring to every human) and upon the beast (referring to every beast). It will then become a boil that flowers and erupts over again over all the land of Egypt.

Moshe and Aharon did as they were told, taking ash of the furnace. They then stood directly in front of Pharaoh. Moshe sprinkled the ash toward the heavens. The boils flowered with eruptions in man and animal.

The diviners couldn’t stand directly in front of Moshe because of the faces of the boil! The diviners erupted with boils, as well as all Egypt.

This time, Yehovah gripped the heart (mind) of Pharaoh! Pharaoh didn’t hearken unto them, which is what Yehovah had said Pharaoh wouldn’t do.

Questions

1. Why did Yehovah command both Aharon and Moshe to take a fistful of ash from a furnace when only Moshe was commanded to sprinkle the ash toward the heavens?

2. What does “upon the adam” mean (when ‘adam’ isn’t capitalized)?

3. What is a boil?

4. What does “a boil flowering eruptions-eruptions” mean?

5. What beasts were there since so many of the cattle of the Egyptians died?

6. Why did Yehovah also put boils on Egyptian cattle?

7. Did the Israelis’ cattle also suffer with boils?

8. Would Egyptian cattle that was temporarily grazing on Israeli lands and in the hands of the Israelis be safe from the boil?

9. Why weren’t the diviners able to stand in front of Moshe?

10. What does “For the boil is in their diviner and in all Egypt” mean?

11. How long did the boils and the ‘boil plague’ last?

12. Did Pharaoh get hit with the boils?

IV. Yehovah’s Threat and Editorial (verses 13-19)

Yehovah had new orders for Moshe: “Early-rise in the morning. And position thyself to the faces of Pharaoh.” Yehovah identified Himself in the normal way: “So said Yehovah Gods of the Hebrews.” Yehovah commanded Pharaoh in the usual way: “Send my people, and he has served me!”

Yehovah then followed this with a direct threat: “For in this stroke I am sending all my plagues unto thine heart and into thy slaves and into thy people for the sake that thou shalt know that there is not like me in all the land!”

Yehovah then gave the result of this threat being carried out: “For now I sent my hand and I smote thee and thy people via pestilence. And thou hast been expunged from the land!”

Why did Yehovah tolerate Pharaoh? He explained: “And silently for the sake of this I ‘stood’ thee—for the sake of showing thee my power and in order to publish my Name in all the land!”

Yehovah openly stated Pharaoh’s motives: “Thou art yet building-up thyself via my people to not send them!”

Thus, Yehovah told Pharaoh what was next coming: “Behold I am raining very heavy hail as a time tomorrow, that there was not like him in Egypt from the day of her being founded and unto now!”

Yet, Yehovah told Pharaoh what to do to save the humans and the cattle: “And now, send! Firm thy cattle and all that is to thee in the field.”

He gave the results of not doing this: “All the adam and the beast that he will find in the field, and he will not be gathered to the house, and the hail will descend upon them, and they shall die!”

Questions

1. Did Pharaoh enjoy seeing Moshe early in the morning?

2. Why did Yehovah use the very same wording over and over again when He said, “Send my people, and he has served me”?

3. What does stroke mean in, “For in this stroke, I am sending…”?

4. What did Yehovah mean by, “in this stroke, I am sending all my plagues unto thine heart?

5. What was the purpose for sending all these plagues?

6. Yehovah said, “For now I sent my hand.” What does this mean?

7. What will the hand be doing, according to verse 15?

8. What does smite mean?

9. What does pestilence mean?

10. What does expunged mean?

11. Who will be expunged from the land?

12. Wouldn’t this be a direct threat to Pharaoh’s life from Yehovah? Wouldn’t Pharaoh become very angry being threatened in this way?

13. What does stood mean in, “And silently for the sake of this I ‘stood’ thee”?

14. Why did Yehovah use silently in, “And silently for the sake of this I ‘stood’ thee”?

15. What two reasons did Yehovah give for ‘standing’ Pharaoh?

16. What land did Yehovah have in mind when He said, “in order to publish my Name in all the land”?

17. What would be accomplished if Yehovah published His Name in all the land?

18. Yehovah said through Moshe, “Thou art yet building-up thyself via my people to not send them.” What was Pharaoh doing, according to this description?

19. How heavy is heavy hail?

20. Had there been hail in Egypt before this time?

21. When Yehovah gave the command, “And now, send,” whom was Pharaoh to send, and for what purpose?

22. What does “Firm thy cattle” mean?

23. What is an ‘adam’?

24. How many of the animals and humans that remain in the fields will die?

V. The Fearer and the Ignorer (verses 20-21)

Pharaoh’s slaves heard these words. Every slave who feared the speech of Yehovah made his slaves and his cattle flee unto (toward) the houses. Every slave who didn’t put his heart (mind) unto the speech of Yehovah abandoned his slaves and his cattle in the field.

Questions

1. What is a “fearer of the speech of Yehovah,” and does that person have faith in Yehovah?

2. What does “And who did not put his heart unto the speech of Yehovah” mean?

3. Why does the text state, “and he forsook his slaves and his cattle in the field” instead of stating, “and he left his slaves and his cattle in the field”?

VI. Hail, Thunder, Lightning (verses 22-23)

Yehovah commanded just Moshe to: “Stretch thine hand upon the heavens.” Yehovah told Moshe the results: “And hail was in all the land of Egypt—upon the adam and upon the beast and upon every herb of the field in the land of Egypt!”

Moshe did as he was commanded, stretching his rod upon the heavens. Yehovah gave voices and hail! Fire walked toward the land! Yehovah rained hail upon the land of Egypt.

Questions

1. How can Moshe stretch his hand upon the heavens when Moshe just isn’t that big?

2. When did Moshe stretch his hand upon the heavens?

3. Wasn’t Moshe outside when this occurred? If so, wasn’t Moshe in danger of being hit by the hail and being killed?

4. What else besides humans and cattle was destroyed?

5. In what danger was the land of Egypt because of this hail, besides those who were killed by it?

6. Yehovah told Moshe to stretch his hand upon the heavens; Moshe stretched his rod upon the heavens. Did Moshe do wrong?

7. What does “Yehovah gave voices” mean?

8. What causes these voices?

9. What does “fire walked landward” describe?

10. The text doesn’t describe any rain. Did it rain?

VII. Devastation (verses 24-26)

The hail was very heavy (both in the amount of hail and in the size of the hail). Fire took herself in the midst of the hail! That is fire and ice at the same time! This kind of a hailstorm never occurred from the time that Egypt (the original person) became a race! The hail smote (attacked with the force to kill) everything in the field including man and animal. The hail smote every herb of the field. It also broke every tree of the field! There was no hail, however, in the land of Goshen where the sons of Israel are.

Questions

1. How heavy was the hail?

2. What does “fire taking herself in the midst of the hail” describe?

3. What does “there wasn’t like him in all the land of Egypt from then, her becoming to a race” mean?

4. What does smote mean?

5. How many herbs of the field survived this hail?

6. How many trees survived this hail?

7. Did the Israelis see the hail?

8. Were the Israelis being slave-driven during this time?

VIII. False Repentance (verses 27-30)

Pharaoh sent and called Moshe and Aharon. He admitted that he had sinned this time, and that Yehovah is righteous. He then stated that he and his people are the culpable ones.

He told them to entreat unto Yehovah, and multiply from their beings voices of gods and hail. On this condition, Pharaoh stated, “I have sent you. And ye shall not add to stand!”

Moshe responded, “As my going out of the city, I will spread my palms unto Yehovah. The voices shall cease and the hail will not be any more, so that thou shalt know that the land is to Yehovah!”

Moshe then added, “And thou and thy slaves—I knew! For before ye will fear from the faces of Yehovah Gods, and the flax and the barley—she was smitten!”

Moshe explained, “For the barley is spring,” that is, the barley is coming up well, as it does in the spring of the year. “And the flax is exalted-above,” meaning that it is already several inches high. “And the wheat and the spelt were not smitten, for they are darkened,” meaning that the tender plants haven’t yet broken aboveground.

Questions

1. When did Pharaoh send for Moshe and Aharon?

2. Where were Moshe and Aharon located during the storm?

3. What does “I sinned the stroke” mean?

4. Pharaoh also said, “Yehovah is righteous!” Did he mean it?

5. Was “I and my people are the culpable-ones” true?

6. What does entreat mean?

7. What does “multiply from there being voices” mean?

8. Pharaoh called the thunder voices of gods. Was he right?

9. Pharaoh promised that if Moshe and Aharon entreated unto Yehovah, and if Yehovah stopped the voices of gods and the hail, he would send the Israelis. Was this true?

10. Pharaoh also said, “And ye shall not add to stand.” What does that mean?

11. Did Moshe believe him?

12. Moshe told Pharaoh that he was going out of the city, at which time he would spread his palms unto Yehovah. Wasn’t he afraid of being hit by the hail or struck by the lightning?

13. What was the point of this terrible destruction, according to verse 29?

14. Who is ‘I’ in, “And thou and thy slaves—I knew”?

15. What did he know?

16. What is flax?

17. What is barley?

18. What does “barley is spring” mean?

19. What does “the flax is exalted above” mean?

20. What does being darkened mean in verse 32?

IX. Sinning More (verses 33-35)

Moshe left the city and Pharaoh. He spread the palms of his hands unto Yehovah. The voices ceased, as well as the hail and the rain. The rain didn’t pour down on the land.

Pharaoh saw that the rain ceased, as well as the hail and the voices. He sinned even more! His heart (mind) heavied, and so did the heart of his slaves!

Pharaoh’s heart gripped, hanging on to his views from before. He didn’t send the children of Israel, exactly as Yehovah spoke by means of the hand of Moshe!

Questions

1. Verse 34 states that Pharaoh “added to sin.” What did he do that was sin?

2. What does “his heart heavied” mean, and why did the heart of his slaves do the same thing?

3. The next text states that the heart of Pharaoh gripped. What does this mean?