"And I will get honour over Pharaoh, and over all his host" Parashat Beshalach

"And I will get honour over Pharaoh, and over all his host" Parashat Beshalach
Year 5764; By Messianic Jewish Rabbi Jack (Yacob) Farber, Congregation Melech Yisrael, Toronto, Canada
http://www.cmy.on.ca/toraportions200.../beshalach.htm (Online version)
Congregation Melech Yisrael, Toronto, Canada
Shabbat 15 Shevat 5764, February 7, 2004
http://www.cmy.on.ca / cmy@ca.inter.net

This week's Reading list:
* Shemot / Exodus 13:17-17:16
* Shoftim / Judges 4:4-5:31
* Yochanan / John 6:22-40

We have all been taught that HaShem is a G-d of mercy. However some of the things HaShem does in our lives are hard to accept and they do not seem so merciful. That is because what our teachers have neglected to teach us is that HaShem’s mercy does not always operate the way we expect it to, much less does it always operate the way we want it to. One thing we can be sure of however, HaShem never leaves us in the dark. I am not referring to Him being our personal pillar of fire; I mean He clearly teaches us how He operates right out of the Words of His manufactures manual, the Bible. Here is a good example of that in the Words of Parsha Beshalach.

Shemot {14:1} HaShem spoke to Moshe (Moses), saying, {14:2} "Speak to the bnei of Yisrael (children of Israel), that they turn back and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, before Ba'al-zephon. You shall encamp opposite it by the sea. {14:3} Pharaoh will say of the bnei Yisrael, 'They are entangled in the land. The wilderness has shut them in. “{14:4} I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will follow after them; and I will get honour over Pharaoh, and over all his host; and the Mitzrayim shall know that I am HaShem.” They did so.

Migdol was a fortified city on the Egyptian border. The bnei Yisrael had orderly left the Pharaoh’s clutches and were at this point a safe distance out of harms way. The multitude must have breathed a collective sigh of relief, having by now realized they were on their way to the Promised Land and a new life of freedom, something that was only a dream a month ago. Can you just imagine the high they must have been on? Their taskmasters were humiliated and defeated, and Pharaoh was safely behind them, plus they were rich! Remember bnei Yisrael did not leave empty handed. The Mitzrayim armed the bnei Yisrael and provided them with riches, the likes of booty normally won only at the expense of a war. Now here they were at Ethem getting ready to camp down for the night, preparing to tuck the little ones in. Their thoughts I am sure were on tomorrow’s journey which would bring them closer to the fulfilment of their dream. Then out of nowhere HaShem instructs Moshe to turn them all back. Yes HaShem was telling Moshe to take bnei Yisrael from a place of security back to a place of vulnerability, and what for? So that the Mitzrayim would know that He is HaShem? I thought that is what the plagues were all about? Had the Mitzrayim not already figured that one out? Well obviously not!

However there is another reason I believe HaShem had bnei Yisrael backtrack, thus putting themselves into harms way. He tells us what that reason is right in this passage of Scripture:

Shemot “{14:4} I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will follow after them; and I will get honour over Pharaoh, and over all his host; and the Mitzrayim shall know that I am HaShem.”

“…and I will get honour.” The key word here, I think, is GET. Now the word Get does not appear in the original text however from the use of the Hebrew word VEEKAVEEDAH, which comes from the Hebrew root word KABAD which means ‘To HONOUR ONESELF,’ we can understand that HaShem was going to honour himself, or GET honour by what He was going to do. The honour, I believe HaShem wanted to get, at the expense Yisrael’s enemy, was actually from bnei Yisrael, not from the Mitzrayim at this point. However by recording this story in Torah, HaShem also wants to get honour from us, yes even you, how?

Many believers are under the misconception that when they come to salvation, HaShem’s mercy insures them, from that day forward; their life is going to be easy. That is from now on their life will be without any conflict, without any battles, without any disappointments, strife, stress or hardships. Well what we are learning here, direct from Scripture and this Parsha, is that this is not true.

After HaShem redeemed the bnei Yisrael by the blood of the Pesach (Passover) lamb, brought them out from under Pharaoh with signs, wonders and great wealth, He had the bnei Yisrael backtrack over territory they had already traversed. Can you imagine the ordeal of turning approximately two million people around? Yet HaShem intentionally did this to put the bnei Yisrael in harms way. You and I of course know the end of the story, so it is easy for us to understand His strategy. However place yourself in Yisrael’s position; they had no prior knowledge of what was going to happen next. Unlike us they did not know how the story was going to end or that it was going to have a happy ending.

Shemot {14:5} It was told the king of Mitzrayim that the people had fled; and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was changed towards the people, and they said, "What is this we have done, that we have let Yisrael go from serving us?" {14:6} He made ready his chariot, and took his army with him; {14:7} and he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Mitzrayim, and captains over all of them. {14:8} HaShem hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Mitzrayim, and he pursued after the bnei Yisrael; for the Bnei Yisrael went out with a high hand. {14:9} The Mitzrayim pursued after them: all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen, and his army; and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Ba'al-zephon.

Sure enough, Pharaoh took HaShem’s bait and went after his perceived prize. We all know what happened next, Mitzrayim’s horses and riders were drowned in the sea and bnei Yisrael made it safely to the other side. Did HaShem GET His honour? You bet He did!

Shemot {14:31} Yisrael saw the great work which HaShem did to the Mitzrayim, and the people feared HaShem; and they trustd in HaShem, and in his servant Moshe.

So here is what I hope you have learned from this portion of Parsha Beshalach. Not all of the hot spots or tight spots you get into are from HaSatan (Satan), some of them and in my opinion if you are a believer in Mashiach (Messiah) Yeshua, all of them are orchestrated by HaShem. He is the one that gets you in and He is the one that will get you out. He has taught us here, how He operates and why He does it the way He does. In the end the bnei Yisrael learned to fear and trust HaShem, they gave Him honour. HaShem like wise puts you in tight spots now and them. However if you do not faint but stand and wait for the glory of the L-rd, in the end you too will learn to fear (reverence) and trust Him so that He will GET the honour. Next time you are between a rock and a hard place remember this!

*********************
Baruch HaShem
Rabbi Jack (Yaacov) Farber
"Haleluya L'Adoneinu Moreinu V'Rabeinu Yeshua Melech HaMashiach L'Olam Vaed"
Hallelujah to our Lord, our Teacher, our Rabbi, "YESHUA" King Messiah for ever and ever!!!
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Shalom Shalom....

[paizanoc]

2 things:
First, not all the people here understands the Hebrew names. You gotta explain the MITIZIDIRIM are Egyptians for them to understand, ok?
Second: you can still take the vowel O out of the title "god" writing a ridiculous "g*d" which is just a translation of a title, not the name of God, so your superstition goes beyond the commandments not to name God's name in vane or unholy way. You know pretty well the title was applied in the Bible to false gods, to judges and even to Moses in Exodus 7:1. Even worst, you know if you write "god" is not just a title but a title translated to English, not a revealed language. So there's no escape in Jewish absurdity. For the rest of participants who maybe bored because this fellow has written so many times, perhaps you wanna know others point of view. Check info and photos about Red Sea miracle:
http://www.anchorstone.com/images/wheels1.jpg
http://www.anchorstone.com/images/chariotwheel.gif
http://www.anchorstone.com/number3.html
http://www.wyattmuseum.com/red-sea-crossing-04.htm
http://www.wyattmuseum.com/red-sea-crossing-05.htm
http://www.wyattmuseum.com/images/wpe4A.jpg
http://www.wyattmuseum.com/sinai-05.htm
If you can't enter directly, you can click the proper issues about Red Sea and Sinai at the left column.