316. Moses-or Moshe in Hebrew-is the central human figure in the Hebrew Bible, the great lawbringer, and for Christians, the symbolic model for Jesus. Moses was saved after a king ordered the Jewish babies killed; Jesus was saved after a king ordered Jewish babies to be killed. Moses parted the waters; Jesus walked on the waters. Moses spent forty years in the wilderness; Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness. Moses went to a mountain and gave a sermon; Jesus gave a sermon on the mount. Moses delivered the covenant; Jesus delivered the new covenant.
317. Aaron was Moses' older brother. He was a good speaker (Moses was not) and was sent by God to help Moses ask Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. He served as the first high priest of Israel. He and Moses were the leaders of the exile from Egypt.
318. The escape from Egypt. Moses went before Pharaoh and demanded that his people be set free. The story of Moses-who was miraculously saved and raised as royalty, then lost his position due to immature violence, only to be called by God to greatness-is a wonderful riches-to-rags story. The plagues, the escape, and the parting of the Red Sea make it one of the most-told stories of all time.
319. "The Song of Miriam," a victory chant led by the sister of Moses after the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, is thought to be one of the oldest poetic verses in Hebrew Scriptures:
"I will sing to the Lord'
for He is highly exalted.
The horse and its rider
He has hurled into the sea."
Exodus 15:21
320. The "Aaronic benediction" was given by God to Aaron. This extremely ancient blessing is still widely used in temples and churches today among both Jews and Christians:
"The Lord bless you
and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you
and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn His face toward you
and give you peace."
Numbers 6:24-26
321. God brought His people out of Egypt and they settled in the desert. The Israelites, as they come to be called, didn't always trust God as they should. They constantly forgot what a miracle their escape from Egypt was. As a result they suffered some difficult times and were eventually forbidden to go into the Promised Land God had for them until the entire first generation of people died off.
322. A flakelike stuff as fine as frost, called manna, appeared each morning on the surface of the ground in the desert. When the ancient Israelites first encountered this miraculous provision of food from God in the desert, they asked, "What is it?!" And the name stuck. So "manna," the word the Israelites used to call the stuff on the ground, meant "whatchamacallit."
323. The Great Commandment. "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength" (Deut. 6:4-5). This is the Shema, the most commonly spoken prayer in Judaism, also traditionally called the "Great Commandment." Many Christians know it in the form that Jesus used in Mark 12:29.
324. From out of Canaan. As the Israelites approached the borders of the Promised Land, Moses sent scouts who reported giants in the land. The scouts were frightened and they returned to the camp carrying clusters of grapes and pomegranates as proof they had at least entered the land of Canaan.
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Early Israel III
306. Jacob married two sisters, Rachel and Leah. Through deceit on the girls' father's part, Jacob ended up being tricked on his wedding night. Jacob served Laban for seven years for Laban's younger daughter, Rachel. The morning after the wedding, Jacob found he had married Leah, Laban's older daughter, instead! Laban agreed to give him Rachel, too, in exchange for another seven years of service.
307. Eventually the two sisters and their two maids produced twelve sons, who would become the twelve tribes of Israel. They were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. Throughout the story of Jacob's life, God was with him. As long as Jacob remained obedient to God. he was blessed. The history of Israel would go on (and on!) all the way through the New Testament and the birth of a Savior from these early roots.
308. Before leaving the place of her birth, Rachel stole her father's "household gods." These small "household gods" were idols, typical of the cults in Canaan and elsewhere in Mesopotamia. Small statues of fertility symbols, they were placed in the homes. Laban caught up to Jacob's caravan and began to search for the idols. When Laban came to search Rachel's tent, she sat on a saddlebag which held her father's gods, telling them she was menstruating and couldn't get up. This story would have been told by the Israelites with derisive mockery as Rachel sat on the idols in her time of "uncleanness."
309. The story of Joseph's "coat of many colors" remains a favorite of many people. Joseph was the gifted son, the one who had found favor with God. He was also his father's favorite son, much to the chagrin of most of the other brothers. Jacob made Joseph the heir, even though he was the second to the youngest! He was a bold young man and his brothers eventually sold him into slavery in Egypt.
310. God never forgot Joseph, however. Eventually this young man who saw visions and could interpret dreams would make himself useful to Pharaoh himself! He would become a chief minister of Egypt and would be reunited with his family in their time of need during a drought affecting the whole land.
311. Elaborate court records survive of many of the Pharaohs before and after the presumed time of Joseph. But none of them mentions a Semite slave becoming a high official who had helped save Egypt in a time of Extraordinary famine. Periodic drought and famine were not unusual in ancient times, and several were recorded, although none exactly match the Biblical scenario. So we do not know who Joseph's Pharaoh was.
312. Joseph had two sons: Manasseh and Ephraim. The brothers were born in Egypt and would eventually be blessed by Jacob. As had happened in Joseph's own experience, God blessed the younger, Ephraim, more than the older brother, Manasseh. God's blessing continued to fall on those who were not expecting the bulk of it.
313. They all remained in Egypt and lived happily there until the whole generation of Joseph and his brothers passed away. Then they were oppressed by the Egyptians and used as slaves. The Egyptians feared the great numbers of Hebrew people being born and even demanded that the midwives kill the newborn males.
314. Moses was another miracle. he should have been killed as many of the other male infants were, but he was saved by God for a special purpose. His mother floated him down the Nile in a basket made of reeds, and he was eventually taken into the palace by the royalty of Egypt. Moses would grow up to be a great man of God and the hero of the early Israelites.
315. Egyptian texts confirm that about the time Moses became angered at seeing an Egyptian overseer beating a Hebrew worker, the Hebrews were engaged in dragging stones for temples built by Pharaoh Ramses II. The Bible says Moses killed the overseer and fled into the desert wilderness of the Sinai Peninsula where he would later see the bush that "burned with fire."
307. Eventually the two sisters and their two maids produced twelve sons, who would become the twelve tribes of Israel. They were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. Throughout the story of Jacob's life, God was with him. As long as Jacob remained obedient to God. he was blessed. The history of Israel would go on (and on!) all the way through the New Testament and the birth of a Savior from these early roots.
308. Before leaving the place of her birth, Rachel stole her father's "household gods." These small "household gods" were idols, typical of the cults in Canaan and elsewhere in Mesopotamia. Small statues of fertility symbols, they were placed in the homes. Laban caught up to Jacob's caravan and began to search for the idols. When Laban came to search Rachel's tent, she sat on a saddlebag which held her father's gods, telling them she was menstruating and couldn't get up. This story would have been told by the Israelites with derisive mockery as Rachel sat on the idols in her time of "uncleanness."
309. The story of Joseph's "coat of many colors" remains a favorite of many people. Joseph was the gifted son, the one who had found favor with God. He was also his father's favorite son, much to the chagrin of most of the other brothers. Jacob made Joseph the heir, even though he was the second to the youngest! He was a bold young man and his brothers eventually sold him into slavery in Egypt.
310. God never forgot Joseph, however. Eventually this young man who saw visions and could interpret dreams would make himself useful to Pharaoh himself! He would become a chief minister of Egypt and would be reunited with his family in their time of need during a drought affecting the whole land.
311. Elaborate court records survive of many of the Pharaohs before and after the presumed time of Joseph. But none of them mentions a Semite slave becoming a high official who had helped save Egypt in a time of Extraordinary famine. Periodic drought and famine were not unusual in ancient times, and several were recorded, although none exactly match the Biblical scenario. So we do not know who Joseph's Pharaoh was.
312. Joseph had two sons: Manasseh and Ephraim. The brothers were born in Egypt and would eventually be blessed by Jacob. As had happened in Joseph's own experience, God blessed the younger, Ephraim, more than the older brother, Manasseh. God's blessing continued to fall on those who were not expecting the bulk of it.
313. They all remained in Egypt and lived happily there until the whole generation of Joseph and his brothers passed away. Then they were oppressed by the Egyptians and used as slaves. The Egyptians feared the great numbers of Hebrew people being born and even demanded that the midwives kill the newborn males.
314. Moses was another miracle. he should have been killed as many of the other male infants were, but he was saved by God for a special purpose. His mother floated him down the Nile in a basket made of reeds, and he was eventually taken into the palace by the royalty of Egypt. Moses would grow up to be a great man of God and the hero of the early Israelites.
315. Egyptian texts confirm that about the time Moses became angered at seeing an Egyptian overseer beating a Hebrew worker, the Hebrews were engaged in dragging stones for temples built by Pharaoh Ramses II. The Bible says Moses killed the overseer and fled into the desert wilderness of the Sinai Peninsula where he would later see the bush that "burned with fire."
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