Parasha Va'era
Exodus 6:2-9:35

By: Dani'el Rendelman

 

 

What do you do when you have a sudden toothache?  Many people simply take a few Tylenol and suffer through the pain for a few minutes while continuing life as normal.  Small sudden toothaches don’t command that much attention.  They seem to be more of a nuisance than anything. When your molar sings with a sudden sharp sting as you bite down on a cob of corn do you rush right out to the dentist?  For most people a slight pain in the mouth is just that – a slight pain in the mouth.

 

A dentist though, has a different view on tooth pains.  Dentists and doctors will tell you that your mouth is communicating to you when you experience a pain.  “Something is wrong,” the pain-filled and painful tooth, screams with a jolt on a nerve. If the problem is soon treated it can usually be repaired without much trouble.  But if the pain is ignored, if the warning signs are looked over, the tooth can decay and grow an infection.  Even worse, the tooth can abscess and become a big problem. (And if you’ve never experienced the agony of an abscessed tooth then count yourself blessed because they are about as painful as a soaking wet person sitting in the electric chair. Ouch!)

 

It doesn’t take long for a cavity left without proper treatment to soon become a major mouth problem. Just a little toothache won’t bring someone to their knees but an abscessed tooth can lead to stomach pains, missed work, and an expensive dentist bill.  All of this could be avoided though if the warning signs were heeded and the source of the pain is dealt with before it grows worse.  A lot of pain could have also been avoided if Pharaoh would have obeyed and let Israel go.

 

More than just a toothache

Like an ongoing toothache that grows and grows in the level of pain are the plagues upon Egypt. To stop the pain all Pharaoh had to do was release the Israelites.  All you have to do is go to the dentist when the pain starts, but who does? Who rushes out to the dental office at the first sign of pain?  It is a sad fact that everyone has a little pharaoh “inside” themselves. To this the Scriptures say not to act like Pharaoh and  “harden not your heart,” in Tehillim (Psalm) 95:8. 

 

Pharaohs continue on with life even though they can see it causing anguish to those around them. We, little Pharaohs, ignore words of caution because of self-interest.  We curse those people who play the part of Moshe and warn us of danger. We tell ourselves that “they’re just meddling” as the plagues continue and as the pains continue. When there is distance between man and Yahweh it is not hard to figure out who moved away – it is always man. Again we are like pharaoh, doing our own will.  How different though would the Biblical account would read if Pharaoh had allowed Egypt to journey into the dessert the first time he was asked?  How different would your life be if you would heed the good advice of the prophets around you who point you in the direction of the Word?

 

For many years Bible commentators have somehow blamed Father Yahweh for Pharaoh’s obstinate heart and actions.  They teach that Yahweh had violated Pharaoh’s free will and made him treat Israel and Moshe with contempt.  This is simply not the case. What happens to Pharaoh and Egypt is Pharaoh’s fault.  Don’t blame Yahweh.  And don’t blame Yahweh for what happens in your Pharaoh-like life.  If a person sets himself or herself against the Mighty One of Israel there will be consequences.  This week’s story is simply reflective upon the principle of cause and effect. “Do not be deceived: Elohim cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows,” Galatians 6:7.

 

Any action performed sets off an undeniable chain of events that will result in that action being responded to.  Scientists will tell you that for “every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” In this Parasha reading it is easy to see that the action of slavery brought about freedom, disobedience led to the plagues, and Pharaoh hardening his own heart resulted in Yahweh confirming this attitude and allowing it to continue.  It seems that for His own purposes Yahweh allows people to wallow in their sins for a season.  “The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life,” Galatians 6:8.

 

You can read in the portion and find that during the first five plagues Pharaoh’s “heart remained steadfast.”  His heart simply would not yield to Yahweh.  It did not take a divine action on behalf of Yahweh to cause Pharaoh to be disobedient to the words “let my people go.”  Pharaoh had nothing and no one to blame for his cruel attitude and behavior but himself. Five times his heart was set on setting itself against the will of Yahweh.  As a direct result Pharaoh’s heart will continue to grow cold five times more. Five times Pharaoh sowed a “steadfast” heart and five times he received a “hardened” heart.  Five plus five equals ten right?  There were ten plagues right?  It seems to all add up.

 

A warning sign was given each time Moshe went to Pharaoh and a plague followed.  They proclaimed, “you reap what you sow, if you obey the Elohim of the Hebrews you will be blessed but if you disobey you will be cursed.” The plagues were proving Beresheet 12:3, “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse.” Pharaoh had at least ten opportunities to heed Yahweh’s commands but did not.  During each act of rebellion his heart moved farther away from Yahweh’s will and grew colder in the process.  Each of the plagues occurred to teach Pharaoh, the entire world, and even Israel about Yahweh.  “Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites.  And the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it,” Shemot 7:4-5.

  

Here are a few of the lessons that are taught in this Parasha:

 

Yahweh is Elohim. “This is what Yahweh says: By this you will know that I am Yahweh: With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood.  The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink; the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water,” Shemot 7:17-18.  “Then Yahweh said to Moshe, “Get up early in the morning, confront Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what Yahweh, the Mighty One of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me, or this time I will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth,” Shemot 9:13-16.

 

Yahweh is all-powerful. “But when the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they could not. And the gnats were on men and animals. The magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of Elohim.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not listen, just as Yahweh had said,” Shemot 8:18-19.

 

Yahweh is righteous. “And Pharaoh sent, and called for Moshe and Aharon, and said unto them, I have sinned this time:  Yahweh is righteous, and I and my people are wicked,” Shemot 9:27.

 

Yahweh distinguishes between Israel and the pagans. “But Yahweh will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and that of Egypt, so that no animal belonging to the Israelites will die,’ Shemot 9:4.

 

These plagues occurred to teach the world that His name is Yahweh and His might is unequal.  “Therefore I will teach them—this time I will teach them my power and might. Then they will know that my name is Yahweh,” Yermi’yahu 16:21.  Unfortunately, the warning signs continued to go unheeded and build in severity until Pharaoh’s own magicians could not reproduce them (as with the lice).  The magicians even soon became subject to them (as with the boils.) The seventh plague, hail, was the first to claim human life, foreshadowing the death that would rain down during the last and final plague.  All of this happened as a message, “I have cut off nations; their strongholds are demolished. I have left their streets deserted, with no one passing through.  Their cities are destroyed; no one will be left—no one at all.  I said to the city, ‘Surely you will fear me and accept correction!’  Then her dwelling would not be cut off, nor all my punishments come upon her. But they were still eager to act corruptly in all they did,” Zephani'yah 3:6-7.

 

The events in this week’s Torah Parasha are set in place to soften Pharaoh’s heart not harden it.  It was Pharaoh’s own disobedience, his own pride that caused his punishment and ironically brought glory to Yahweh. Like a toothache that grows in intensity of pain, the plagues were admonitions of trouble.  “Happy is the man that feareth his ways: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief,” Mishlei (Proverbs) 28:14. 

 

Do you feel a slight pain when you read this teaching?  It could be that your heart is hardened to the voice of Yahweh.  Have you recently told Yahweh “no?”  Maybe through the years you have been hurt by religious systems or religious people.  Perhaps your actions or attitudes have built walls of separation between yourself and Yahweh. The throbbing pain you might be feeling is that of distance.  You see when a person disobeys Yahweh that person distances themselves from Yahweh. Each step in disobedience leads farther and farther away from the Truth.  And with each step away from the Almighty it is harder to hear his voice. The heart, the mind, the will, and the soul hardens as a result of separation from the Creator. Will it take ten plagues for you to obey? Will your small cavity of distance abscess into a painful infection?  Messiah Yahshua asks, “Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened?” (Mark 8: 17)