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)
