2.15.25 ~ The Blueprint for our Journey
Good morning!
Shabbat shalom
If you want to hear the most important phrase for any married couple, courters, daters, anyone who has a friend or for anybody in their covenantal marriage with the Lord, you’ll want to listen to last night's zoom call. Within the study you'll find that 'listening' is the key to your relationship becoming a special treasure, set apart, and an influence within the world.
This week’s Torah portion includes the conversion of Moses Father-in-law Jethro, the Midianite Priest. We know from the. narrative that he was a seeker of truth and had investigated many of the different spiritual paths, pagan traditions of his era, and his journey before he came to the conclusion to accept, to consciously choose the God of Israel as his God (Exodus 18:11).
How did it happen? It was all about what He heard/shema. Jethro heard what the Lord God had done to the children of Israel, by taking them out of the land of Egypt. It was after hearing this news that he left his home land and came with Moses' family to be reunited (Ex. 18:2-6).
The question for us this morning is, "what did he hear that moved him to join the children of Israel, what did he "doubly hear" (Ex. 18:1)?
"And/v'shema Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' Father-in-law, heard/shema all that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people, that the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. (Ex. 18:1)
I'm certain there were many things, but there are three that jump off the page to us: The miracles of the Exodus, the splitting of the Red Sea and the battle with Amalek.
At first blush the third item doesn't seem to match the first two. The first two were all about the power of God destroying the enemy, but in the third, it's all about Israel fighting their own fight. Hmmm. Enquiring minds want to know. Normally, we'd include the Passover with the Red Sea event, but they are separate because they do two different things.
The Exodus at Passover provides an opportunity for all the nations to join the Israelite people to follow the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob on the journey to Mt. Sinai and ultimately the Promised Land (Deut. 6:23-25); which included people like the daughter of Pharaoh and the Edomite Caleb, the future head of the tribe of Judah, a mixed multitude of people and more.. The Red Sea event, as a separate event, makes a clear distinction of separating the bad apples from the good (Ex. 14); making a line of demarcation between the sparks of goodness from those whose lives were darkened by using those around them for their own gain.
Since the Exodus serves as a blueprint for the final redemption there's a myriad of lessons for us to learn (1 Cor. 9:24-10:12), which. might explain why so many eyes are opening to the truth of including the Torah instructions and narrative into their lives and the dual revelation of Jethro (Ex. 18) and Amalek (Ex. 17); highlights how moments of redemption bring out both righteousness and opposition...like boiling water that brings the scum to the surface, so too we see that external pressure reveals, and will reveal, what's on the inside of each of us, now and during the final exodus that we’re all waiting (Jer. 16:14-21; 1 Thess. 5:1-4; etc.).
We will come back tomorrow and dissect the story of why God fought against Egypt during their days of slavery and at the Red Sea during the season of Passover and Unleavened Bread, but left the Israelites to fight for themselves against the most diabolical enemy: Amalek.
It's not quite a cliffhanger, but it will explain what Jethro "doubly heard" and why he took such action to join himself with the people of God at Mt. Sinai; the blueprint for our journey.
After you listen to the zoom call, let me know what your thoughts are about listening, I'll look forward to 'hearing' your insights.
Have an amazing Shabbat!
Passover's coming (1 Cor. 5:6-8)!
Shalom
If you want to hear the most important phrase for any married couple, courters, daters, anyone who has a friend or for anybody in their covenantal marriage with the Lord, you’ll want to listen to last night's zoom call. Within the study you'll find that 'listening' is the key to your relationship becoming a special treasure, set apart, and an influence within the world.
This week’s Torah portion includes the conversion of Moses Father-in-law Jethro, the Midianite Priest. We know from the. narrative that he was a seeker of truth and had investigated many of the different spiritual paths, pagan traditions of his era, and his journey before he came to the conclusion to accept, to consciously choose the God of Israel as his God (Exodus 18:11).
How did it happen? It was all about what He heard/shema. Jethro heard what the Lord God had done to the children of Israel, by taking them out of the land of Egypt. It was after hearing this news that he left his home land and came with Moses' family to be reunited (Ex. 18:2-6).
The question for us this morning is, "what did he hear that moved him to join the children of Israel, what did he "doubly hear" (Ex. 18:1)?
"And/v'shema Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' Father-in-law, heard/shema all that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people, that the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. (Ex. 18:1)
I'm certain there were many things, but there are three that jump off the page to us: The miracles of the Exodus, the splitting of the Red Sea and the battle with Amalek.
At first blush the third item doesn't seem to match the first two. The first two were all about the power of God destroying the enemy, but in the third, it's all about Israel fighting their own fight. Hmmm. Enquiring minds want to know. Normally, we'd include the Passover with the Red Sea event, but they are separate because they do two different things.
The Exodus at Passover provides an opportunity for all the nations to join the Israelite people to follow the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob on the journey to Mt. Sinai and ultimately the Promised Land (Deut. 6:23-25); which included people like the daughter of Pharaoh and the Edomite Caleb, the future head of the tribe of Judah, a mixed multitude of people and more.. The Red Sea event, as a separate event, makes a clear distinction of separating the bad apples from the good (Ex. 14); making a line of demarcation between the sparks of goodness from those whose lives were darkened by using those around them for their own gain.
Since the Exodus serves as a blueprint for the final redemption there's a myriad of lessons for us to learn (1 Cor. 9:24-10:12), which. might explain why so many eyes are opening to the truth of including the Torah instructions and narrative into their lives and the dual revelation of Jethro (Ex. 18) and Amalek (Ex. 17); highlights how moments of redemption bring out both righteousness and opposition...like boiling water that brings the scum to the surface, so too we see that external pressure reveals, and will reveal, what's on the inside of each of us, now and during the final exodus that we’re all waiting (Jer. 16:14-21; 1 Thess. 5:1-4; etc.).
We will come back tomorrow and dissect the story of why God fought against Egypt during their days of slavery and at the Red Sea during the season of Passover and Unleavened Bread, but left the Israelites to fight for themselves against the most diabolical enemy: Amalek.
It's not quite a cliffhanger, but it will explain what Jethro "doubly heard" and why he took such action to join himself with the people of God at Mt. Sinai; the blueprint for our journey.
After you listen to the zoom call, let me know what your thoughts are about listening, I'll look forward to 'hearing' your insights.
Have an amazing Shabbat!
Passover's coming (1 Cor. 5:6-8)!
Shalom
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