1.9.26 – Lead Me

Exodus (Shemot – "names") is a book where the focus turns from individualism to the power of a nation to overcome the world system of Egypt, which seeks to enslave and occupy its slaves with meaningless tasks, genocide, fear, and taxation out the wazoo!

Hence, we can see that life does not make sense all the time. As we read through Scripture without knowing the end of the story, sometimes the places where individuals go and/or how Yahweh leads them are enigmatic at best. The patriarch Jacob had a dream about a ladder that went to heaven (Gen. 28), and with that revelation came a wonderful promise that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars, the dust of the earth, and the sand on the seashore. Yahweh Elohim also promised to him that He would always be with him and would bring him back to the very land of Promise where this vision was occurring (Gen. 28:12–15). Little did Jacob know what the next twenty-two years would hold for him before the reality of his homecoming would be experienced.

As we enter into the first Torah portion in the book of Exodus, it is good for us to remember the last words that we find Yahweh Elohim speaking in the book of Genesis, which seem to go contrary to the promise of the nation becoming like the dust of the earth in the Promised Land. In fact, Yahweh says to him, "Do not be afraid to go down into the land of Egypt, for I will be with you and I will make you a great nation, and I will bring you back again, and Joseph will place his hands on your eyes" (Gen. 46:3–4).

I find it interesting that Egypt (Mitzraim), a place of bondage, would be a place where God chooses to multiply the people into a great nation—as numerous as the dust of the earth. A place of captivity in order to produce freedom. I am sure this is not what Jacob had in mind when he had his vision of the ladder (John 1:51), but it was part of the heavenly plan.

Life takes us into places that we did not think we would ever go. Some conscious decisions take us places we wish we had not gone, and other times, those decisions were the very means by which deliverance or victory came.

With 2025 in our rearview mirror, it would do us well to reflect upon the directions that Yahweh has led our lives, individually and collectively, to propel us into 2026. You haven't given up on your New Year's resolutions, have you :-)?

More than ever, we need the priestly ministry of Yeshua (Heb. 4:14–16) to lead (nachah) us through the valley of the shadow of death to a table spread before us in the presence of our enemies (Ps. 23). We need to be dependent—like Eleazar while looking for a bride for Isaac (Gen. 24:27, 48), like the pillar of cloud and fire that led (nachah) Israel out of Egypt (Ex. 13:17, 21; Neh. 9:12), like the Lord who leads (nachah) me by still waters (Ps. 23:3), who will guide (nachah) me with His counsel and receive me to glory (Ps. 73:24), like God's commandments and Torah that lead (nachah) us even while we sleep and wake (Prov. 6:19–23) and prevent us from the counterfeit, whorish woman (Prov. 6:24–32), like King David, who asked the question, "Who will lead me (nachah) into the besieged city and into Edom?" (Ps. 60:9; 108:10), etc., etc. Life does not always come with the clearest roadmap. But we can be guaranteed, most of all, when He leads (nachah):

"And the LORD shall guide (nachah) you continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not."
(Isa. 58:11)

The most challenging to me is how He leads me to face my enemies. If—and because—He holds my enemies in His hand, why do I get afraid? Could it be that I do not know the end from the beginning? Or maybe I just do not know which way to go! It is not that I do not believe in His ability to lead correctly, but my ability to see is limited to twenty miles' visibility on a clear Michigan day. Honestly, I cannot see where I am going. I do not have a "seer." I do not have signposts everywhere. We do not have a prophet taking us by the hand, and selfless shepherds are hard to find (John 10:1–9). We do not have a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night to guide us overtly. It feels like we are walking in circles over the same ground constantly, struggling with the same old issues, looking through the glass dimly (1 Cor. 13:12).

In all these nachah references, the individuals are looking for more than a king or military general. They were looking for a Priest and King. David was looking for guidance for life's journey, not just the next victory. Yes, David had commandments to guide him, and they are paths to righteousness (Ps. 5:8), but David was wanting nachah. In Paleo-Hebrew, the pictographic meaning of each Hebrew consonant—nachah (nun, chet, hey)—he was looking for the revelation (hey) of a fence that separates (chet) life from death (nun).

At the beginning of this year, things may not always seem as they appear! Life's realities may not be as "real" as you think! They are only steps to the end, which is what Yahweh is most concerned about. Having finished Genesis, our studies make me realize that Yahweh does not always utilize or direct in the way that we think. And we will see more of the same in our Exodus studies.

What we can be sure of is that He knows the end from the beginning (Isa. 46:10; Eccl. 1:8). He knows how to lead us into Egypt and bring us out again (Ex. 1–12). He knows how to take individual decisions, good or bad, and turn them into good (Gen. 50:19–21).

Decisions from your past and realities now are not the end of the story. One word of advice that has been given to me is, "Don't get bogged down in your current circumstances and/or situations. When you are not sure what is going on around you or how you are going to make it through a confusing time, ask more than 'what'? Ask 'Who'! He will show you how to come out of Egypt into the Promised Land, amidst all the gobbledygook! And when you know the 'Who' but it still does not make sense, take a note from Mary's heart and ponder these things in your heart (Luke 2:19).

Shalom!
Alan