Parashat B'shalach

Lead them: show them the way toward an intelligently-chosen goal; a different word is used for leading herds of animals. (Hirsch) Aramaic, "The people might panic." "Shortest" is literally "near". It may actually have nothing to do with the Filistines themselves; this was just the route by which it should only take eleven days to get to the Land. But recent archaeological discoveries reveal that along this route, the Egyptians had fortresses every few miles, so the Israelites would have had to fight their way through if they went this way. They were inexperienced in battle after several hundred years as slaves. There was also a honeymoon period with YHWH first. (Deut. 24:5) But why would they be fearful of war if they had left Egypt as "organized armies" (12:51 and v. 18 below)? It is sad that this would make us decide we really didn’t want the Land. We have had much handed to us, but eventually there will be battles when we leave Egypt, though we could avoid it this time. We know that when Y’hoshua arrived in Kanaan, he found all the peoples fearful of them instead. The word for "change their minds" here stems from "comfort themselves" or "be at ease". The grass might have seemed greener back in Egypt, but to think that way we would have to forget that what was there was death and slavery. Community os the place to learn to fight Egyptian ways and the Egyptian mindset.

By fives: or harnessed, i.e., in orderly ranks. LXX: "in the fifth generation", i.e., from Yaaqov. Aramaic targum Pseudo-Jonathan even has “each [man] with five little ones”! Another Aramaic targum has, "armed for war". The five may, of course, symbolize the Torah, but also the five gifts in Ephesians 4 that bring YHWH's congregation to maturity and fruitfulness; when each is in place, nothing is lacking. But in context, it fits best with the redemption of the firstborn with five sheqels (ten men, a congregation, see note on v. 15). The redemption of the firstborn allowed us to ascend. Anciently this would have been called “traveling by houses”, and we see this phraseology throughout the exodus. The basic building-block of Israel is not the individual, but the “house”. The indvidual is just the “mud” from which the “bricks” to build the house are made.

Attend to: Aram., "remember". His oath is recorded in Genesis 50:25. Having his bones at the front of the procession would remind them of this promise and give them confidence. The word for "bones" can include the whole body with its limbs, or "members". While Moshe literally brought Yoseyf's bones at this time, the prophetic level of interpretation tells us that it is the Torah (for which "Moshe" is often shorthand in the Renewed Covenant) that will bring the reunified "body" of Yoseyf's descendants back to the land of Israel one day, as YHWH promised. (Compare Y'chezqel/Ezek. 37)

The reason they went to Sukkoth (which was out of their way) is that this is where Yoseyf was buried. At the site of Sukkoth a group of twelve tombs has been discovered by archaeologists. It may be the mausoleum of the twelve sons of Yaaqov, for we only have a record of Yaaqov himself and Yoseyf being buried in the land of Israel. One entire sarcophagus is missing--not just the bones! If it had been merely raided by grave robbers, they would not have gone to the trouble of taking something so heavy. They took the whole stone container, since touching his bones directly would ritually defile them (something touching stone can never do), and they would be disqualified from participating in the feast they were about to celebrate. The feast of Sukkoth is a picture of the Messianic Kingdom, and the name "Etham" means "with them" or "their plowshare". During the Kingdom, Messiah will dwell "with us" and we will "beat our swords into plowshares". Even if we die in Egypt like Yoseyf did, weare not to remain there. We, too, need to make our children swear to bring us home, even if that only means we go back to the Land through their DNA. We are, after all, the bones of Yoseyf in this sense, and if one were to look for us, where would he find us? At Sukkoth! But we need to be gathered together so that we can leav Egypt fully.

So they could move: LXX: "to show them the way". Day and night: This visible proof of YHWH’s protection would not let them slow down; they were not intended to stop until they reached their goal. Because there was light at night, there was no excuse to not keep walking. They had a lot of ground to cover. The Exodus has begun again, so we too must be diligent night and day until we are completely out of “Egypt”. There are no private trails in Israel. If one left this asylum of the camp, he was on his own against not only the elements, which were abnormally intense at this time, but all the other dangers of the desert. Tight organization was necessary to get them all out, and there is no reason to believe it will be any different in our coming, greater Exodus. (Yirmeyahu 16:14-15)

Simply because they had begun to leave Egypt, they were already experiencing YHWH’s presence. Why should we think it would be different this time?

CHAPTER 14

2. "Speak to the descendants of Israel, and let them turn and encamp by Pi-haHiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-Tz'fon. You shall camp opposite it, by the sea.

Turn: or turn back, backtrack. They had apparently been traveling night and day for over 100 miles along the easy-to-traverse trade route that went from Egypt across to the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba (the east branch of the Reed Sea) with no obstacles in the way. Now they were being told to travel down a narrow, winding pass between high mountains—the Wadi Watir, according to Möller’s theory. It is wide enough for many people to move through. Today it has a highway, but even then the ground would have been solid and it is 50 to 100 feet wide. It ends at a 2-mile-wide peninsular beach on the shore of the Gulf (called Nuweiba today), which is nonetheless blocked off on the north and south by mountains which come all the way to the gulf. Pi-haHiroth: "mouth of the cave "; Aramaic: "Entrance to Hiratha”; it may refer to the spot where the wadi ends at the beach. Baal-Tz'fon: "Lord of the north" or "winter". The targums say there was an idol by that name located here. Note that they wish to be an a position opposing what is named after a pagan deity. The location may have been directly across the Reed Sea. Migdol: means "a tower". It may have been an Egyptian watchtower along the route, since Pharaoh had news of the Israelites’ whereabouts relayed to him.

Confused in the land: "entangled", or "sunk"Aramaic, "wandering around the land in confusion". I.e., they could not figure out how to get out. But it literally means, they are mentally involved with the land. We have seen earlier that “the land of Egypt” often refers to its people. Though free, we can still be entangled with Egypt by letting associations with its people keep us from full disentanglement. Pharaoh thought that though they had gotten the best of him, his land had beat them. These ignorant slaves did not know they were getting themselves lost. He put his faith in his land (and thereby in its gods), giving it the credit for his “luck”. But the land is one of the things YHWH had made war on, because He was taking His “land” out from it (grain by grain) and putting it where He wanted it. A traveller named Eneman, who wanted to retrace their steps, says that to go from Etham (13:20) to Migdol was to backtrack partway. Thus YHWH made it look as if they were lost, so Israel could be "the cheese on the mousetrap" to lure Pharaoh and his army to the grand finale. They were truly being trapped, had YHWH not intervened. There was no natural escape. But YHWH was a factor, and thus not the land, but the sea, would trap Pharaoh.

YHWH was not only interested in rescuing the Israelites, but also in revealing to the Egyptians who He is and that their gods were powerless against Him. Even if they did not care to obey Him, He wanted to make sure no credit went to Ra—or Ba’al-Tz’fon--for the wonders done there. But He also wanted to use this situation to train His people as an army. We could say He was “leading them into temptation”, for the word used by Yahshua in Mat. 6:13 means “trial of faith”, “test”, or “experiment”. His people have seen the plagues and have had a pillar of fire escorting them through the wilderness, so they should know He is able to rescue them now. If they trust YHWH now, the test will merely be an experience. If they grumble or doubt, He has to lead them back into “temptation” (testing). In context, what Yahshua is telling us to pray for is enough faith to not need to backtrack. Nearly every liturgy of the Jews (if not every one) alludes to the Exodus, so undoubtedly Yahshua, a Jew, is referring precisely to this passage and the continuing tests YHWH gave Israel throughout the next years, because His next phrase is “Deliver us from evil”, the “evil” meaning “what is full of labor and hardships”. What could be a better description of what they had gone through in Egypt? It is hard to overcome until we are walking the Torah path. But once we are, the same situations that were once temptations will be confirmations of YHWH’s deliverance, because they will not weigh heavily on us anymore, though we will have to persevere through them. If we do not learn from the trials, we have to keep returning to what we were delivered from. Not that we will have ever “arrived” in this age, but if we look at the tests as open doors for YHWH to show His power, they need not be disastrous. Had they fled instead of obeying, they would not only have died, but Egypt would not have learned that YHWH does indeed deliver His people. What a privilege that He would allow our experiences to bring such honor to Himself that even the “Egyptians” of today recognize how great He is!

Notice that the heart of Pharaoh's servants, once ready to admit that YHWH was more powerful than the king, was now united with Pharaoh's, because they realized that they had made a tactical mistake, because there were still some half-finished cities to be built, and if there were no more slaves, they would have to finish the job themselves! In Pharaoh’s mind, they were only going to take a three-day leave of absence, but when his spies told him how much ground they had covered in such a short time, he realized they were leaving permanently. Not only had he lost his labor force; his pride was offended by these lowly Hebrews who had gotten the best of him! Now he thought they had been driven back from their intended course by the might of Baal-Tz’fon, the god of death, blight, and barren places (hence the desert), from which we derive "typhoon". Now that their path to freedom was cut off, he could get his slaves back despite his "foolish" decision to let them go. (Hirsch) And technically, he “held their birth certificates”, so YHWH had to somehow deal with this apparent obligation they still had as his citizens. Yahshua has bought our citizenship (Phil. 3:20), holding the record in heaven until He brings it back to claim us as His citizens, as YHWH did here. He owns us, and the following chapter (Phil. 4) lists ways in which we should begin living according to the laws of the new Kingdom even now while we are still physically in exile: using our freedom to serve one another, and thinking of noble, praiseworthy things—not fear of what the Egyptian system can still do to us.

Pharaoh took the attitude that “if I can’t have them, nobody can!” The word for "took" includes the concepts of attracting, acquiring, and flashing brightness of his attire. They were to all be under his direct command. Who wouldn't go along to be part of the army of Ra when he looked so dashing and powerful? "Egypt" will pursue us as well; Yahshua made it clear that we are to expect persecution (being pursued) and, some, martyrdom, yet not one hair of our head will ultimately be lost.

The word for chariots here was also used for an upper millstone (which rides upon the lower one and does the turning). Pharaoh was considered the water-god, so they had "Pharaoh" on both sides of them. To the Israelites it looked as if they would be "ground to pieces" by these millstones, but YHWH looked at it more like the millstone that Yahshua said was meant to weigh someone down and drown him in the sea (see 15:5). Officers: Aramaic, "warriors".

Strengthened the courage: or hardened the heart, but here we see that He really “stopped his brain”! He made him do something stupid. That is the reward for someone who sees YHWH’s plagues, yet tries to defeat Him yet again. With a high hand: a legal status of full independence which Pharaoh had granted them at their departure. (Hirsch) Aramaic, "defiantly", but possibly it was simply, like today, that their hands were raised for recognition. While in Goshe, Yoseyf had told them to keepa low profile, but not YHWH had put them in a position Pharaoh could not ignore. They have not broken up into small groups to covertly cross the border, and the Egyptians have probably never seen them all gathered in one place before. This boldness, however, was still based on Pharaoh’s permission, so they were still tied to him in their minds; when he reappeared, their boldness turned to fear again, because they felt he still had some authority over them. They were really afraid of this former master who was now out to destroy them. Josephus says the 50,000 horsemen and 200,000 footmen were sure they could easily overcome them, since the Israelites had no armor and would be weary from their night-and-day journeying. Having no weapons, what could they do but surrender or be annihilated? But the result was much like that of Goliath's overconfidence in relation to David. Such insurmountable straits are the very times to be confident in YHWH, because it gives Him the opportunity to demonstrate both His power and provision at the same time.

They were exactly where YHWH had told them to go. Probably none of them would have come this way unless Moshe had been shepherding them. But when we follow Moshe (the Torah), we will be exactly where we need to be for YHWH to work. If led by our emotions, logic, or connections to other people, we will never get to where He can make a fool of those who had held us captive.

Josephus says that not only was there a ridge of mountains terminating at the sea on each side, impassable for roughness, but the Egyptians also closed off any potential way of escape and thus hemmed them in completely. (This is exactly the scenario at Nuweiba, a 35-km.-wide peninsula that is flat and easy to camp on—12 square kilometers where millions of people and livestock could fit. But there is not even any vegetation behind which to hide, making them a very easy target. Because the mouth of the wadi is narrow, the Israelites could not see the Egyptians approaching until they were right upon them. By that time, there was no way out.) But, being exhausted from their chase, Pharaoh chose to put off the fighting until the next morning. Were terrified: They let their eyes deceive them instead of trusting in YHWH’s power. At least they cried out to Him, but His heart must have sunk because they still did not trust Him like a child who jumps into his father’s arms without hesitating. He wants us to be where He will not even have to consider whether or not we should be allowed to see battle. Ibn Ezra said they were afraid of the Egyptians because they had been taught to, ever since their youth. The whips had taught them to be compliant so they could remain under Egypt’s control. Would they trust the long line of Pharaohs or this Johnny-come-lately, Moshe? Many freed slaves in the U.S. decided it would be easier to remain with their masters because they were afraid to face the big world that they had never experienced; all their provision had come from the “big house”, and that is exactly what “Pharaoh” means! It is familiar, despite the abuse and ultimate death. Change is scary, and fear of anything other than YHWH will always breed this “slave mentality”. The Torah forces us to choose between that and genuine freedom. We need to repair what our ancestors broke by teaching our children not to fear, and the best way to do this is by ourselves not fearing.

Such deep sarcasm! One could almost say that there was little else in Egypt but graves. One's whole life, at least for the wealthy, was spent on preparing one's tomb! The pyramids are graves, and the dollar bills we use every day bear this reminder that they will lead us back into bondage. They said: not necessarily all of them, but "a little leaven leavens the whole lump", for the whole community is one unit. Their ungrateful, demanding attitude is seen in that YHWH had just delivered them—a greater favor than anyone could reasonably ask for—yet they wanted the journey to freedom to be easy as well. And we do the same every time we complain about what following YHWH is doing to our other relationships.

It could hardly be YHWH’s fault, so they blame Moshe. Being unable to begin to repay him for all he had done for them, they became angry with him instead, though he was doing the right thing. The Jews have called this concept the “bread of shame”. The remedy is to stop simply receiving and give back in whatever way we can.

Don’t be afraid: this is their first marching order. Never again…the way…: Egypt eventually recovered, but never again rose to the same level of world power that it been up to this time. Salvation: Hebrew, yeshuah.

15. But YHWH said to Moshe, "Why are you crying to Me? Tell the descendants of Israel to pull up [their tent pegs]!

Moshe did not get every detail right. Like common Christian doctrine, Moshe says to let YHWH do all the work. “It’s okay, everything will be all right!” is easy counsel to give. While “stand still” (place yourselves expectantly in YHWH's care) was assumedly all they could do, Moshe interjected his own understanding into the midst of an otherwise-triumphant prophecy. If YHWH had told them to go, should they now stop? By “encamp” (v. 2), He did not mean settle down and build houses! It was only for one night. They had to be ready to break camp when He said to. But they had put down stakes, thinking that the dangers of that particular impasse had to be a permanent problem for them. What keeps us from breaking camp and being ready to move when YHWH’s cloud moves? Loyalties and possessions that are our own instead of what relates to the common goal of Israel as a whole? They had to show their faith by their works—by walking despite the fact that it appeared this would mean they would drown. Trusting YHWH is not to be confused with laziness. He will not “break camp” for us. He will fight for us against out entrenched habits, but we have to prove we believe Him by taking the first step. Tradition says the sea did not part until someone walked into it up to his neck. (Compare Yeshayahu 43:2.) Find something in His word that relates to the problem you need to be freed from rather than basking in thwe problem and whining about how much it hurts. Trust Him to do something about it, but prod one another too. When we say “Amen”, we are actually saying, “I support that!” and promising to do something to undergird what we have seen YHWH doing in our lives.

Moshe was the one made responsible for dividing the sea—and for the actions of all of Israel! Of course YHWH had to intervene, but he had to do his part and take the first step in active faith, and lay everything on the line; only then would they would see YHWH's deliverance. YHWH had already told him the “how to”: simply lift his rod (a symbol of taking authority) and stretch out (send forth) his hand (symbolic of the Messiah). Two things are bitter to the teeth of a master: a servant who uses authority that is not his and one who does not use the authority he has been given. Moshe has shepherding skills; that is one reason he was chosen. Now is the time YHWH expects him step back into this aspect of leadership. The encounters with Pharaoh have only been job training. The dividing of the sea (often an idiom for the ever-churning Gentile nations) may be a prophecy as well when, in the end times, the harlot Babylon turns on the Beast (Rev. 17:1-16), whereby Israel can conquer both.

Honored: seen as important or weighty.

Had Pharaoh complied initially, the honor might have gone to him, but it is not ultimately about me or even about us, but about YHWH (though being about “us” is the first step in getting there). Of course there is great reward included, unless you are obeying for the reward rather than for His own sake. What master would not love a servant who was absolutely committed to him> What husband would not be kind to a woman who put his will above her own?

Messenger: There is no need to make this mystical; the messenger of YHWH who has been leading them all through this story is Moshe! As a shepherd, he would stand between his flock and whatever danger they faced, as we see David do as a youth. And he would then not step onto the other shore until they had all gotten there safely. But the advantage of sheep is that once one moves in the right direction, the whole flock usually follows. The pillar of cloud: Velikovsky speculates that a shift in the earth's axis due to the gravitational proximity of the comet through whose tail the earth passed caused the comet's tail to now appear to be a "pillar" in the other part of the sky.

LXX: "There was darkness and blackness". Aramaic: "The cloud became darkness for the Egyptians, but illumination for the Israelites at night." Yet this is assumed; the Hebrew text does not specify this, because the same entity that brings light when we are in community will seem to be darkness to anyone who is thinking only of himself. The same thing (as with the Torah) can be a curse or a blessing, depending on how we position ourselves in relation to it. If we do not pull up our tent pegs, we will be overwhelmed by it. Will we complain, or start walking? The event of being backed up against the sea certainly looked like a dark moment for Israel, it was precisely that which set them up to see what YHWH alone could do for them. The rainbow that YHWH gave as the sign that He was upholding His promise can only be seen when there are clouds present. (Gen. 9) YHWH’s presence at Sinai was in a thick, obscure cloud. (Ex. 19:16ff) During Sukkoth (when we are meant to recall the wandering in the wilderness), on another day when a cloud enveloped a mountain, YHWH revealed that this cloud was Yahshua. (Mat. 17) Misinterpretations of His words hid the Torah from Israel for centuries, but the rediscovery of His true context is now bringing light back to the Torah. And as we are baptized into the cloud (1 Cor. 10), we learn how to avoid lusting after evil as they did. When we expose enough of our self-life so that others can help beat it out of us, we win. If YHWH pushes us to move, we must see this as His blessing.

Not all of Israel was walking in righteousness yet, but Moshe was. It is only tradition that he stood right beside the sea rather than behind the whole congregation. Caused the sea to recede: Aramaic, "churned the sea"; LXX: "Carried back the sea". East wind: the opposite of a "sea wind", which in Hebrew is the same as "west wind”. But the phrase also means “an ancient spirit”, and that is indeed what makes it possible for us to become Hebrews (which means “crossers-over”). The northern basin of the Gulf of Aqaba is 900 meters deep, and its southern basin is 1900 meters deep. Only at Nuweiba is there a land bridge that is less than 100 meters below the shorelines at only a 2.2% gradient—much safer than the grade the U.S. government has determined is acceptable for handicapped people to walk or ride wheelchairs on! It is not far from Midyan and the mountain in Saudi Arabia now thought to be the true Mt. SInai (Jabal al-Lawz). Two pillars set up by King Shlomoh to commemorate the location of the crossing have been found at this point, one on each side of the Gulf of Aqaba, with inscriptions in Paleo-Hebrew referring to Moshe, YHWH, and someone's death on the one in Saudi Arabia (which has not been made available for closer scrutiny).

The “water broke” and a new nations proceeded through the “birth canal”. And they were born again, participating in a new creation, like the first in which the waters were divided and dry land appeared. (Gen. 1:9) While it would take the gravitational force of a passing planetary force to lift the waters up as if congealed (like the moon's tidal effects, only much more impressively due to its closeness), the wind was what would dry the pathway. It would also blow the cloud and thick darkness in the direction of the Egyptians and away from the Israelites. At this point the Gulf is 14 km. (about 9 miles) wide.

24. Then this is what took place in the morning watch: YHWH looked down upon the armed company of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and He noisily confused the army of the Egyptians.

Morning watch: the fourth and final watch of the night (set up to divide guard duty), from 3:00 to 6:00 a.m., when Yahshua also walked out onto the sea (Matt. 14:25). His response was the same as YHWH’s here: “O ye of little faith!” Though it seemed reasonable to be afraid of such a storm, they should have recognized that nothing could harm a boat that He was in.

Caused the wheels...to turn sideways: Like a beach at low tide, the sand would be very For them: on their side. Now that Israel has started moving forward, YHWH keeps His word and does come through for them. Finally all of Egypt recognizes who YHWH is and relates Him with Israel. They realize that her husband is just to big and powerful to defy. He finally got what they owed Him, but it was too late for them to appreciate this newfound fact:

27. So Moshe stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its usual flow, just as morning approached, and the Egyptians were rushing to try to make it while they could, and YHWH overthrew the Egyptians into the middle of the sea.

Another reason YHWH chose Moshe was because 40 years earlier he had not been afraid to kill an Egyptian. Overthrew: or "churned"; LXX, "shook off". An alternative scenario, set forth by Simcha Jacobvici that places the crossing point much closer to Goshen at Lake El-Balah (“Elohim devours” in Hebrew), which has dried up since the Suez Canal was built, theorizes that seismic activity raised some of the ground higher, then a tsunami caused by the same huge earthquake rushed inland and overwhelmed the Egyptians. He places Mt. Sinai at Jabal Hashem el-Tarif in the northeastern Sinai Peninsula, postulating that it was near one Midyanite settlement, Timnah, near modern Eilat.

A view of the possible remains of some of Pharaoh's chariot wheels. The many references here to horses and chariots are to drive home the point of how unreliable they are; all through Scripture YHWH tells us not to trust in them, but in His provision.

29. But the descendants of Israel walked on dry ground in the middle of the sea, the waters [being] a wall for them, from their right and and their left.

A wall can be a protection or a threat, depending on which (or whose) side you are on.

Looking back to the beach in Egypt where their escape was blocked, from the Saudi Arabian side of the Gulf of Aqaba at the crossing site marked by King Solomon with pillars. (Details) This officially ended their obligation to the Egyptians, because Moshe had said he would take the people three days' journey, celebrate the feast, then return to serve Pharaoh. Liberated: or saved. All Israel has already been saved once (all the “men”, not the “beasts” who remained loyal to Pharaoh). So why do we mystify His coming salvation? It is a tangible thing, involving once again the removal of His people from servitude to another master and back to their Land. Believing this in advance opens many doors in the meantime for us to cast off our sins, but this is not the whole of our salvation; it is not complete until Messiah is physically back on David’s throne. If you see yourself as Gentile, you may be saved, but you have no guarantees; if you are part of the community of Israel and live accordingly, you do have a promise of being saved.

Aramaic, "trusted in the Memra [Living Word] of YHWH and in the prophecy of Moshe..." This trust was short-lived, only lasting until He proved Himself again (15:24ff), or until they had another excuse to disbelieve (24:14ff; Yochanan 6:66). We need to be on our guard, because there will often be situations that do not appear conducive to obedience. But note that it is just as important to trust Moshe as to trust YHWH. We cannot say, “I believe what YHWH says, but that Old Testament has been done away with”, because it IS “what He says”!

CHAPTER 15

This is the first time in Scripture that a song is specifically used in praise to YHWH. It had to be written on the spot. Words are much more memorable when put to music than when merely spoken; it moves our emotions, even subconsciously at times. Tradition says the prophets sang their prophecies, which would make their content stay with the hearers even better. They instruct us to sing, cry out, and shout to YHWH “in that day” (Yeshayahu/Isa. 12) –that is, the messianic Kingdom. So we need to learn how to do so in advance so we are accustomed to it when it is time. Yirmeyahu 20 tells us to sing to YHWH in the midst of trouble so that we can see His vengeance on our enemies. Music somehow bridges the gap between the heavenly and earthly, or spiritual and physical realms. It draws us in, whether to a story or to worship. The psalms are a songbook specifically designed for use in the Temple. They call on all to participate in praise to YHWH using a melody and instruments. (e.g., Psalm 33) When they tell us to clap our hands, shout, or dance to YHWH, they are not requests but commands. They call for a vivid response to what He has done. In His presence, especially in public worship, internal praise is not enough. When He delivers His people throughout Scripture, a new song usually comes forth. (Psalm 98) Shouting aloud brings great release when we have been afraid or angered, and people do it for worthless events like a football match, and the teams feed off it; how much more do YHWH’s awesome deeds deserve an emphatic response? We are also instructed by one who was the rightful heir to David’s throne, though he never sat on it, to sing to YHWH when cheerful and to sing about YHWH to one another. (Yaaqov 5:13; cf. Ephesians 5:18) Moshe’s first phrase is in the imperfect tense, which expresses the idea that the action is not yet complete, in the sense of, "O that I could find words to offer adequate praise to express what I am feeling!" (Hirsch) This verse and 14:30 could actually be read as "YHWH will liberate Israel" and "Moshe and the sons of Israel will sing..." So this is a prophecy that in the resurrection, Moshe will lead us in that song yet again (especially since it speaks of "in that day"--a common reference to the Messianic Kingdom). This is borne out by the heavenly vision of Yochanan (John) the envoy in Revelation 15:13, when he saw those who had overcome in the final battles singing the "Song of Moshe" as well as the "Song of the Lamb". It is probably this same song, and verse 6 especially fits, with its clear Messianic references. Josephus adds that the song was in hexameter verse.

My strength: power of resistance, invincibility, like a shield; the reason I have come through it unscathed. (Hirsch) He has become: He has proven to be whatever His people need. He had kept the details of what He was doing hidden until it was time to act, but now we see that He had it all planned in advance. When Yahshua told his disciples to take His message of salvation to the “ends of the earth”, He was alluding to Yeshayahu/Isa. 45:22, which in context (v. 20, 25) is clearly referring to the exiled tribes of Israel who needed to be brought back. So, as here, national salvation is the ultimate goal of any salvation of individuals. Resting-place: with the sense of being at home and relaxed; the word is commonly used of pastureland for animals. The rabbis sometimes translate this as “I will enshrine Him”. Now that the wrath has departed from the Northern Kingdom as well as Yehudah, our deliverance from “Egypt” this time will, as before, include a homeland for Israel. But the ultimate purpose of Israel having a home is to provide a home for YHWH. Yerushalayim is called by this same word, “resting place” or “home” of righteousness. (Yirm./Jer. 31:23) We must be compatible with His presence in order to be His dweling. He tells us to keep our camp clean because He walks in it. (Deut. 23:12-14) He wants our house to look like His, so that we are not ashamed. (Y’hezq’el 43:10) The morning prayer liturgy includes the petition that YHWH rebuild Yerushalayim, then come and “rest in it”. Father: Aram., "ancestors". Until we make Him our own Elohim, we cannot recognize Him as our fathers’. Now Moshe had glimpsed an aspect of YHWH that Yaaqov had known, and had a better understanding of the relationship YHWH wanted to have with Israel. The song is about who He is as much as it is about what He has done. This is an engagement song to lead His beloved to the marriage canopy at Sinai.

Warrior: Aram., Master of victory in battles. Note the military aspect of Israel’s existence. Israel is not an aggressor, but YHWH is the one who ensures that His people who have been enslaved receive justice. (Hirsch) He had responded as provider, husband, and king, but now another aspect of His attributes comes out, because this is what Israel needed Him to be this time. And part of the reason we recognize His attributes is so we can emulate them insofar as is possible. When we thank Him publicly for what He has done, we are setting the standard for our own behavior toward the rest of His people. (By the words of our mouths we will be judged.) We will not become YHWH, but it is much better to walk in our Father’s attributes than to simply trust Him. As all the faithful of Israel imitated Moshe in antiphonal song, we are to imitate those who are already imitating the Messiah. (1 Cor. 4:14ff; 11:1; Heb. 6:10ff)

Thrown: includes the nuance of having its former direction altered and being aimed at a particular, pre-selected spot. Drowned: or embedded in the soft mud. He was not afraid even to kill others for the sake of His people.

Deep: or abyss; Hirsch, "wavy swirling floods". The bottom: or "shadowy depths".

With the pillar of fire and cloud between Israel and the Egyptians, each had a different view of YHWH’s instrument. His right hand of judgment to them was His right hand of mercy to Israel.

Pulled down...against You: Aram., "shattered those who rose up against Your people." Yet it is ultimately YHWH Himself that anyone who attacks Israel is actually striking at.

Blast: analogous to the east wind He had brought to part the sea. Stood upright: Hirsch, "stood shyly back".

Draw: literally, "empty". My desire: for revenge. I will get what I want: literally, my soul will be satisfied/filled.

Wind: Heb., breath or spirit.

Who is like You? Aram., "There is no one besides You." Majestic: from adar, a word meaning “to expand”. (There can be a second month of Adar, the last month of the year, if the barley has not yet reached the aviv stage by the time the first Adar ends, thus "expanding" this month.) “In being holy (set apart)” includes the idea of being absolutely free to will and act, unconditioned by and independent of everything else. (Hirsch) Thus YHWH’s holiness atually continues to expand, so ours must as well. To be His special possession, we must be separate from more and more things each day.

This suggests that not only did the sea open up; the ground split as well. A major earthquake was not at all unlikely in Velikovsky’s scenario of a planetary passby. But notice the parallels also with Revelation 12:15-16.

14. "Peoples heard, and they trembled. Trembling seized the inhabitants of Philistia.

15. "Then the leaders of Edom were confounded; the leaders of Moav were seized by trembling. All the inhabitants of Kanaan melted away.

These are both parts of the land of Jordan today. The evidence of the fearfulness of some of these nations would not be seen for 40 years, but he spoke it in faith. Coupled with Philistia (Palestine), it is clear that this is a prophecy of the second exodus (Yirm. 16:14-15) as well. It is Jordan that will harbor Israel during Yerushalayim’s worst time. (Yeshuayahu 16:1-5; Daniel 11:41)

This passage is part of the New Moon liturgy. Terror: this Hebrew term is always used of a superior force or power. They were technically not Hebrews ("crossers-over") until this point. Why is “cross over” repeated here? The Aramaic targum has, "cross the Arnon and the Jordon". The Arnon (between Moav and Ammon) was a major canyon to cross as well, but Yirmeyahu 23:7, 8 says this Exodus will be so overshadowed by the coming one that it will be forgotten in comparison to the return of the descendants of Israel (not only Jews, the tribe of Yehudah, but all the tribes who have not even known they were Hebrews) to the land from all over the world, not just from one country like Egypt--and from bondage to Gentile ways as well. (Yirmiyahu 16:14) Purchased: Yahshua sued haSatan by letting him kill Him unjustly. Therefore He owns the whole flock of Israel. The flock has been scattered, and must be retrieved one by one, but the ultimate intent is for the flock to be regathered into one. It is the lost sheep of the House of Israel that He sent his disciples after (Mat. 10:6), but the shepherds stopped looking for them, looking instead for “just anybody” to join their flocks so that they can feed themselves. (Yehezqel 34:8)

Plant: "fix" or "establish". He continues to speak not only of what YHWH has done, but what He will do. This is a prophecy of the Temple Mount. The next time it will be more permanent, and finally there will be a Temple not made by hands brought down from heaven. (Rev. 21:9ff)

19. "because the horses of Pharaoh came into the sea along with his chariots and horsemen, and YHWH brought the waters of the sea back on top of them, and the descendants of Israel proceeded on dry land through the middle of the sea."

20. Then Miryam the prophetess, Aharon's sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing.

Why is she not called Moshe's sister? According to Midrash, she was the one who had prophesied that Moshe would be the deliverer, while she was still an infant, and for this reason she was sent to watch over him. Aharon was also older than Moshe. However, she echoed the same things he had said, so "prophet" does not mean simply one who foretells what is to come, but one who imposes Moshe's words on a particular situation. Where did these former slaves get so many tambourines? Actually the term can mean any form of percussion instrument, from a tambourine to a drum to a wood block. There are many depictions in Egypt of music being used both for entertainment and worship, and it could be that some of the slaves were the court musicians. This may be why the tribe of Levi seemed to have more freedom than the rest of Israel, and why YHWH later put the Levites in charge of the music in His sanctuary. Imagine the sound of millions of people isnging and beating percussion instruments, echoing from the mountains around them! This in itself would begin to strike fear in the peoples around them. (vv.14-16)

She repeats Moshe’s wish to sing, but makes it plural and imperative. Answered:this probably refers to singing antiphonally, repeating the same phrases after Moshe paused, as the structure of the Hebrew text itself suggests, leaving wide gaps between each of the phrases in this song. This reverberation of thousands of percussion instruments may be part of what caused the fear Moshe mentioned in vv. 14-15! Horse and its rider: The Egyptians had sold their horses to Pharaoh for bread (Gen. 47:15ff), so they are associated with him. YHWH’s hand was against the horses of Egypt. (Ex. 9:3) Horses are mentioned first in this list of livestock. They are also listed before the chariots and even the horsemen in 14:9, 23. Why? All throughout Scripture, horses (and chariots) are a symbol of relying on natural, physical strength rather than on YHWH (e.g., Deut. 20:1; Psalm 20:7; Hos. 14:3), and very often this concept is linked with returning to Egypt for help, because it was there that horses were multiplied. (Deut. 17:16) Since Egypt is also a type of the paganized church, this also symbolizes relying on the strength of numbers in the religious system.

Had Israel set out: Again he is prodding them on as a shepherd. (See Psalm 77:20) “Moshe” (the Torah) continues to show us where to eat and drink. Shur: a wall, or "travelling". Three days into the wilderness was as far as they had originally told Pharaoh they were going, so they would expect to find a camping-place of some sort. In any case, they were supposed to celebrate a feast to YHWH at that point, but without water they thought they could not do so.

The word translated "bitter" here (Marim), when without vowel points as it was originally, is spelled exactly like "Miryam" (rebel). Perhaps this is why these verses are right after the mention of her. Now she is called a prophetess, and we can imagine that when Aharon was named high priest, the people accused them of nepotism. Marah also means "bitter". There was bitterness in their hearts, and they did not act like a community. But the rebellion was against Moshe, whom they again blamed for all their problems:

Right after this awesome celebration of worship, they are back to focusing on natural resources instead of those they have just seen demonstrated.

Directed him to: or "showed him". Threw it: or sent it forth. This portion is read right around the 15th of Shevat, the date set for counting the age of trees, since their fruit cannot be eaten before they are four years old. (Lev. 19:25) A tree is a picture of a man (Judges 9:8, etc.), and Yahshua often calls himself the one who was "sent forth" from the Father. The mention of "statute and ordinance" in this context points to the fact that water is often an idiom for the Torah. One who hangs on a tree is cursed (Deut. 21:23). Paul speaks of the handwriting that was against us--the condemning aspect of the Torah--being nailed to the "tree" on which Yahshua was hung. (Colossians 2:14) Thus this "tree" dealt with our rebellion (v. 23) and made what was necessary yet partly bitter into something altogether sweet. Elisha did a similar miracle. (2 Kings 4:40ff)

The voice: Aram., "Living Word". Right in His eyes: by listening carefully we can get past our own opinions so our emotions do not discolor what he is actually saying. This is the test: whether we will hear exactly what He is saying, with all its nuances and details, not just hear in a vague sense and add our own presumptions about what we think He may be saying. We cannot assume we know the next step, for much of our experience involves misinformation as it did for our ancestors while in Egypt, an dthis will only disrupt what He is doing. He says to look once, but tells us twice to listen, because we cannot trust our eyes, but must listen to His prescise instructions. Our view is blurred, so we need “contact” lenses—that it, contact with His word by actually carrying it out, not just hearing it. That way we learn to think the way He does. The undrinkable water was a reminder of the first plague that came upon Egypt, as a warning that YHWH could start a countdown against them in just the same way. Diseases: or weaknesses. The place we are most likely to experience these diseases is in Egypt, and if we follow His rules, we will not end up back there. A great many of YHWH's commands, especially the dietary laws, have proven to have beneficial effects on health, although their main purpose is to teach us what kind of people we ought to be. A pig eats anything indiscriminately and does not filter it properly, whereas a cow eats only what is worthy, and it "meditates" on its food, digesting it four times over. Food, of course, is a metaphor for what we take in spiritually. But Egypt is also symbolic of the church, which has become weak because of obeying only some of the commandments, not all of them. The water of the Torah seems bitter because we have been told that obeying it is rebellion against YHWH, but there is nothing else to drink. The Hebrew word for tree also means “stick”, and the two houses of Israel, when brought back together, are made “one stick”. (Yehezqel 37) When the truth that we are Israel is added to the Torah, we realize that it is our national constitution and what sets us apart as a people. It thus becomes sweet to us again in a way it never could be when we thought it was “just for the Jews”. Note that he makes a point of saying that obedience was not the goal, but "giving ear" was just as important, because many people obey in a literal sense but learn nothing from it.

Possible site of Eylim. Eylim means "strong ones". Twelve springs of water: 70 persons--still just one clan--went into Egypt (1:5), but came back out as twelve whole tribes. There are 70 nations delineated in Genesis 10, corresponding with the number of the sons of Israel. (Deut. 32:8) A (date) palm tree is a symbol of the flourishing of the righteous (Ps. 92:12); water symbolizes the teaching of the Torah, and 70 palms signifies that THIS "oasis" provides enough for all of the nations. Not until Israel had been removed from Egypt could she be such a light to the nations. This resting place is a foreshadowing of the age to come, when the leaves of the tree of life (within the city with 12 gates named after the sons of Israel) provide healing to the nations. (Rev. 22) It looks like the Kingdom, but it is only one place of provision along the way there. When He gives us provision, we must use it properly—drink it rather than polluting it—or we have failed His test. He provides the water, but does not force it into our mouths. We are accountable for what we do with His provision.

CHAPTER 16

This is thirty days after they left (on the 15th of the first month; Numbers 33:3). How quickly they forgot the greatness of Moshe, which they had extolled! There was a “honeymoon” period of nothing but nurturing after having been slaves, but even small children need to learn to walk soon. Having been in bondage day in and day out, and not free to even think on their own, they now needed to learn how to learn (in Hebrew the term means to be prodded), so they could be taught by the encounters that were to come. They had to learn quickly, because it was already time to move on, because YHWH has the ultimate goal of Home in mind. It was a place for the tribes to set their houses in order. This is the first time they are called a congregation, but still they are learning how to be one. Siyn can either mean “clay” or “thorn”—a re-creation of the one unified man or the curse of tilling the soil by the sweat of our brow. Which it is for us depends on how we choose to respond to the test it brings. The advantag we have today is that we have the Torah at our fingertips, and we can drink deeply from it at any time if we know how to prod ourselves as well, for there may not always be someone to teach us.

Grumbled: The Hebrew term also means “to spend the night”; i.e., they stopped making progress when they started complaining. We cannot break camp until YHWH tells us to, but why have some learned so much less than others? It is clear that most had used the time at “palm springs” as a vacation to just enjoy no longer being slaves, rather than first learning what the place was meant to teach them. So they became dead weight on the backs of those who were working so hard to carry them. They should have been thanking YHWH as well as Moshe, who has earned their trust and respect, but instead they try to persuade him to take on their own lack of confidence in YHWH. This is the second time they have done so in less than a month, and would continue to be the pattern. But anyone who complains is obligated to be the first to provide a solution to the problem. Ifthey are not helping carry the burden, they are part of it. With YHWH in our camp, “doing our best” is the minimum requirement, and we have a responsibility to do still more.

Proverbs 13:25 tells us that the righteous eats to the satisfaction of his soul, while the belly of the wicked is always in want. The term for “righteous” here is singular, while the term for the “wicked” is plural. We are righteous when we act as one man; once they walked away from unity, their thoughts went straight to their bellies. The Hebrew word for “belly” here also means “womb”—the place of ultimate security. This is fine for a baby, but not for a grown man, who is not meant to be back inside his mother, but rather before his Father. And our appetites go far beyond food—to power, fame, or, again, security. But these are all “empty calories”. Just when you think you have reached security, he turns out to have been a mere mirage. Maturity includes taking control over what satisfies us rather than letting the advertisers tell us what will make us content, for their wares will quickly disappoint us. Again, Egypt is connected here with death. They are saying that they would rather have died from the plagues than what they expected to be a slow starvation. (Compare Lamentations 4:9.) In Egypt there are known to have been at least 60 varierties of bread, and they were used to it being presented to them already prepared. Of course they are exaggerating about this as well as about how enjoyable their lives used to be; they were slaves! Back then they would have probably said they wouldn’t mind eating for days if they could just stop being beaten! Meat: the Hebrew word also means “glad news”, and bread symbolizes community. They preferred Egypt’s easier “gospel” and though they knew Egypt’s community (symbolic of the church) was riddled with uncleanness, still there were “programs there for their children”—which was more than they had now, when they had to teach them themselves! The life of faith wrenches us away from slavery to security as well, and on the surface it looks as if we will starve. Their own provisions are running out, and they are forced to trust YHWH. When the "mark of the beast" forbids abstainers to buy or sell (Rev. 13), this battle against the god of Egypt that stays with us after our departure will be heightened to its fullest, so that YHWH may finally be shown to be our All in all, our only source of everything. They may have been asking Moshe why they couldn't just slaughter a few of their livestock, but he had already decided to preserve them all until he knew how much YHWH was going to ask from them. (10:26)

YHWH speaks to the only one in the congregation with merit, rather than directly to those who are whining. Here I am: He has not gone anywhere, and He already had a plan in place to get them fed. He responds to their whining as anyone would respond to a baby who cannot communicate its need in any other way. But because they are still so immature, He must “lead them into temptation” again. They think everything would be fine if their bellies were just full. But He is going to show them that this is not true. He will be faithful to provide, but will they be as faithful as He afterward? Gather what is appropriate for one day: Yahshua echoes this in his prayer, "Give us this day our daily bread". Again this flies in the face of the god of security, which wants to have provisions stored up for years to come. But it literally says, “pick up a word per day”—symbolic of learning a little more of YHWH’s word each day (as in Acts 15:21), but also more and more of Yahshua, who says, “Take up your cross and follow Me”, dying to self a little more each day, and gathering more of His lost sheep (the House of Israel) each day. He could have just miraculously made them full; after all, their shoes did not wear out for 40 years. But their salvation not only fed them, but tested them. He gives us His word, but we have to show up to dig out what we need from it, then actually do what it says as well. Merely having the Scripture does not make us righteous! “The soul of the lazy desires, but has nothing; the soul of the diligent will be made fat.” (Prov. 13:4) Notice that desire alone accomplishes nothing. If we want to eat the harvest, we must plant in season. He gives us a word per day, because every word has a numeric value in Hebrew. But we do not get to choose what type of teachers He sends us. Note that it is the soul that is made wealthy; if we are not faithful with physical things, how much less will He give us His eternal possessions? Yahshua is the new standard. Weighed against him, we too have failed. We went back to Egypt. YHWH wants no one to perish, but He gave us free will, and this means most will. (Compare Yirmeyahu 42.) Those who are faithful in the smallest thing can be trusted with larger things. (Luke 16:10) These commands seemed so trifling, yet many failed even in them. Yet without passing the test of the Sabbath, we could get no further in our growth; without proving faithful in what we do with what is YHWH’s, we cannot be given anything of our own. (16:12) The Sabbath is becoming a test in our day again to see who will really leave Egypt behind and go on to the Promised Land. Another reason He does not just take away their hunger is to symbolize by their experience that the task of Israel is to gather what YHWH has given us (our lost sheep, a unified people ready to follow Him at a moment’s notice and who love their neighbors as themselves), not look for something else (Gentiles as such). (Mat. 10:5-6)

Two loaves of bread are still baked for the opening meal of the Sabbath in remembrance of this double portion. But today we live in the sixth “day” (2 Kefa/Peter 3:8)—and at the tail end of it at that, so as the Kingdom gets closer, there is more work to do to prepare for it than our predecessors had. We have to do double duty, gleaning “two words” a day now: “Love YHWH with all your heart” and “Love your neighbor as yourself”—the whole Torah, not just part of what YHWH has for us. It does not yet say not to gather on the seventh day, so this is to see whether they will obey without knowing why. What we gather now is all we will have for the Kingdom; now is the time to store up treasure in the heavens, to be used then, for it is our only supply.

7. "and in the morning you will see YHWH's weightiness on account of his hearing your grumblings against YHWH. But what are we, that you are grumbling against us?"

Those who give Israel what YHWH wants them to have, rathet than what they want, will be treated the same way. But we are to replace “Egyptian” thoughts with a new kind of knowledge.

They did not like what YHWH was doing, but complained against those who brought His word because they did not have the courage to complain directly about Him! His heeding our complaint is really a curse, for they got exacty what they asked for. He might have brought them to another place as pefect as Eylim if they had sought His Kingdom first and trusted Him to remember that we have need of such basics. (Mat. 6:25-34) But we forced Him to test us instead.

Even before he is made priest, Aharon’s job is to brig the people closer to YHWH.

The intensity of His presence is only found in His word, not in popular tales about Him. His fullness was not revealed or they would have died, but it was veiled by the cloud just as it was veiled by Yahshua’s flesh. (Heb. 10:20)

12. "I have heard the grumblings of the descendants of Israel. Talk to them and say, ‘Between the evenings you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be satisfied with bread; then You will know that I am YHWH your Elohim.'"

I have heard: i.e., they asked for it. He hears our complaints; if you do not really want it, don't ask. The next time they would ask for meat, He would give it to them ad nauseam. "Between the evenings" is exactly the time the Passover lamb was slain, and also the exact time Yahshua died. (It is an idiom for late afternoon.) The phrase, which appears ten times in Scripture, is most often related to one of the times of offering in the Temple, and was a time for prayer. What all of these have in common is that it is a time when YHWH especially opens a “window” in heaven and our prayers are heard with fewer impediments. Yahshua Himself spoke of being the reality pictured by the bread which came down from the sky ("heaven"), and linked this bread with his flesh, saying that we need to "eat" it (partake of it, absorb it into ourselves) in order to have eternal life. (Yochanan 6:51ff) Bread also pictures community (1 Corinthians 10:17) and since the words for "meat" and "glad news" are homonyms in Hebrew, we can mystically interpret this passage to be a prophecy about the glad news of Yahshua giving His flesh (the same word as “meat” in Hebrew) to be true food for the world, thus forming a body or community which will replace what the original Adam lost. But notice that Moshe spoke of there being meat to eat in the evening before YHWH said it. It is as if Moshe added to His words, and since YHWH respected Moshe’s obedience overall, He chose to honor Moshe’s idea, just as He did not let Yirmeyahu’s words fall to the ground. Then you will know: Apparently they still saw themselves as sleaves of Pharaoh, not YHWH’s prized possession. (Compare v. 6.)

Dew in itself is uncommon in a desert, where there is no evaporation. The Hebrew word for quail (selaw) comes from a word meaning to be sluggish due to being at rest or at ease. This is how the spirit of the Israelites had become.

Flake-like: completely without husk or shell, or free from any adhesions, i.e., ready to eat without any preparation (see v. 15), though it could be cooked (v. 23); or "scooped off from a liquid", i.e., the dew. Aramaic: "a very thin scale-like substance was heaped up like frost on the ground." The first layer of dew (v. 13) made the surface of the ground firmer so the fine grains of this substance did not fall into the sand and adhere to it, and the layer of dew above it protected it from any dirt settling on top of them. (Hirsch) Hoarfrost: related to kapar (protective cover).

What is it: Heb., man hu? (Literally, “He is a whatness?” or “Is it a gift prepared?” Thus, hereafter it is translated “prepared portion”. Traditionally it is known in English as “manna”.) This does not look like any bread they have ever seen, and actually it is more like grain from which bread can be made.

Since this is a continuation of the previous verse, the first phrase is still speaking of the "bread from heaven". This is reinforced by the word for "per head" here: it is actually "to/for a skull" [l'gulgoleth] in Hebrew, recalling the name of the place where Yahshua, the "bread" who is also called "the Head" (Col. 1:18), was executed [Gulgol'thah]. Each man: The head of the household is not just the breadwinner, but the chief teacher in his household as well. And YHWH defines how much each needs. An Omer is a unit of measure--a tenth of an eyfah (v. 36), the designated amount of "daily bread" that one man needs each day. It is equivalent to the amount of grain produced by one sheaf of wheat. An omer of fine flour was the sin offering for those too poor to afford the required birds. (Lev. 6:20) A priest would bring the same amount when he was being dedicated for service. (Lev. 19:36) It was the amount brought when a man suspected his wife of unfaithfulness (Numbers 5:11ff). So the specific amount of "whatness" they were to gather was a link to other spiritual concepts. The "counting of the Omer" is a 49-period from the Sabbath after Passover (when a sheaf--also omer in Hebrew--of grain was waved to dedicate the firstfruits of the barley harvest to YHWH) until Shavuoth (Pentecost), which was another firstfruits--of the wheat harvest (Lev. 23:15-16) "Tent" here is the same word often used of the "tent of meeting" or "tabernacle". So it links us to the idea of a spiritual congregation. Ten men are considered to be a complete congregation. An eyfah (ten omers), then represents the same, where it appears in scripture. An omer, which was 1/100th of a khomer, was worth half a sheqel (Lev. 27:16), which was each person's temple tax, whether rich or poor. So it represents one person, but Levite Re’uven Prager points out that as a half-sheqel, it reminds us that we are each incomplete without the rest of our Israelite counterparts. But when there was a shortfall in the number of Levites compared to the number of firstborn sons in Israel, the price of redemption of a firstborn son was five sheqels (Num. 3:47)--the value of a whole congregation. Because there was a shortfall in Adam, Yahshua, the bread from heaven, the second Adam, the true firstborn (see the type in Gen.38:29), redeemed a congregation "for a head"--that is, to complete the body of which he is the Head, and to create a spiritual dwelling place for YHWH the Father. (1 Kefa/Peter 2:5) The root word for omer means “to bind (as a sheaf)”, but it also means “to treat as a slave”, which we truly are to Him if we accept His salvation. Yet He still rewards us for our service to Him.

Each was only to gather an omer for each person in his family. Some may not have had faith to believe others would do their part, so they gathered more than their share. Or this may simply mean that those with larger families gathered more than those with smaller. What it does not say is that anyone gathered none at all.

Have any lack: Aramaic, "feel at all deprived". No one ate exactly what he collected. They pooled it all in a central location and then distributed evenly to each, and the result was an appropriate portion for each. As it was blended together, each received some from all of the others, and they were a true community. When each one was doing his job and brought all that he had gathered, there was enough for all Israel, and no one was cheated out of his share. The many members of Yahshua's "body"--the "living stones"--are also called "one bread" (1 Cor. 10:17), gathered from all over the earth [literal word for "ground" in v. 14] and then distributed to each other wherever there is a need (1 Cor. 12:11; Ephesians 4:11). Paul was writing in a very mystical Jewish pattern. The "s'firotic tree" built of ten conceptual aspects of YHWH's nature, is also called the "measurements"(linking with the omer above) and the "tree of life", since it is seen as the remedy for the Tree of the Knowledge of Right and Wrong whereby Adam and Chavvah (Eve) wanted the security of having all knowledge within themselves rather than receiving it from YHWH, the reservoir of all provision, as they needed it. In so choosing they became isolated from some aspects of YHWH's image, and all their descendants became "every man for himself". Each received some aspects of YHWH's image, but became so full of their own strengths that the image in each was shattered, having no way to "overflow" to the others. But the "last Adam" has begun to build a new body, a new "tree of life", in which the full image is again restored--fully to himself as the firstfruits (the Head, which is born first), but as the "joints and ligaments" (Ephesians 4:4-16) come together to connect the bones of this new man, overflow is again possible so that as one fills more than his "omer" share, the excess can be passed along to others. In turn, when they begin to overflow, there are conduits to other fellow members of the body, and each one fills the lack that was ordained to be in each so that each would have something to give and each would need the others. (See Paul's reference to v. 18 in 2 Corinthians 8:1-15). Thus Adam's faulty bid for selfishness begins to be repaired. During the Counting of the Omer, we especially assess what our gifts are and how what YHWH has given us is meant to be redistributed to all of Israel. What He gives us is not for ourselves, but for all Israel, and if we are united with Israel, we lose nothing and gain much more. Here in the wilderness, they were “counting the omer” every day!

What would it hurt to have extra? It erodes trust in YHWH as out provider. If we put some away, it is likely to be foir self rather than for the whole community, and we would find security in it. Yesterday’s bread is “old hat” anyway; we need a fresh word each day. (Lamentations 3:21ff)

They did not trust YHWH to provide the same the next day as well. ‘When there is daily bread provided, what is left over until the next day is wasted. There is no nourishment left in it; it is out of season. It demonstrates the selfishness which all ritual uncleanness represents, and reveals a lack of trust in YHWH's provision, which prevents us from allowing today's excess overflow to others, meeting their real needs that already exist today. Hoarding it for our own "needs" of tomorrow, which are still imaginary and not proven to even exist (Luke 12:13-34) gives it to someone it does not belong to; it is actually worship of the demon “security”, which always proves elusive. When YHWH promises there will be more tomorrow, what He gives us today is meant to meet the needs of Israel today. We should not hold back time, energy, or worship either, assuming we will have occasion to do better at another time. These worms were coccus ilicis, from the female of which crimson dye was made. The blood-red color and stench would have certainly reminded the people again of the first plague in Egypt, and warned them to stop proceeding down the course they were taking. The gate of the tabernacle later had a curtain dyed with the color from this very worm--a vivid, constant reminder of this test. This type of worm is associated with death and punishment (Yeshayahu 66:24), for disobeying the Torah always goes counter to life. (Deut. 30:15, 19; 32:47) When there was too much of this, it was a stench to YHWH, and He would no longer let us live in His Land, yet He allows others who do not even known His Name to live there now, until we again prove worthy. These worms form the Adversary’s garments (Yesh. 14:11); when we disobey, our measure become as glaringly scarlet as haSatan’s covering. Since everyone’s measure was mingled together, what one did out of season affected everyone else in Israel, as with Akhan’s sin at Y'rikho (Y’hoshua 7).

This is a reminder that the door of provision will not always be open if we put it off; we need to remember our Creator while we are young (Qoheleth/Eccles. 12:1) and not put off until noon what we could do in the morning, to paraphrase Benjamin Franklin’s adage. But on the other hand, if the provision had not been stopped, some would have continued gathering all day out of greed and wasted much of the day.

They seem proud of the fact that they had done the right thing this time. Because they had seen YHWH’s weightiness, they were concerned that they not make a false setp—though, sadly, we tend to get used to that as well and slack off. But though they had been told what to do, they did not know why they were to gather twice as much. The answer comes after they have obeyed:

This is the first the Sabbath is mentioned since creation, probably because we were now out of Egypt and free to observe it again. This mention already includes one rule of Sabbath observance: we are not to cook on this set-apart day, but prepare our food in advance. (That it can be prepared in different ways symbolizes the fact that Israelite communities can be manifested in different ways and the kingdom can be taught in a variety of ways, within the parameters of the Torah. The distinction made here between baking and boiling is important to the interpretation of 23:19 and 34:26.)

Everything is different on the Sabbath, and our activities should reflect this clear distinction from what we do on the other days of the week. Some use different dishes or wear different clothes only on this day. The fact that we salt the two loaves of bread as the Sabbath begins is a reminder of this supernatural continuation of what would not endure on any other day. Obedience is what made the difference, and this is what Yahshua meant when he said the salt could lose its saltiness. In context, he was talking about people who “obeyed” the Torah without really obeying the underlying intent—the “two words” to be gathered that day. (Mat. 5:13-48)

Field: See Yahshua’s symbolic use in Mat. 13:38. There is no provision for us in the world on this day. (See note on v. 29.) So do not even let your mind go out into the “field”.

There will not be any: none will come into existence; i.e., nothing new will be produced, because the Sabbath is not a day of creation, but of enjoyment of what has already been done. As we approach the end of the "sixth day" of the "week" of history, we need to gather our spiritual resources before the Kingdom begins. This undoubtedly relates to the five virgins who lacked adequate oil when the wedding feast began and the doors were closed (Matt. 25). Some aspects of the Kingdom will not be available to those who disregard YHWH's supply during the present age (the "field" in v. 25, since Yahshua says that a field is figurative for the world, Matt. 13:38). If we do not decide to obey Him in this age of testing, many privileges will not be available when the Kingdom begins (see also note on v. 29; Matt. 5:19ff).

They had the naturalistic view that things will continue uniformly as they have been, while YHWH stepped in to intervene with this "wrinkle", so they could not become overconfident of their own calculations. (2 Keyfa 3:4)

29. "Look, because YHWH has given you the Sabbath, that's why He is giving you two days' worth of bread on the sixth day. Each one of you remain in his place; don't let anyone leave his place on the seventh day."

Yahshua reiterates that the Sabbath is YHWH’s gift to man (Mark 2:27), but this means we must gratefully take responsibility for it; otherwise it too becomes a test of how set apart we are, for this reveals what we will do in more weighty circumstances. (Luke 16:10-12) Are we worthy of being given the rest of the Torah? If we do pass the test, it is His sign that He has set us apart. (Yehezqel/Ez. 20:12) Obedience shows that we want His ring on our finger, and thus are as set apart as the Sabbath—that is, off limits to anyone else. Remain in his place: Rev. 22:11 is reminiscent of this; when the gates are shut or sealed (as in the imagery at Yom Kippur), no one can go in or out any longer. The seventh day foreshadows the coming millennium, when one's position will already have been determined. If we wait until the kingdom to seek the kingdom first, we will find that we are too late; we cannot buy oil once the doors are closing. (Mat. 25:8-13) If we are not used to the Sabbath, we will feel utterly clueless when we get to the Kingdom. Many will be there, yet will suffer the torment of being excluded from the banquet hall. But while the city gates were closed on the Sabbath so no commerce could enter or exit, the Temple’s gates were open all day on the Sabbath, and “place” is a special idiom for the Temple Mount. That is the place to stay on the Sabbath. (The word for “place” is based on the word for “stand” or “rise up”, and no one is permitted to sit down there except the king in the line of David.)

Finally! Why did they have to be beaten into something that is such a privilege, especially for former slaves? Yet this is the very reason they had a hard time doing so (apart from the fact that they had to trust YHWH instead of providing for themselves): their Egyptian taskmasters had probably made them feel guilty every time they relaxed, and Egypt was still in their minds.

House of Israel: This is the first time this term is used as such. Prepared portion: the Hebrew word man appears to stem from the word manah, meaning "prepare", "allot", "apportion out", or "appoint". YHWH had prepared just the amount they needed, and it was ready to eat, though they could still be creative in cooking it (v. 23). Coriander: that is, cilantro. Cakes with honey: or "wafers made with honey" or possibly fruit juice; Aramaic, "something grill-baked in honey". Velikovsky suggests that this was a form of precipitation from the thick atmosphere, overcharged with carbon and hydrogen resulting from the cinder-trailing comet's tail that activated many volcanoes worldwide, causing a thick gloom over the whole world for many years. Yirmeyahu 2:6 speaks of the people wandering "through deserts...and...the shadows of death". Psalm 78:23-24 says YHWH brought the manna from the clouds (also Talmud tractate Yoma 75a). Accounts from around the world at this time speak of a long age of darkness, in which the morning dew served as food. Some called it "ambrosia", others "honey from the clouds", or "honey dropping from the dreaded shades", and were unable to explain it. Some connect it with a secretion from an insect that eats too much sap from a tamarisk tree (common in this region), and the Arabs described it to European travelers only a century ago with the same term, “man”. It normally can only be gathered one month out of each year, but with these special atmospheric circumstances, it might have lasted a longer time. It would have had to last 40 years, if this is really what it was.

Measure: also the Heb.word omer. (See v. 36) Yahshua instructed the Pharisees to fill up the measure that those who killed the prophets had left undone (Matt. 23:32). Ephesians 4 uses the "counting of the omer" to instruct us in how to fill up the fullness of what Yahshua began and made possible for us. (Col. 1:24) The single omer reminds us that though we are “one bread” (1 Cor. 10:17), as individuals we are incomplete without the rest of our Israelite counterparts.

Container: Hirsch, "a cooling-flask", perhaps of stone, to keep the damaging heat away from it during its long-term storage. An omer's worth: literally, "the fullness of an omer". Posterity: literally, "generations". Will some of it be needed again during the time no one is able to buy or sell if they do not have the mark of the beast? (Rev. 13) Yahshua said he would give some of the "hidden manna" to the one who overcomes—that is, endures until that time. (Rev. 2:17)

Moshe probably appended this (and the next verse) just before he died, as the ark was not yet built at this time. While some say they know where the ark of the covenant is, Yirmeyahu 3:16 tells us it will one day no longer be brought to mind. If we get the point and live out the intent behind it, it really does not matter if we still have the physical reminder or not. We will already be that omer.

The border of...Kanaan: LXX, the region of Phoenicia. Indeed, there was never a people who called themselves the Phoenicians; this was a Greek term for any people who lived at the eastern end of the Mediterranean, and Steve Collins has ably shown that in King Shlomo’s day, the famous seafaring Phoenicians, which traded as far away as North America and had colonies in all parts of the world, included the nation of Israel. Inscriptions bearing YHWH’s name in the paleo-Hebrew script (used prior to the Babylonian Captivity, and essentially the same as Phoenician) have been found even in New Mexico. The miracle was not meant to continue when it was no longer the only way to survive. When they arrived in the inhabited country, there would be other produce, so the miraculous provision would no longer be necessary. Days of grace are meant to end when it is possible to "pay the rent". In one sense, the grace Yahshua (who identifies himself with the manna in Yochanan 6:51) made available was a similar holdover provision--something already prepared for us (Eph. 2:10) during the special situation in which we were separated from the covenant and from being a people and YHWH knew it was not possible for us to obey His instruction fully. But now that we have been brought back into a place where more information about the meaning of the Torah is available, and especially when the Temple is rebuilt, the stopgap may no longer be the way in which we relate to Him, even though everything, of course, has been His gracious production. Just as the produce of the land was His provision, the ability to be back in a position to obey is His merciful gift as well. But after the honeymoon, the "free lunch" stops, and we are called to maturity. Yahshua's job was never focused on himself, but on repairing our relationship with his Father, so that we can know Him directly. Yahshua is the road to Him and the door, but the restored access to the Father is the goal.

Eyfah: Aramaic, "three seahs". An omer is enough for one man, and from this point on became the standard allotment. Ten is considered to be the minimum for an adequate congregation, based on Gen. 18. (See further notes on vv. 16, 18.) In the origial Hebrew, there was no punctuation and no chapter breaks. If we go on to read the next phrase as, “that is, the whole congregation of the sons of Israel”, we see that this definition of an eyfah is right in te text as well. Notice that it does not say “an eyfah is ten omers”; i.e., a person who is not part of a congregation is not a true “omer”. The individual is thus defined as part of the whole group, not the other way around.

CHAPTER 17

Set out: literally, pulled up (tent pegs). We must often uproot things we have allowed to grow deep in order to move on. Some will be left behind, others transplanted to the new ground to which we move, and the new environment will not support some of them. Travelling with the people of Israel means relocating our priorities, knowing what to keep tending and what not to waste time on, and replanting where our hopes are. Some tent pegs become useless after they are used a few times or hammered into harder surfaces; the burden becomes lighter the more we discard. Others will last until we reach the end of our journey. And sometimes we need new understandings that will hold our camp in place better than what we had before. Congregation: from a word meaning “witness”. Individuals alone are not an adequate witness to YHWH in this world. Yahshua said that he would only be among us if at least two or three of us are gathered. (Mat. 18:20) The reason Yahshua could not restore the Kingdom to Israel at the time of his ascension (Acts 1:6-8) was that the congregation was not all gathered yet. He sent his disciples as “witnesses” to gather them into one massive witness again. The word stems further back to a root meaning “repeat”, for when we are like-minded we will all recount the same story, for we will have a common history. R’fidim: slacknesses, relaxings. Camped: literally, reclined, laid back. Being at ease, having YHWH's blessing of free food, they became lazy and lost their edge. No water: symbolic also of no word from YHWH. When we are comfortable we rarely do learn from Him. Yahshua told us to relax about where our supplies will come from, though it may still involve hard labor, but not to relax about seeking YHWH’s Kingdom. Today’s Christians usually have it backwards, thinking that once an individual is “saved” he can feel secure about that, and spend his time on these other pursuits. But Yahshua says that concern about where tomorrow’s water will come from is acting like a Gentile—the greatest insult he could put on us. (Mat. 6:24ff) This group had been born into slavery, so they had much that needed to be changed. They, like we, had grown up among Gentiles, so we will make some mistakes, but we must not continue in them. This is something our ancestors broke, and we need to fix it. Scripturally salvation is about a unified people, not individuals, and until we get to that place, none of Israel can be saved. We are also to be about seeking righteousness—whiich is defined by Moshe (the Torah). We may have tasted of it, but until we are eating of it all the time, it is no time to relax.

I.e., "It is He, not I, who has brought you here. Certainly after all you’ve seen, you know by now that He can provide and that He cares about you! It’s really YHWH you’re complaining about, though you wouldn’t dare admit it!" They should instead have been thankful that they would have another occasion to see Him provide. Yet they seem to have learned nothing, and are complaining again. They were excited about their deliverance in chapter 15, but now things do not look as promising. Moshe also gets a bad report today too. But notice that he is no longer speaking through Aharon, for he is comfortable with the language now.

Why: This is the third time they asked him such a question, and they are testing YHWH’s patience. He is the one who should be testing them. Sometimes He dares us to test Him to show that He is true, but through doing what He says so we can seet he results, not by whining. Kill me: They do not even say, “to kill us”, for each one’s focus is still on himself, not on being a community. The word here for "livestock", while it must technically mean this because it must be alive to be thirsty, is literally based on the word for "possessions" or "acquired things". They had been slaves--themselves "possessions"--only a short while before, but now they had already set their hearts on the things they had been given, although they did not know how much they would need to sacrifice to YHWH. But generally those who keep livestock have many more females than males, so they would have had thousands of gallons of milk! It says they thirsted for water—only for what they did not have, just as they were hungry for meat when YHWH was providing them with bread. They would not be truly thirsty until the animals had had no water for several days, and they had just come from a place where they must certainly have filled their water bottles, so they would not dry up today. By the time they ran out completely, they might be at the next campsite, so what they really wanted was wealth—more than they needed at present, so they could feel secure about a tomorrow that they were never even promised. YHWH knows what we need, and His provision will be there when we need it, but probably not before. Notice, too, that they never asked how they themselves could help find water; they expected Moshe to do everything for them as if he was now their slave! They really were in "R’fidim" [the place of laziness, v. 1].

Yahshua was in the same situation. (Yochanan 8:59) But he obeyed YHWH’s word in Y’hezq’el (Ezekiel) 2:6-7, and persevered.

YHWH was still merciful with them, but reminds the people of the first plague as a warning of what could become of them, too, if they persist in their complaining. Rod: a reminder that he was still a shepherd.

Chorev: the site of Mt. Sinai, and probably less than a day's journey from R’fidim, which was only a rest-stop. Sinai was where they were meant to camp for a longer time, since it was where He had promised to meet them again. So the water source was already there awaiting them, and Moshe had to precede them since they were too impatient to put up with the uncertainty for a short period of time. Moshe, who had shepherded flocks there for forty years, must have known of a specific rock that He was speaking about, and indeed there is, within sight of Jabal al-Lawz (one possible location of Mt. Sinai in Arabia), a six-storey rock that is split down the middle and shows evidence of water having flowed out from the cleft. The rock: Paul calls it a “spiritual rock”. (1 Cor. 10:4) Not that it wasn’t real or physical also, but that it had a deeper meaning, being symbolic of the Messiah, who makes YHWH’s word accessible to us. Paul says this took place for our benefit, so we would not lust after evil as they did. Only the elders saw this miracle, so the rest of the congregation would have to accept their testimony. Hirsch summarizes the next section thus: "All the experiences which Israel… had hitherto made, since its entry into the wilderness, Marah, quails, Manna, Sabbath, water-from-the-rock, taught it to know its future (sic) relation to Nature, taught it what independence of the forces of Nature it was to gain, simply by subjecting itself to the will of [YHWH]."

Massah means “testing” and Meribah means “strife” or “arguing”. It was so shameful that they gave it two names. It is so sad that Moshe’s main memories of the place where such a miracle took place were of the people’s whininess. Had they trusted YHWH, they would still have experienced this miracle, but it would have been a mountaintop experience. In our midst: i.e., serving us the way we want to be served. If they can ask this question, they are still too comfortable in the place of slackness. They may not have verbalized this question, but the asled it by their actions. Once you leave your comfort zone, it quickly becomes obvious if He is with us or not. But the main question is whether we are with Him. He promised to dwell among them when they built Him a sanctuary. (25:8; 29:43) It was a place of great beauty, but also one symbolizing death to self—the perfect balance of mercy and judgment, not one or the other. It was also contingent on our keeping all His statutes. (1 Kings 6:12ff) He promised to dwell among them in the Land to which they were headed. (Num. 35:34) Once they were there, though, they assumed He was with them because they had what they wanted. (Micha 3:1ff) “The squeaky wheel gets the oil.” They got what they wanted, but at such a high price! It made YHWH back away from them, and got them labeled as untrusting, whining children. When Yeshurun (YHWH’s pet name for united Israel) became fat, it stopped being upright as this name implied. (Deut. 32:15) Not until Yahshua came did YHWH’s word dwell physically among us, but look what we did to him when he did. Not all went smoothly after all, according to the expectations of comfort, but it went rightly.

Then: after they had gotten what they wanted, thinking they deserved it. Do we only seek YHWH and His Kingdom when we want something else, then slack off once we get it? This is one curse that comes with having more than we need, and another is that someone else always thinks they have a right to it, and tries to find ways to take it. This time Amaleq used open warfare, but later he would only attack the weakest—the weary and the stragglers. (Deut. 25:17-18) They thought they had accomplished something (when in fact they had not yet reached their goal), so they let their guard down, and this itself empowered Amaleq. Amaleq was the son of Elifaz, grandson of Esau, by his concubine Timnah. (Gen. 36:12) It seems the most trouble came from the children of concubines. But Esau himself is a man who seeks his belly. His descendants became a tribe in southern Kanaan, from where they attacked Israel as they passed near the Reed Sea. The name Amaleq means "dweller in a valley"—the opposite of those who seek the higher places. They may feel more secure on low ground, but when the attack comes, those on the high ground are in a better position. While the Israelites were in a state of "slackness" (Refiydim), they were especially a prey to this people who are content to live on a lower level. They were on its “turf”. The time when we are resting on our laurels—proud of yesterday’s victories--and think we have it made is when Amaleq attacks. It is actually an invitation for it to overrun us. All the other nations feared Israel; Amaleq went out of his way to attack this emerging people in a time of weakness, seeking the renown of being the ones to defeat them.

In their state of slackness, it was crucial that he select those who were really ready to fight. This is the first time Y'hoshua (Joshua)'s name appears in Scripture, but it must have been written after Moshe changed his name from Hoshea to Y’hoshua. This is a picture of the Father instructing Yahshua in the selection of a few disciples, so he could have the right companions, who in turn would continue the battle against "Amaleq". But note that Y’hoshua, prophetically, is obedient to Moshe. Yahshua (or Y’shua) is a shortened form of Y'hoshua, just as we shorten Thomas to Tom in English. It means "YHWH is salvation". Y'hoshua was from the tribe of Efrayim, so this Y'hoshua was a son of Yoseyf, like Yahshua. Ovadyah also tells us that the house of Yehudah's enemies will only be defeated by the house of Yoseyf. This Y'hoshua could only weaken Amaleq, but the House of Yoseyf has the authority of Yahshua, and when together we come to Yehudah's aid, the job will be completed. Power comes from the mountain, and he needed to draw Amaleq onto his turf so he could defeat them. When we do what the Torah says, we are on higher ground, for Amaleq does not understand commitment or corporate purpose; it only understands the language of “me” and “mine”. (cf. v. 3) Note that he now calls his rod Elohim's. It is also Aharon’s rod, but elohim can also mean a judge, and Moshe is indeed the judge in this situation. The rod gives him authority to do this.

11. And what took place was that whenever Moshe lifted up his hand, Israel prevailed, and when he gave his hand a rest, Amaleq prevailed.

Lifting up his hands is a real effort--the remedy for slackness. When he grew slack, the enemy had the advantage. The answer to the question (v. 7) of whether YHWH is in our midst or not is that when we recognize Moshe’s authority, He is; when the rod of his authority is not lifted up, YHWH is not in our midst.

Heavy: When our flesh receives more weight, Amaleq prevails. The enemy is often within our own selves. On the literal level, Moshe was over 80 years old, but Aharon was at least 83, so he, too, needed help to support his brother. Stone: essentially means “building block” in Hebrew, for as we(the living stones) build Messiah’s house (His Kingdom), we uphold Moshe (symbolic of the Torah). YHWH is also called the rock of our salvation. The Torah in turn holds up Yahshua (the rod), when those who “bring light” (the meaning of Aharon) and those dressed in “bright white linen” (the meaning of Chuwr)—those righteous in their works (Rev. 19:8)—support it. Aharon had already been named as mediator, but Chuwr has never been mentioned before. One tradition says he was Miryam’s husband, another that he was her son. In any case, he represents those “laymen” who can be just as righteous in their upholding of the Torah as those chosen for a more prominent position.

Amaleq and his people: Though the man Amaleq was long dead, there is a spirit which continues to act through his descendants, much like the spirits of the kingdoms of Persia and Greece (Daniel 10:20ff). In fact, it raised its head while the Jews were exiled in Persia. (See the book of Esther.)

I.e., make sure Y’hoshua hears it, because he is the one responsible to carry out what it implies.

Nissi: my banner, sign, or raised standard—essentially something conspicuous. I.e., YHWH, rather than our complaints, is what is to be lifted up. They had asked if YHWH was with them. Now no one could get around the evidence. Moshe was increasing in wisdom; he sees that he must hold Israel responsible to build a place to give back to YHWH because of our tendency to disrespect those from whom we receive so much when we are not giving back to them. The remains of an ancient altar have indeed been located only a few hundred meters away from the 6-storey high split rock. (See note on v. 6.)

YHWH has sworn: literally, "a hand is on the throne of YHWH". A hand can be a Hebrew idiom for a memorial of something that must never be forgotten. Yahshua is now at the right hand of the Father. From the right hand of the One on the throne, the Lamb who was slain received ...a book! (Rev. 5:7; see v. 14 above) Hirsch translates it "YHWH's throne consists of war against Amaleq..." I.e., as long as Amaleq's name is still renowned, neither YHWH's throne nor His Name is complete. Until this goal is reached, His people are in this war. All the other nations were in fear because of what YHWH had done in Egypt, but Amaleq thought Israel had just been "lucky" that time, while they might be "the lucky ones" the next time. Generation to generation: King Agag, whom Israel's King Sha'ul was commanded to kill, but did not, lived long enough to father a son before Shmu’el the prophet killed him (1 Shmu’el 15). That son became the ancestor of Haman, who nearly succeeded in a genocide of the Jews during the Medo-Persian Empire (see the book of Esther). There are many uncanny parallels between that account and the Holocaust in Europe in the last century. Every generation becomes slack, but when it appears that no one cares, the enemy himself becomes slack, and that is when YHWH will surprise him. The root meaning of "generation" in Hebrew is "cycle" or "revolution". YHWH's festivals come in such cycles, and by returning to His calendar, we can fight Amaleq's philosophy that all is chance and happenstance--the true atheism. (Deut. 25:18 says Amaleq “happened” upon Israel and attacked the stragglers at the rear, and from this the Rabbis deduce that the Amaleqites considered everything to be random and chaotic, that their experiences had no meaning—already a slap in the face of YHWH’s sovereignty. And since philosophy at that time was never separated from religion, they had to be worshipping chance and coincidence. For an example, see 2 Shmu’el 1:6.)