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Message 2-18-17 Yitro-Jethro (Abundance)

Exodus 18:1-20:23 Isaiah 6:1-7:6, 9:5-6

Luke 1:45-55 Introduction Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, hears of the miracle of Israel’s liberation, and he brings Moses’s wife and two sons to him. Moses meets them and tells them what God did for the Israelites against Egypt. In joy, Jethro blesses God and offers a burnt offering, joined by Aaron and the elders. Exodus 18:8-12 8 Then Moses told his father-in-law all that the LORD had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the LORD had delivered them. 9 And Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the LORD had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians. 10 Jethro said, "Blessed be the LORD, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. 11 Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people." 12 And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God; and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law before God. (ESV) The admission on the part of Jethro that YHWH was greater than all the other gods shows his acknowledgment of paganism and the probability that he was a pagan priest of his people the Midianites. From Wikipedia: The Midianite women's seductions of Israelites to their idol Baal-Peor (or Baal-phegor) is described as the cause of offense to God, even though the Midianites were racially akin to the Israelites as descendants of Abraham, and Moses' own wife Zipporah was Midianite.

The Midianites worshipped Baal-Peor, but the rabbis claim that after Jethro heard Moses’s account of what had happened to Egypt by the God of Israel, he returned to Midian spreading the truth of the God of Israel. This may or may not be true, but Jethro’s own words show us the impact of what Moses shared with him, and it appears Moses words meant a lot to Jethro. After all, Moses was married to his daughter, had fathered two grandchildren for Jethro, and had lived in his home for forty years before being called to the service of YHWH. There is much we do not know about the impact of the Egyptian

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gods on Moses during his forty years in the house of Pharaoh. I am not saying Moses was a pagan. He was exposed to his people, the Hebrews, and had come to learn he was one of the Hebrews and not the true son of the daughter of Pharaoh. In fact, when Pharaoh ordered the Hebrew mid-wives to kill all the male babies, they did not, and in the end, Moses mother had his sister Miriam watch what happened to the baby Moses when he was placed in the river and found by Pharaoh’s daughter. I am sure it would have been easy to tell that Moses was a Hebrew, and taking him into Pharaoh’s home was a bit on the dangerous side given his death decree of all male Hebrew babies. Though it has been said that hiding someone in plain sight where they are least expected might have been the best course of action in this situation. We would also have to believe that the Lord’s hand was on Moses, and He was protecting him, once again, using Egypt as the source of protection for His people – Israel. In his meeting with Jethro, Moses has reached the first goal in being able to bring the Children of Israel out of Egypt. While you might think that was the hard part, it wasn’t. The hard part would be the next forty years teaching Israel how to be a holy people set-apart to YHWH. This would become Moses trial by fire as he leads Israel for the next forty years teaching them the covenant of Torah and what it all meant to their relationship with their God. The Torah was meant to teach them and to train them in YHWH’s ways. It was meant to bring them closer to YHWH. It was meant to teach them the difference between what was acceptable to God and what was not. Isaiah 63:7 I will recount the steadfast love of the LORD, the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD has granted us, and the great goodness to the house of Israel that he has granted them according to his compassion, according to the abundance of his steadfast love. 8 For he said, "Surely they are my people, children who will not deal falsely." And he became their Savior. 9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. 10 But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them. 11 Then he remembered the days of old, of Moses and his people. Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put in the midst of them his Holy Spirit, 12 who caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to make for himself an everlasting name, 13 who led them through the depths? Like a horse in the desert, they did not stumble. 14 Like livestock that go down into the valley, the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest. So you led your people, to make for yourself a glorious name. (ESV) This passage is a perfect example of the Messiah Yeshua’s relationship to the Children of Israel and their relationship to Him. We are told He became their Savior, and in all their afflictions, He was afflicted as well. He loved them, redeemed them, He lifted them up, and carried them. There is an old saying that talks about two sets of footprints in the sand on a beach and then only one set. The person cries out to Messiah, “Why did you leave me when I needed you the most?” Messiah responds, “I never left you. The one set of footprints were mine as I carried you.” This is the promise we receive when we accept Yeshua as Messiah. Even when Israel rebelled against God and they grieved them, He

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never abandoned them, but He did fight against them until He remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people. He led them through the Sea of Reeds. He placed the Ruach HaKodesh in their midst. He answered Moses and became his right arm; the right arm of God is Messiah Yeshua. The Lord’s salvation that was brought forth by Moses to the Children of Israel. He gave them rest and fought for them when they stood up for themselves. When they struggled against YHWH, He had no recourse but to discipline them because they were His children, the same as we are. A loving parent does not allow their children to do what they want but holds them accountable for their actions. God is our loving Father. Out of that love, He gave Israel, and through them, He gave us redemption through Messiah Yeshua. Isaiah 6:1-3 1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!" (ESV) From the Open Bible: Our greatest failing is in not realizing who God is and what His character is like. God is NOT human. He is God, and as such there is an infinite gap between the highest of us and the lowest in God. The gap between God and us is unbridgeable from our side. If the gap is to be bridged, it must be from God’s side – for God is holy. To be holy means “to be set apart.” God is set apart from the power, practice, and presence of sin, and is set apart to absolute righteousness and goodness. There is no sin in God and God can have nothing to do with sin. If we are to approach God, we must do so on God’s terms. Somehow, we must be made holy – just as holy as God is. Any holiness that falls short of God’s holiness will not be able to stand in the presence of God. Therefore, because of the holiness of God, we must have a new life…so that we can be as separated from sin as God is. Can we be like God? Only through Messiah Yeshua can we be brought closer to the Father. We struggle with sin, and the outcome of that struggle can either bring us closer to God or push us further away bringing separation instead of becoming a holy or set-apart people. There is no separation between us and God if we keep faith with Messiah and follow Torah. We must remember that the Torah we follow is not the one written down by the rabbis but the written down by Moses. There are not two Torahs – one written and one oral. The oral Torah are a set of rabbinic commentaries written by the rabbis as a set of “fences.” From Chabad.org: Question: Why do the rabbis add so many laws to the Torah? Isn't that what caused Adam and Chavah to sin--the fact that Chavah made unwarranted additions to G-d's law? Response: Good point. Actually, Moses himself warns the people not to add on to the rules of the Torah. He says, "Don't add on to the thing I am commanding you, and don't

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take away from it." The Torah provides all the dos and don'ts--and one of them is "don't go trying to pretty it up even more." Right there and then, Nachmanides (1194 – c. 1270) asks your question: If so, how do the rabbis make fences to the Torah? The Torah makes a list of prohibited incestuous relations; the rabbis add a few. The Torah prohibits work on Shabbat; the rabbis say, "If it has no use on Shabbat, don't even handle it!" The same with the kosher laws and many other prohibitions. And as time goes on, more fences are added. So Nachmanides points out that these fences are very good and necessary, "...as long as we all know that this is a fence, and not directly from G-d in His Torah." They're not directly from the Torah, but they are Torah nevertheless—because the Torah itself commands us to build fences around its prohibitions when they are necessary.2 It says, "Keep the Children of Israel away from impurity!"3 It says, "Guard My guardings!"4 Which means, that if the spiritual leadership sees that their generation has greater temptation than earlier generations--or simply cannot be as careful as before--it's time to add some warnings to hold them further at bay. On the one hand the rabbis acknowledge that the Oral Law is a fence, and a famous Jewish rabbi, Nachmanides, confirmed the fact that what the rabbis did was add these fences, and we are to be aware these are added fences. But then they go one step further and basically contradict themselves by saying they are not directly from Torah, but they are Torah. That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. (In fact, I read an article today where a convert to Orthodox Judaism got angry at a guest in his home on Shabbat because he would not wear a kippah on his head but was wearing tzizit. He felt it was wrong for this person not to wear the kippah, and they discussed it. The guest asked the man to show him in the Tanach where it was commanded that one was to wear a kippah. The convert could not, and that made him even angrier. He then went on to rationalize the wearing of a kippah because that was what he had been taught, but he never questioned why? He said that if we are to live in the land of Israel, we need to become like the Jewish people living there, but the reality of Israel is that most of the Jewish population are not religious, and many do not believe in God. So, to intimate that because about 10% of the population follow these fences without question we are to do the same or get out of the land does a dis-service to God, and the fact that if YHWH wants us to do something, He will be the one who tells us to do it. If you choose not to follow a fence, it’s your choice. If you choose not to follow the written Torah that is also your choices, but that carries consequences with it, and a fence does not. Luke 1:45-55 45 Indeed you are blessed, because you have trusted that the promise ADONAI has made to you will be fulfilled." 46 Then Miryam said, "My soul magnifies ADONAI; 47 and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior, 48 who has taken notice of his servant-girl in her humble position. For- imagine it!- from now on, all generations will call me blessed! 49 "The Mighty One has done great things for me! Indeed, his name is holy; 50 and in every generation he has mercy on those who fear him. 51 "He has performed mighty deeds with

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his arm, routed the secretly proud, 52 brought down rulers from their thrones, raised up the humble, 53 filled the hungry with good things, but sent the rich away empty. 54 "He has taken the part of his servant Isra'el, mindful of the mercy 55 which he promised to our fathers, to Avraham and his seed forever." (CJB) What is this blessing the angel of YHWH is talking about? Simply put, it is Yeshua. Then Miriam goes on to praise the Holy One of Israel for what He is going to do for her and through her for Israel. Yeshua came to redeem Israel as He came to redeem Israel in Moses’ day. Israel was brought out of bondage in Egypt and went through a redemption process where they were given the Torah – the covenant the Holy One made with Adam and Chavah in the garden. The covenant in the garden, was in all respects, the same one He was going to give to Israel because the basis for it was faith in the God of Israel and to listen and obey the teachings and instructions of God. Adam was given Torah in the garden not just about not to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. He was given instructions which he passed on to Chavah. God gave Moses the Torah at Mount Sinai to teach to the Children of Israel. While it contained many more teachings and instructions from God, the basis for it was still the same. These teachings and instructions were part of His covenant with His people, whether they were the first man or a nation He was calling out for Himself. Miriam, the mother of Yeshua, recognized this Biblical truth and proclaimed it before the angel and the Almighty. She rejoiced in the truth in the same way that Moses shared the truth of what the Lord had done for Israel in Egypt. They both proclaimed His power and His love for His people, even when they turned and went the wrong way. He never abandoned them as many say He did. He remains faithful to Israel and any country, no matter how powerful they believe they are can be brought down if they come against God’s people. His people are the people of Israel, whether Jewish, Ephraimite, the Nations, or whoever. The abiding covenant is a faith in Messiah and holding fast to Torah. The church is not the new Israel! There is no Biblical new Israel, people! We become grafted in to the Biblical Israel as defined by the Prophets and the Shaliach Shaul and become citizens of Israel by way of adoption. To try to delegitimize the country of Israel today that holds the line in the Middle east will only serve to bring God’s wrath down upon any country that chooses to do so. Are there any superpowers left on the face of the earth today? Think about it. Almost every country has turned against Israel, including the United States, a supposed superpower, which it is only in its own eyes. Our leaders made a fateful decision recently that will turn God against us because we chose the leader we had. If the next leader of the United States continues down the path the current President chose, it will only lead to destruction. Habakkuk 3:18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. (ESV) Psalm 138:6 For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar. (ESV)

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Psalm 71:19 Your righteousness, O God, reaches the high heavens. You who have done great things, O God, who is like you? (ESV) Psalm 126:2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, "The LORD has done great things for them." 3 The LORD has done great things for us; we are glad. (ESV)

Psalm 111:9 He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name! (ESV)

דות <06304> )peduth )804b פ

Meaning: ransom Origin: from 6299 Usage: division(1), ransom(1), redemption(2).

)tsavah )845b צוה <06680>

Meaning: to lay charge (upon), give charge (to), command, order

רית <01285> )berith )136b ב

Meaning: a covenant

<03372a> ירא yare )431a(

Meaning: to fear Every one of the Scripture passages I quoted from affirms the greatness of our God – our Creator! It is through His Son He will accomplish His purpose, and if anyone believes otherwise, may God have mercy on them. His redemption was a ransom for His people Israel – Yeshua! The command of His covenant is Torah as given to us by Messiah Yeshua! And in the end, Holy and awesome is His name. Awesome in Hebrew is yare, which means to fear. Fear what – the awesome power of the Lord God Almighty as shown to us down through the ages as He lifts His right arm – Yeshua to bring redemption and Torah to the world!

1 Samuel 2:7 The LORD makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts. 8 He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the LORD's, and on them he has set the world. (ESV) Torah Man says, “How to stay ignorant: Be satisfied with your own opinions, and content with your own knowledge.” Blessings in Messiah Yeshua,

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Mordecai Silver If you are not learning Torah, we invite you to attend JSI University, a Distance Learning Institute for Yeshua based Judaic Studies of Higher Education. Drop us a line at student.support@jsi-edu.org and request a Prospectus and visit our website at www.jsi-edu.org and check us out. You can earn a degree or take the courses to help you grow in your understanding.

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