Va’era “and I appeared”
Torah Portion Name and Readings-
Va’era is the Hebrew word for “and I appeared”, this is the name for the weekly <Torah portion link> reading for the Exodus starting in chapter 6 verse 2 and going through chapter 9 and verse 35.
Prophet and New Testaments Readings-
It is also important to point out that along with the Torah portion readings and teachings, there are what are called Haftarah portions which are readings from the Bible in the books of the prophets. This week’s haftarah readings come from the book of Ezekiel in chapter 28 verse 25 through chapter 29 verse 21.
The gospel readings incorporated with the weekly Torah portion readings come from the book of Luke in chapter 11 with verses 14 through 22.
Torah Portion Overview-
In this torah portion we get the epic beginning of the rescue of Israel, the complete unwinding of the nation of Egypt as order is turned into chaos. We see the first seven plagues as Yahweh strikes Egypt one by one and humbles the nation. Egypt goes from a mighty and powerful empire to a broken country. This will culminate with Yahweh striking the gods of Egypt (Exodus 12:12) as well as the firstborn of Egypt (but not in this Torah portion). Moses reminded the people that Yahweh will keep His covenant and bring Israel out of bondage and give them the land of Canaan, but the people did not believe. Sometime after the three signs that he performed and now they have stopped believing. Yet Yahweh doesn’t stop and sends Moses to Pharaoh to deliver a message, “let the Israelites go”. But Moses is afraid that Pharaoh won’t listen, if Israel didn’t believe why would the Egyptians?! Then Moses listed the families of Reuben, Simeon, and Levi to explain the family of Moses and Aaron. Moses may seem Egyptian, however, he is actually a Hebrew from Levi. This also pointed out other characters that will come up later, like Moses’ cousin Korah. Now that the family of Moses and Aaron is fully fleshed out, the story continued. Moses was told to go to Pharoah, however there was a twist. God was sending Moses on a mission that he wouldn’t “succeed” in, that is, he would go to a king who would not listen to him. Yahweh explained that this was so that the Egyptians would know Yahweh. We see here a kind of poetry, where a nation has lifted it’s head to heaven and so Yahweh casts it down to show that He is the true one in heaven. So Moses went to Pharoah and Aaron threw down his staff. The staff became a serpent (probably a cobra) but the Egyptian magicians countered by performing the same miracle. Then, in a shocking twist Aaron’s staff ate or swallows all the other serpents. Yet Pharoah did not listen. And so God sent great curses onto Egypt. The first judgement came and the water turned into blood. After the water cleared up the second judgment of frogs came. The third judgment turned the dust into gnats. Then came the fourth judgement where flies made everything unclean. The fifth curse was disease on the livestock. The sixth was worse, it was severe boils that caused extreme pain. Yet this wasn’t enough! The seventh was a deadly hail that included thunder and fire! And so the stage was set for the great shaking of one of the greatest kingdoms on earth. The nation hung upon the precipice of destruction and collapse.
I want to focus today on the first curse judgment, the Nile turning into blood. The event starts not with a warning, but with judgement. Yahweh had made it clear that Pharoah’s heart was hard, and now He starts by telling Moses that Pharoah’s heart is hard and that he is to go and turn the water into blood.
“Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water; stand by at the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that was turned into a snake.”
Exodus 7:14-15 (NRSVue)
I see this as being a response to two things.
1. Pharoah has challenged Yahweh by asking “who is Yahweh that I should obey Him?” (Exodus 5:2)
2. When Pharoah witnessed the staff turned into a serpent He did not repent but his heart was hardened (7:13). The plague of water turning into blood immediately follows after this. Perhaps this is judgement for not immediately responding.
Perhaps it was a combination of both. Either way, Yahweh begins the opening salvo against Egypt with an explanation to Pharoah about who He is, He is Yahweh!
“Say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you to say, “Let my people go, so that they may serve me in the wilderness.” But until now you have not listened. Thus says the LORD, “By this you shall know that I am the LORD.” See, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall be turned to blood. The fish in the river shall die, the river itself shall stink, and the Egyptians shall be unable to drink water from the Nile.’”
Exodus 7:16-18 (NRSVue)
The point was made, and so Yahweh strikes the Nile, and all it’s rivers and the water throughout all Egypt, even the water in pots!
“Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and of his officials he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile; all the water in the river was turned into blood, and the fish in the river died. The river stank so that the Egyptians could not drink its water, and there was blood throughout the whole land of Egypt.”
Exodus 7:20-21 (NRSVue)
There is more here than just a strike at their drinking water and livelihood. As Eugene Carpenter explains in the Exodus, vol. 1 of Evangelical Exegetical Commentary:
“Pharaoh was supposed to have control over the Nile (along with his entourage of magicians, enchanters, and wise men), and yearly performed rituals and ceremonies to “keep the Nile flowing and rising.” Nilometers were kept to record the water level of the Nile. Even the cosmos was connected with the orderliness of the Nile, and vice versa. The water of the Nile was the life source of the Egyptians, the blood of life to them, but it now becomes increasingly a source of judgment and death. A failed Nile meant an imminent threat of death and disorder.”
This then would have been a direct strike at Pharoah’s kingship! The king claims to be responsible for the Nile, so Yahweh is like “let me show you who is really in charge!” Ultimately this is the beginning of the unraveling of order and the complete destruction of the empire of Egypt into chaos.
Consider this, the Egyptians had tried to control the Israelite population by throwing their young into the Nile river to die and here Yahweh turned the Nile water into blood! Can you imagine the guilt that God is bringing to the mind of Pharoah?! It’s almost as if He is saying “Look at all this innocent blood in the river…” This must have been a strike against the conscience of the king of Egypt. Indeed the Bible has an example that reminds me of this, when Cain murdered Abel God told Cain that his brother’s blood was crying out to Him from the ground.
“The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground.”
Genesis 4:10b (ESV)
Not only this, but in Revelation it says that the blood of martyrs cries out as well!
“They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.”
Revelation 6:10-11 (ESV)
Because of this I think it is possible that this was not only seen as an attack on the king, as the unwinding of order, and the destruction of the economy of Egypt, but also a way to throw it in their faces. Look what you have done. You threw the Israelite babies into the river! Now, here is their blood!
Consider today, the innocent blood that our nation has shed and is shedding! It has been estimated that perhaps close to a million babies are murdered every year in America! The Pharoah could not have hoped to match those numbers, not even close! How many babies are in our “Nile river”? How much blood is in our water? We must repent as a nation and pray that this great evil will be removed!
But not just that. How many children in the “system” are not being cared for because the church does not act? I was once told that in Oklahoma there are children that sleep in office buildings because there are no homes for them to go to! This breaks my heart! Yes, we must remove the sin of abortion but we must also love and provide for the children that we have! We cannot do one without the other! Indeed, Jesus said we’ll be judged for our action or inaction in this area.
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Matthew 25:31-46 (ESV)
Torah Portion Scriptural Highlights-
Exodus 6:2 Moses told the people that Yahweh will keep His covenant and bring Israel out of bondage and give them the land of Canaan but the people did not believe.
Exodus 6:10 Yahweh sends Moses to Pharaoh.
Exodus 6:14 The families of Reuben, Simeon, and Levi to explain the family of Moses and Aaron.
Exodus 6:28 Yahweh commands Moses and Aaron to go to Pharaoh.
Exodus 7:4 Pharoah will not listen to Moses and Aaron so that the Egyptians will know Yahweh.
Exodus 7:8 Aaron’s staff became a serpent and ate the magician’s staff that had turned into a serpent.
Exodus 7:14 The first judgement, water turned into blood.
Exodus 8:1 The second judgement, frogs.
Exodus 8:16 The third judgement, gnats.
Exodus 8:20 The fourth judgement, flies.
Exodus 9:1 The fifth judgement, livestock die from disease.
Exodus 9:8 The sixth judgement, boils.
Exodus 9:13 The seventh judgement, deadly hail, thunder, and fire.
Haftarah (Prophets) Scriptural Highlights-
Ezekiel 28:25 Israel will be restored by God and shall dwell in safety.
Ezekiel 29:1 Word against the Pharaoh King of Egypt who is like a chaos creature.
Ezekiel 29:8 Judgement is coming against Egypt for forty years and they will be scattered but then restored.
Ezekiel 29:18 The Babylonians will conquer Egypt.
Brit (Gospel) Scriptural Highlights-
Luke 11:14 The enemy is not divided and Jesus does not cast out demons with demonic power, but He does so because He is bringing the Kingdom.
References
· Eugene Carpenter, Exodus, vol. 1 of Evangelical Exegetical Commentary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016), 372-374.
To Watch an overview of this week’s Torah Portion CLICK HERE