Parasha 49: And They Shall Know that I AM the LORD

 

And They Shall Know that I AM the LORD

-- T O R A H   P O R T I O N --

Introduction:

How did God make Himself known to you? Who did He use for you to know Him?

Last week, Moshe finally obeyed God to go to Egypt for a very important mission, and God sent Aaron for Moshe as his spokesman. He returned to Midian first to ask the permission of Jethro, his father-in-law, and he released Moshe in peace.

Moshe returned to Egypt with his family, and the rod of God. God told him that in spite of the mission to deliver Israel from the land of Egypt, He would harden the heart of Pharaoh. From there, Moshe met Aaron and he told him all the words that God commanded him.

When they finally encountered Pharaoh, they told him that God wanted him to let His people go so they could hold a feast and worship Him in the wilderness. But Pharaoh answered that he did not know God, so how could he obey His voice? Because of this, Pharaoh doubled the punishment of the Israelites, and they blamed Moshe and Aaron. So Moshe returned to God and told Him everything that happened, and God told him that this time He would take action with a strong hand.

Our Parasha starts with the reminder of God to Moshe about His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as He established His covenant with them, and part of it was the land of Canaan. Also, God repeated to Moshe what He had said in chapter 3:7, that He heard the groaning of the children of Israel and caused Him to remember His covenant. This time, God will make Himself known to His people. How?

He will bring them out from the burdens of the Egyptians (v.6).

The Hebrew word for bring out is yatsa, which means “to go forward, proceed to.” God wanted Israel to go forward so they could proceed to the land of flowing milk and honey. He wanted His people out of burden so He could give them Shabbat, for they could not rest inside Egypt. Yeshua said in Matthew 11:28, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

He will rescue them from bondage (v.6).

The word rescue in Hebrew is natsal, meaning “to snatch away, deliver, rescue, save, strip, plunder.” From these meanings, I would like to use “save” because this is the meaning of the name of Yeshua, which comes from the Hebrew verb yasha, meaning “to save.” In Matthew 1:21 CJB it says, “She will give birth to a son, and you are to name Him Yeshua, (which means ‘Adonai saves’), because He will save His people.” Wow, Baruch Hashem!

He will redeem them with an outstretched arm (v.6).

Gaal is the Hebrew word for redeem, and the meaning is “ransom, do the part of a kinsman.” The word ransom also involves payment, and after the payment comes release. God will redeem Israel through an outstretched arm of Moshe to perform signs and wonders. The Hebrew word for outstretched is natah, and one of the meanings is “offer.” Yeshua gave/offered Himself as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).

He will take them as His people (v.7).

The word take in Hebrew is laqach, and one of the meanings is “to marry or take a wife.” Jeremiah 3:14: “Return, O backsliding children, says the LORD: for I am married to you.” Jeremiah 31:32b: “My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD.” Revelation 21:9,12: “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife… the names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.”

He will be their God (v.7).

Exodus 20:2-3: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.” Here, God introduced Himself with a matching history of His deliverance of Israel from Egypt, to show them that He is the only God who can do that. He is real and powerful. God wants Himself to be the only God of Israel to fulfill His covenant with Abraham in Genesis 17:7-8: “I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

He will bring them into the land which He swore (v.8).

From Egypt to Canaan is not an easy journey for the children of Israel. From this journey, we can see that God is their guide and protector.

He will give it to them as heritage (v.8).

Here we can see the wonderful plan of God, providing a home for His bride. In Jewish culture of marriage, the man must prepare a house for his bride. In John 14:2, Yeshua said, “In My Father’s house are many mansions; I go to prepare a place for you.”

These are the things by which God makes Himself known to the children of Israel. Surprisingly, in the middle of chapter 6, the genealogy of Moshe and Aaron is formally mentioned to show that they were from the tribe of Levites and would be assigned to take care of the Mishkan ministry of God. Our Torah portion ended with the introduction of the first plague: the Nile River becomes blood, which I will tackle next week together with the other plagues.

God’s covenant promises are His testimony to His people, revealing that He alone is faithful and true.

Exodus 6:7 

“I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.”

Adonai’s promises reveal His unchanging character. Do you fully trust Adonai’s “I wills,” or do you still cling to your own “I can’t” in moments of fear and doubt?

-- H A F T A R A H P O R T I O N --

If God made Himself known to Israel in our Torah portion, He did it also to the Egyptians in the Haftarah portion. How?

• He promised restoration to Israel (Eze. 28:25-26).
  Even though He deported them once and was about to deport them again, God promised that one day He would give them peace in their lands. This prophecy will not be fulfilled until after God passes judgment on the nations around Israel, pointing to the future time when all of Israel’s (and therefore God’s) enemies will be destroyed.

• He rebuked Pharaoh (Eze. 29:2-5).
  Like the ruler of Tyre, Pharaoh’s sin was pride against God. Instead of acknowledging God as the giver of life and material blessings, Pharaoh believed that he himself was master over God’s creation and vainly thought that the river was made just for him (Eze. 28:2-5). Commentators said this great monster is a Crocodile which the Egyptians worshiped. In verse 4, God will put hooks in the jaws of Pharaoh and cause the fish of the Nile river to stick in his scale. If Pharaoh was the Crocodile, then the fish represents the nation of Egypt. They will all be moved out from their land. For this, God would humble him, directing his actions as He pleased. By putting a hook in Pharaoh’s mouth, God declared that He is the true master over him. After demonstrating His mastery over Pharaoh, God would make him a spectacle so that all the Egyptians would realize Pharaoh was not a god but only a man (the Egyptian kings claimed to be gods, and their subjects worshiped them as divine). The lesson is obvious. God hates arrogant people. He resists the proud, but He’s gracious to the humble. Seeing that their god was cast down, the people might then consider that the LORD is the true God. 

• He declared judgment upon Egypt (Eze. 29:8-12).
  Leaving the poetic imagery behind, God declared how He would judge Egypt: He would send an invading army that would conquer the nation. From Syene to Ethiopia, the destruction would be so complete that it would be uninhabited for forty years. This is a reference to Nebuchadnezzar who, at this time, was expanding his territory and turning his attention to Egypt (see 2 Kings 24:7, Jeremiah 43:8-13, Ezekiel 30:10).

• He promised restoration to Egypt (Eze. 29:13).
  Though Egypt would be judged and humbled, God promised restoration to Egypt. This can be compared with the end-time prophecy of Isaiah 19:25: “Blessed be Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.”

• He removed Egypt’s appeal (Eze. 29:14-16).
  Despite being freed by the hand of God through Moses, Israel had once longed to return to Egypt and its bondage, because there they had food and wealth (Exodus 16:3). God stated that this desire would disappear, because Egypt would no longer be a place to be desired. Historically, Egypt lost its position as a world power and never regained it.

• He used Babylon to fulfill judgment (Eze. 29:17-20).
  Sixteen years after the earlier prophecy, Ezekiel received another: Nebuchadnezzar would rise against Egypt. As the Babylonian king fulfilled God’s judgment against Tyre, so he would fulfill His prophecy against Egypt. Egypt’s wealth would become the wages of Babylon, as pay for the work Nebuchadnezzar had done for the Lord. This was fulfilled when tribute was imposed on Egypt after Nebuchadnezzar’s military campaign succeeded.

• He restored Israel’s horn of strength (Eze. 29:21).
  Once Egypt was humbled by Babylon, Israel would begin to reemerge as a nation. Instead of being scattered and helpless, a door would be opened for them to gain political favor and eventually return to their homeland (see 2 Kings 25:27-27 and 2 Chronicles 36:22-23). God used the image of the horn—symbolizing strength and power—to promise that Israel would rise again.

Adonai breaks the pride of nations and restores His people. Will you cling to worldly powers for security, or trust only in the God who raises up and casts down?

Ezekiel 29:21 

“On that day I will make a horn grow for Israel, and I will open your mouth among them. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”

If God stripped Egypt of its false power to show He alone is LORD, what false securities in your life might He need to humble so that you trust in Him alone?

-- APOSTOLIC P O R T I O N --

How is it possible that a new Pharaoh did not know Joseph or was it that he refused to acknowledge Joseph and the God who raised him up? (Acts 7:17-18)

This question points us to a deeper reality: sometimes it’s not that God is absent, but that people willfully ignore Him. The Pharaoh chose not to remember Joseph, who had saved Egypt from famine, nor to honor the God who gave the interpretation of dreams and the wisdom to preserve life. In the same way, many today do not truly know God, not because He has not revealed Himself, but because they choose to embrace only the parts of His character that suit them.

We sometimes create a “selective version” of God, choosing His love but ignoring His holiness, clinging to His mercy but disregarding His justice. But to truly know Him, we must accept Him fully as He reveals Himself: Creator,  Law-Giver, Judge, Redeemer, and Sovereign King.

Stephen’s testimony before the Sanhedrin reminds us of this truth. He recounted Israel’s history, showing how God continually revealed Himself through His covenant, His deliverers, and His prophets.

• The time of the promise to Abraham drew near. Israel grew in number in Egypt.
• A new Pharaoh arose who did not know Joseph (Acts 7:18). Instead of acknowledging God’s hand in history, he oppressed God’s people.
• Yet God raised up Moses—educated in Egypt’s wisdom, powerful in speech and action—to deliver Israel and make His Name known.

Despite his testimony, Israel often resisted, choosing not to know the God who was in their midst. Stephen’s boldness cost him his life, but in his death, he bore witness to the God who makes Himself known in Yeshua the Messiah.

“And they shall know that I am the LORD.” Pharaoh may have refused to know Joseph’s God, but in the end, God revealed Himself through mighty acts in Egypt. In the same way, Stephen declared to Israel that Yeshua is Lord, even though many rejected Him. And for us, the question is clear: do we truly know God as He reveals Himself, or do we only acknowledge the parts of Him that make us comfortable?

To reject the fullness of who God is, is to refuse to know Him at all.

Acts 7:22

“Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.”

Are you willing to let God strip away the false images you’ve made of Him, so that you may truly know Him as He is and testify of Him boldly, as Stephen did, no matter the cost?

The connection of our Parasha is about how God does things to let Himself know. In Torah, God made Himself known to Israel through His seven I will’s. In Haftarah, God made Himself known to the Egyptians through rebuke and judgment. In Apostolic, Stephen shared to the council the story of Moshe not only to defend himself, but to let the council know Yeshua as God.

Back to my introduction….If God made Himself known to Israel and Egypt, He can also do it to you. The Scriptures are His words, and in them He testifies about Himself. In fact, from the beginning, God has made Himself known.

To truly know Adonai is to bow before Him as He reveals Himself, not as we imagine Him to be. Anything less is to refuse Him altogether.

To claim to know Adonai but live in rebellion is to deny Him; true knowledge of the LORD transforms the heart, humbles the proud, and calls us into covenant faithfulness. Adonai makes Himself known not only in power and judgment but in redemption and love; to know Him is to trust Him fully, even when His ways are beyond our understanding.

Jeremiah 9:23–24

“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know Me, that I am Adonai, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight, declares Adonai.”

John 17:3 

“Now this is eternal life: that they know You, the only true God, and Yeshua the Messiah, whom You have sent.”

Shabbat Shalom,

Topher

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