Lesson date: 02/22/5859AA

(The Thirty-fifth Day of the Counting of the Omer
The Fifth Sabbath of Counting Seven Sabbaths)

Verses 1-2 – I am not sure if I mentioned it to you last weak but the word for “harden” or “to strengthen” came from the root word that meant to “bait a trap”. Once again we see YHVH setting a trap for Pharaoh.

Verses 3-14 – Plague Number 2 – Moshe instructs Pharaoh, that if he does not let the people go that Egypt will be infested with frogs: H6854 – צפרדּע – tsephardêa‛ – BDB Definition: 1) frogs. Quite literally the word means “marsh leaper”. Why use frogs? Frogs were believed to be the sign of the goddess Heka who was the wife of the god Khum. Heka was thought to be the god of reincarnation. Please refer to Exo. 12:12. This was a spiritual war of YHVH against the gods of Egypt so He had to take them down one by one.

Notice in English the phrase “the river”. It seems innocuous enough but two words are being used to convey an idea: הנהרת –come from the root word –  H5104 – נָהָר – nâhâr – naw-hawr’ – From H5102; a stream (including the sea; especially the Nile, Euphrates, etc.); figuratively, prosperity: – flood, river.

Notice that I underlined two letters.

The first (right to left) is the “hey” – ה – is the letter for the definite article “the” and the second letter is the “tav” – ת –  indicating singular masculine possession – “your”. The next word being used to define which river is being discussed is היארים – from the root word H2975 – יְאֹר – ye’ôr – yeh-ore’ – Of Egyptian origin; a channel, for example a fosse, canal, shaft; specifically the Nile, as the one river of Egypt, including its collateral trenches; This establishes the fact that it will not affect another river and its tributaries but only the Nile. Why was it done this way? I believe it was a particular purpose.

When we see the boundaries of Yisra’el being established in Scripture as the “river of Egypt” everyone automatically assumes that it is referring to the Nile River and it is not. The boundary of Yira’el is described as: Num 34:5  ‘And the border shall turn from Atsmon to the wadi of Mitsrayim, and it shall end at the Sea.

Jos 15:4  and passed over to Atsmon, and went out to the wadi of Mitsrayim, and the border ended at the sea. This is your southern border.

1Ki 8:65  And Shelomoh at that time observed the Festival, and all Yisra’ĕl with him, a great assembly from the entrance of Ḥamath to the wadi of Mitsrayim, before יהוה our Elohim, seven days and seven days – fourteen days.

H5158 – נַחֲלָה   נַחְלָה   נַחַל – nachal   nachlâh    nachălâh – nakh’-al, nakh’-law, nakh-al-aw’ – From H5157 in its original sense; a stream, especially a winter torrent; (by implication) a (narrow) valley (in which a brook runs); also a shaft (of a mine): – brook, flood, river, stream, valley.

Today this “wadi” or brook is called Wadi Al ‘Arish. ((When we were working on the translation of the Sinai Peace Treaty (1977-78), also called the Camp David Peace Accords, all sides universally agreed that the historical boundary of Yisra’el was the Brook of Egypt or the Wadi of Egypt NOT the Nile River.))

Many people will argue because Abraham was in the presence of Pharaoh and Pharoah must have been in Memphis at the time, “that the land that Abraham trod” was up to and including the Nile. But as we studied during Sukkot, one year not too long ago, the seat of the Egyptian government had moved from Memphis to Heliopolis at the time of Abraham, and may have actually been at On, in order to finally defeat the Amorites at the fortress/prison of Avaris which was later given to Yoseph as a wedding present for his provincial capital city. This was probably the same prison where Yoseph was imprisoned until freed by the Pharaoh and it was a short distance from On where his father-in-law was high priest.

I want to include one more example of the Nile being separate from the “river of Egypt”. If you remember we discussed Ezek. 29:2-3: Eze 29:2  “Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh the sovereign of Mitsrayim, and prophesy against him, and against Mitsrayim, all of it.

Eze 29:3  “Speak, and you shall say, ‘Thus said the Master יהוה, “See, I am against you, O Pharaoh sovereign of Mitsrayim, O great monster who lies in the midst of his rivers, who has said, ‘My River is my own, and I, I have made it for myself.’

The word rivers and River above are both H2975 – ye-ore. We discussed that the belief was that Sobek, the crocodile god, cried tears which became the Nile River. ((Adds a new light to crocodile tears doesn’t it? Paganism?))

Please notice in verse 7 that, once again, the magicians can imitate what YHVH does through His annointed ones but they can’t undo it. Hasatan is the great impersonator not the originator, like our Creator. ((That is why his mark is found at the same location as YHVH’s Mark.))

In verse 8 we see Pharaoh make a commitment to Mosheh that if Mosheh will have YHVH rid them of the frogs he would allow the Children of Yisra’el to go into the wilderness to slaughter to YHVH.

Verse 15 – In the words of Jerry Clower, “I’ve gotta have some relief.” And that is what Pharaoh got, but then he reneged on his word. Relief = H7309 – רְוָחָה – revâchâh – rev-aw-khaw’ – Feminine of H7305; relief: – breathing, respite.

H7309 is only used twice in the Tanakh, here and Lam. 3:56. Look closely at the consosants in the word and the meaning. It is a verb form taken from “ruach”.

Verses 16-19 – Plague Number 3 – Gnats/Lice. The Mitsrians worshipped the soil itself because the soil brought life so, by turning the soil into gnats/lice it was an attack on the god of the soil, Geb. The throne of Egypt was called the “throne of Geb.” Geb was represented as a man’s body with a goose for a head. The goose was thought to be the goose that laid the egg that became the sun. ((Goose that laid the golden egg. Is this starting to show you that many of these sayings are rooted in paganism? Perhaps we shouldn’t use them.))

Some people say that using the allusion of dust simply means that YHVH did not turn the dust into gnats/lice but they were as numerous as the dust. This is incorrect. Please note the word used for became is H1961 – היה – hâyâh – BDB Definition: 1) to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out. ((Do you recognize this word?))

Here is something really interesting, the priest of Mitsrayim shaved their heads so that they would not be infected by lice because if they were, they were considered unclean and could not perform their priestly duties and therefore they could not ward off the plague. This left the priests impotent in the eyes of Pharaoh.

Look to verse 19 – the magicians could not duplicate this plague because they too, were unclean and reasoned that “This is the finger of Elohim!” In other words they had met their match. The power of Hasatan was no match for the Power of El Shaddai. Since the god of magic in Egypt was their god, Thoth, this was also an attack upon the power of Thoth. Also, this was a slight on the god Khepri but more on that later.

Verses 20-32 – Plague Number 4 – Swarms of Flies.

כי אם־אינך משׁלח את־עמי הנני משׁליח בך

Notice the two words above that  are underlined and highlighted. This is an element of Hebrew word play and shows the reflexive nature of the verb. What YHVH says, “If you do not release my people I will release on you…”

H7971 – שׁלח – shâlach – BDB Definition: 1) to send, send away, let go, stretch out, release.

Heka was the god(dess) if reincarnation and now, the fly, because of its life-cycle represents resurrection. The god of the gadfly or dogfly was Khepri. Khepri had a role in creation also, the movement of the sun and was represented by a man with the head of the sacred scarab beetle.

In verses 22 and 23 we see YHVH telling Pharaoh that He will separate the Children of Yisra’el in Goshen for the rest of Mitsrayim. Verse 23 uses the word ransom: H6304 – פְּדֻת   פְּדוּת – pedûth   pedûth ped-ooth’, ped-ooth’ – From H6929; distinction; also deliverance: – division, redeem, redemption. Is this significant? By placing a separation between Goshen (to draw near) and Mitsrayim YHVH was showing both Yisa’el and Mitsrayim that He would “redeem” or “ransom” His first born son Yisra’el. (Shem. 4:22)

Num_18:15  “Everyone opening a womb of all flesh, which they bring to יהוה, whether man or beast, is yours. But the first-born of man you shall certainly ransom, and the first-born of the unclean beast you ransom.

Isa 43:3  “For I am יהוה your Elohim, the Set-apart One of Yisra’ĕl, your Saviour; I gave Mitsrayim for your ransom, Kush and Seḇa in your place.

Verses 25-26 – Pharoah finally gets so tired of the flies that he tells Moshe to go and perform sacrifices to YHVH in Mitsrayim. In verse 26 Mosheh tells him it would not be right for them to do so. Why? We talked about it at Sukkot in our study of Yoseph.

Mosheh also mentions: “for we would be slaughtering the abomination of the Mitsrites to יהוה”

The Mitsrites worshipped Hathor, the cow-headed goddess of love and fertility and Apis, Buchis and Mneuis, all bull-headed gods. Remember, shepherds were an abomination to the Mitsrites and for them to slaughter an animal associated with one of their gods was a serious crime.

Stop just a moment and let me personalize this from my own experiences. In our modern “Christian” world today is it not an abomination to not celebrate Christmas? Or Easter? These are Christian holy days or rather church holidays. Instead we keep holy days that the church does not even know, much less understand. Do we not “sacrifice” to YHVH on His moedim? Psa 51:16  For You do not desire slaughtering, or I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering.

Psa 51:17  The slaughterings of Elohim are a broken spirit, A heart broken and crushed, O Elohim, These You do not despise.

Hos_14:2  Take words with you, and return to יהוה. Say to Him, “Take away all crookedness, and accept what is good, and we render the bulls of our lips

Heb 13:15  Through Him then, let us continually offer up a slaughter offering of praise to Elohim, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His Name.

Once again, we see that Torah is not some ancient, out date parchment that is good to hear a sermon from once a year on the 10 Commandments. No, it has meaning for us in our lives and social interactions today. Think about this: if Torah is the Word and Yeshua is the Word then Yeshua is Torah. If Yeshua is the chief cornerstone that the builders rejected then Torah is the chief cornerstone that the builders rejected. Without Torah as our trusted and true foundation we have been and can once again be deceived by Hasatan.

There is still more to take away for these 4 plagues; The first thing we see is the rod of Aharon as it gobbles up the other rods of the magicians of Pharaoh. This firmly establishes the fact that YHVH was the Most High Elohim.

Next, Gen 1:2  And the earth came to be formless and empty, and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of Elohim was moving on the face of the waters.

Day = Day of Creation

On Day/Plague 1 we see YHVH over the waters and the Mitsrites believed all life came from the water, the Nile. YHVH proved His superiority over the Mitsrites’ god, Sobek, by causing the water to bring death to even the fish and animals that lived in the water by turning it into blood, the sign of His Covenant.

On Day/Plague 2 we witness YHVH attacking their pagan belief in reincarnation by using the frogs, representing the goddess Heka. Life is not an endless cycle of reincarnation but rather it is represented by a distinct separation of the expanses, heavens and the espanse below.

On Day/Plague 3 YHVH brought forth dry land and plants that yielded seed and fruit trees that yielded fruit but YHVH attacked the Mistrite god of the ground, Geb. The dust became an infestation that brought about misery and suffering. Geb was the goose-headed god the laid the egg that brought about the sun.

On Day/Plague 4 we see a powerful assault on their pagan believe system. Geb laid the egg that became the sun on the 4^th day, Ra or Re (Ray) being the sun god. The sun was to separate the day (good) from the night (evil) and in this plague we see a clear demarcation take place between the Children of Yisra’el in the land of Goshen (to draw near) and the rest of Mitsrayim. No flies/lice/beetles affected YHVH’s chosen people but tormented the Mitsrites. Two things to remember: 1) Ba’al-Zebub in Hebrew means the Lord of the Flies; 2) Yeshua, the Perfect Light Came on the 4^th Millennial Day and we are to walk in His Perfect Light, having called us out of the darkness of the dogmas that we walked in.

These 4 plagues were not just a judgment on the people but more importantly, the gods of Mitsrayim and the pagan belief system of the Mitsrites. Is it any wonder that He says to us; Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from the heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.

Jer 51:6  Flee from the midst of Babel, and let each one save his life! Do not be cut off in her crookedness, for this is the time of the vengeance of יהוה, the recompense He is repaying her.

Isa 52:11  Turn aside! Turn aside! Come out from there, touch not the unclean. Come out of her midst, be clean, you who bear the vessels of יהוה.

2Co 6:16 And what union has the Dwelling Place of Elohim with idols? For you are a Dwelling Place of the living Elohim, as Elohim has said, “I shall dwell in them and walk among them, and I shall be their Elohim, and they shall be My people.”

2Co 6:17 Therefore, “Come out from among them and be separate, says יהוה, and do not touch what is unclean, and I shall receive you.

Without Torah the Church does not know what is clean and unclean therefore they cannot be obedient to the command, “Touch not the unclean”!

Is this just a coincidence?

Ahavah vberakhot,