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Saturday, January 6, 2024

January 5, 2024 - 24 Tevet 5784 Messianic Shabbat Readings and Musings

Shemot - Names!

The first word in the Torah (Law) readings is the title for that portion of the scripture and this week's study conducted by Rabbi David Stone Jr. is titled "Names". This post has my musings on the readings set for study this week which include readings from the Torah - law, Haftarah or Haftorah - Prophets, and New Covenant. 
If you can join in the live study with Rabbi David Stone Junior either online on Facebook or in person in Beaumont., Texas, you may find this study of Our Creator's word interesting and refreshing. For more information on the Facebook Live study see Rabbi David Stone Junior's Facebook timeline post here.
If you missed the live study with Rabbi David Stone Jr, you can watch the replay here on Facebook. Rabbi Stone is quite helpful and will also respond to questions if you post them after the live study as well.
Scriptures:
  •  Torah- Exodus 1:1-6:1 
  • Haftarah- Isaiah 27:6- 28:13 and 29:22-23 and Jeremiah 1:1-2:3 
  • New Covenant- 1Cor. 14:13-25  Romans 9 

Significant Scriptures for Me Today

All scripture is important and significant- these are just some of the scriptures that are noteworthy for me today. It is important to read or listen to the scriptures yourself, as other scriptures may be much more significant for you.

Shemot(Exodus) Overview

This section of scripture starts with naming the sons of Yakov who went into Egypt with him. This is interesting, and more significant than people often realize- you see the names of people hold meaning- so much so that Our Creator will sometimes even change the names of people! It is also in this section of scripture that we find the name that Our Creator wishes to be known by.
Interestingly, Yakov(Jacob) is used here, rather than Yisrael -the name Our Father gave him. 
This section of scripture includes the following:
  • The oppression of the family of Yisrael by the new Pharaoh
  • The decree of infanticide - male babies to be thrown in the Nile River
  • The obedience of the midwives to Our Creator and their reward
  • The birth of a baby boy to the Levite couple
  • The placing of the baby boy in the river in an ark- a papyrus reed basket
  • The rescue of the baby by Pharoah's daughter and naming the baby Moshe-Moses
  • The raising of the baby by his own mother Yochabed - and her getting paid to do it!
  • The return of Mose to the Pharoah's daughter
  • The murder of the Egyptian by Mose
  • Mose fleeing Egypt for his life
  • Mose helps the daughters of the Midianite priest Jethro and marries Zipporah
  • Our Creator hears the cries of the family of Yisrael and remembers His covenant
  • Mose sees the burning bush and his amazing conversation with Our Creator at the burning bush where Our Creator reveals His name and gives Mose a command to free the people of Egypt
  • Mose returns to Egypt
  • Zipporah circumcises her son along the way to Egypt 
  • Mose and Aron go to Pharaoh to ask him to let the Hebrews go and worship their God in the desert 
  • Pharoah increases the workload on the Israelites so they had to gather their own straw to make the bricks- doubling their work with the same quota required
  • Mose confronts Our Creator about His lack of holding up His end of their deal
  • It ends with Our Creator telling Mose- Now- watch and see what I will do!

The Bible Project has great video overviews of the Books of the Bible including this one that covers the beginning of Exodus or Shemot.

I realize that some people cannot watch videos because their internet connection is too slow, so you might find this transcript of the above overview of the first part of Exodus by the Bible Project useful 

You can listen to books of the Bible being read on the Blue Letter Bible Website in English or Spanish. I quite enjoyed listening to this dramatized audio presentation of Exodus on the Blue Letter Bible website.
Another interesting resource related to this week's readings that I have enjoyed is the Bible Study "Women of Welcome Brave + Bold" on the YouVersion Bible App. This Bible Study looks at the rebellious women who were instrumental in the survival of Moseth. These rebellious women included: the midwives who did not kill the male babies as they were commanded by the Pharoah, the mother of Mose, the sister of Mose, and the Pharoah's daughter. 
Join me in reading Women of Welcome: Bold + Brave

Shemot Standout Scriptures

  • Exodus 1:12 The more the Egyptians oppressed them, the stronger they became.  - This makes me think of the persecuted underground churches that are in some countries. 
  • Exodus 2:24 Then Creator heard the cries of the people and remembered His covenant with Avraham (Abraham)Yishaq(Isaac) and Yakov (Jacob) - This reminds me of the promise made by Our Creator "When my people cry out to me I will hear them"
  • Exodus 3:6  I am the God of your father the God of Avraham, the God of Yishaq, and the God of  Yakov - This is the scripture Our Saviour quotes noting the emphasis on the words "I am " and stating Our G-d is a G-d of the living -not the dead
  • Exodus 3:14-15 This is where Creator reveals the name which people are to call him by forever - הָיָה Haya אֲשֶׁר Aser הָיָה Haya 
  • Exodus 4:11 -Who gave people their mouths? Who makes people deaf or mute?  Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I-יְהֹוָה? This scripture initially  took me a bit by surprise, as  His Son taught that people could be healed of these afflictions through prayer, then when I thought about it a bit more carefully remembered the scripture where the disciples asked about why a boy had a certain malady and Our saviour replied that it was so the glory of Our Creator could be seen.

Shemot Children's Ministry Resources

This is a growing annotated list of Children's ministry resources that people might find useful for teaching this first section of scriptures from Shemot (Exodus):

Haftarah Prophet Readings

The prescribed readings from the prophets for this week include Isaiah 27:6- 28:13 and 29:22-23 and Jeremiah 1:1-2:3.
In the readings from  Isaiah 

To be continued...

Sources:

About This Author

Sister Su is grateful to God for keeping her alive. She is a Trent/Queen's Concurrent Education graduate with over 20 years of teaching experience. She writes on several blogs, has a YouTube channel and is most easily reached through Twitter @Sister_Su See her link tree for more details:@Sister_Su | Linktree

This post was proofread with the free version of Grammarly
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