by Ptr. Art Calaguas
Shalom.
First, some good news. In 2 daring daylight simultaneous hostage rescue operations last Saturday in Nuseirat, in central Gaza, IDF composite teams while “under fire” freed 3 men from one location and a woman from a second, different site. All were rescued alive and are in good medical condition. All were kidnapped by Hamas from the Supernova music festival near Re’im last October 7, 2023.
Some 116 hostages (many still alive?) composed of children, women, men, and the elderly are still held in Rafah or somewhere in Gaza since that Hamas attack. It has been 8 months already. It seems like an eternity in comparison to the previous wars Israel had fought against its Arab neighbors. As Israel strikes deeper and deeper into the heart of Hamas in Rafah and the rest of Gaza, the conflict on the other front in the north has also increasingly become more intense as Hezbollah attacks Israel with rockets, missiles and drones several times every single day. Fears are rising over the very real possibility of a 3rd Israel-Hezbollah War, even as the Feast of Shavuot (Weeks) comes this June 11-13. Shavuot is the original Pentecost. It was celebrated on the same times by the Christian Church until the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. changed the celebration schedules.
Meanwhile, this war has turned more and more secular Israelis to God, to Yeshua (Jesus) and to the Gospel. Let us pray that more and more Jews, Arabs and other peoples accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and true Prince of Peace. Let us continue to pray for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and for a just end to this war. Let us continue to stand with Israel and pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6-9).
The refusal of Pharaoh to let the Hebrews go and his imposition of further additional burden to have them make bricks without straw in Exodus 5 had broken the spirit of the people. Moses was worried that the people were so disheartened by the harsh reaction of Pharaoh. So he turned to the LORD and asked what to do in Exodus 5:22-23. While the “Burning Bush” episode in Exodus 3 revealed the LORD as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to Moses and the plan for the deliverance of the Hebrews and their return to the land of Canaan as promised, God had to reassure his people a number of times through Moses. The response of the LORD is narrated in Exodus 6:1-8.
The LORD said that Moses will see what is going to happen to Pharaoh: he will be forced to send the Hebrews out of Egypt. God said that “I am the LORD” and appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob by the name אֵ֤ל שַׁדַּי֙ (“El Shaddai,” usually translated as “God Almighty”) but did not make himself known to them by/with his name יְהֹוָה (YHWH, the Tetragrammaton, “the LORD”). As The IVP Bible Background Commentary – Old Testament states, earlier passages had already introduced God’s personal name (e.g., Genesis 15:7; 28:13; Exodus 3:15) so it seems the meaning here is to let the Hebrews know in greater detail the awesome extent of God’s power (that would be displayed in the forthcoming plagues) and his covenantal relationship with his people. Indeed, in Exodus 6:4 God reiterated the covenant with the patriarchs including the land grant. The Hebrew verse of Exodus 6:4 is given below (read right to left, top down) with the covenant and land grant highlighted:
וְגַ֨ם הֲקִמֹ֤תִי אֶת־בְּרִיתִי֙ אִתָּ֔ם לָתֵ֥ת לָהֶ֖ם אֶת־אֶ֣רֶץ כְּנָ֑עַן אֵ֛ת אֶ֥רֶץ מְגֻרֵיהֶ֖ם אֲשֶׁר־גָּ֥רוּ בָֽהּ׃
The New International Version (NIV) translation is given below for this verse:
4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they resided as foreigners.
Verse 5 narrates that the LORD also reiterated that he has heard the groaning of the Israelites enslaved by Egypt. The next 2 verses 6-7 instructs Moses to tell them again God’s personal, covenantal name and his promise to redeem them and rescue them from slavery with “mighty acts of judgment.” Then God will take them as his people and they will know him, יְהֹוָה (YHWH, “the LORD”) as their God. Then once again in Exodus 6:8 the LORD assures Moses that the Hebrews will be delivered and will be brought to the land promised to their forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Hebrew verse of Exodus 6:8 is given below (read right to left, top down) with the covenant and land grant highlighted:
וְהֵבֵאתִ֤י אֶתְכֶם֙ אֶל־הָאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֤ר נָשָׂ֙אתִי֙ אֶת־יָדִ֔י לָתֵ֣ת אֹתָ֔הּ לְאַבְרָהָ֥ם לְיִצְחָ֖ק וּֽלְיַעֲקֹ֑ב וְנָתַתִּ֨י אֹתָ֥הּ לָכֶ֛ם מֹורָשָׁ֖ה אֲנִ֥י יְהוָֽה׃
The NIV translation is given below for this verse:
8And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD.
The land (Canaan) is given as a possession or an inheritance, or a heritage as other translations render the Hebrew word מוֹרָשָׁה (“morashah”). The last statement אֲנִ֥י יְהוָֽה in the verse, usually translated “I am the LORD” can also be rendered instead as “I the LORD.” This is how The Jewish Study Bible and the New American Bible (NAB) translate it. Perhaps to emphasize the covenant author, the land-giver and the rescuer.
We will continue next time.
God bless us all.