The battle between the Lord (the word "Lord" in your Bible is the English word used for the Hebrew name of God, יהוה or YahVay) and all the gods of Egypt begins. We study the first plague, the Nile is turned into blood, into death. One wonders if this is payback. Pharaoh ordered all Egyptians to toss the Hebrew new born baby boys into the Nile and drown them. Pharaoh turned the Nile into a river of death. Dennis Prager in his Torah commentary, “Exodus: the Rationale Bible,” suggests tha...
The battle between the Lord (the word "Lord" in your Bible is the English word used for the Hebrew name of God, יהוה or YahVay) and all the gods of Egypt begins. We study the first plague, the Nile is turned into blood, into death. One wonders if this is payback. Pharaoh ordered all Egyptians to toss the Hebrew new born baby boys into the Nile and drown them. Pharaoh turned the Nile into a river of death. Dennis Prager in his Torah commentary, “Exodus: the Rationale Bible,” suggests that God then also turned the Nile into a river of blood, a river of death. Measure for measure or as Jesus says, “you will sow what you reap.” So Pharaoh sowed death and Yahvay returned it back unto Pharaoh and all Egypt. It’s possible and it makes sense.
But, there is so much more. Once again what you are about to learn you will never learn in Sunday school or in your Messianic congregation on Shabbat. You will never learn, for example, the connection between Genesis and Exodus and the book of Revelation. Once again, few ever study the Bible in its historical context. When you do your understanding is expanded and enriched; you will see things God intended as we reconnect to the way the first hearers of God’s Torah heard. We have missed do much.
In this podcast I said I would provide valuable links so you can expand your study. The links are below and I do hope they are worthwhile for many of you who are serious students of the Bible.
The first link is to Ray Vander Laan's video series on Egypt. By accessing these links you can see short previews of the videos. If you do purchase them, and I highly recommend you purchase the video study guide as well. As a Bible historian I think the books that go along with the videos are more valuable than the videos. Here's link to all three of the dvd's on Egypt.
Video 1 - https://www.thattheworldmayknow.com/god-heard-their-cry
Video 2 - https://www.thattheworldmayknow.com/fire-on-the-mountain
Video 3 - https://www.thattheworldmayknow.com/with-all-your-heart
One scholar who has done amazing work on the feasts is David Padfield. I am providing a link to his class notebook entitled, "The Gods of Egypt." It is free to download. Once there you can explore the many other study resources that are available from this ministry.
Link - https://www.padfield.com/acrobat/history/gods_of_egypt.pdf
The main job of Pharaoh was to preserve Ma'at or order. Pharaoh's role was to prevent chaos. See the picture of the goddess Ma'at below.
If he did, then when he died then they'd weigh his heart on the scale of judgment in the Hall of Ma'at (the goddess of truth, order, harmony, prosperity, life) against the feather of Ma'at. If Pharaoh maintained order, Ma'at, and stopped chaos, his heart would be lighter than the feather and Pharaoh would enter eternal life with the gods. If he didn't, if his heart was HEAVY, heavier than Ma'at's feather, Pharaoh would be judged and condemned to eternal damnation. Here's one link to learn about this.
Link - https://www.thetorah.com/article/pharaohs-divine-role-in-maintaining-maat-order
All ancient Egyptian cosmologies, the way things began, have things in common. One is that all the main gods of Egypt, the creator gods, arose out of the primordial sea and darkness. Here's a neat video that delves into these common features of the ancient Egyptian creation accounts.
Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTy49JlgJZE
In this podcast I talked about the seasons of the year in ancient Egypt. Here's a link to a picture detailing these three seasons.
Link - https://www.pinterest.com/pin/630926229039184930/
Finally, here is a link to the festivals in ancient Egypt. In this podcast we talked about the festival of Min. This festival occurred in the month of the Exodus and it explains why Pharaoh was probably at the river when God commanded Moses and Aaron to go a meet Pharaoh. But, it explains even more once you understand the god Min.
Link - http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/festival.htm
Who is this guy, Rev. Ferret?
(Ferret in the Elah Valley - the Shephelah of Israel)
What's his background? Why should we take time to listen to him? Here's a link to check out his background - https://www.dropbox.com/s/ortnret3oxcicu4/BackgrndTeacher%20mar%2025%202020.pdf?dl=0
