Hardening Pharaoh’s Heart (PDF)
The Egyptian Plagues (pdf)
V’Era Slides (pdf)
V’Era Notes (pdf)
Overview of VaEra
This week’s and next week’s Portions are some of the most prophetically significant Portions of the entire Torah. They tell the story of the Egyptian Plagues, the Passover, and the Exodus from Egypt. As Believers, these events show us Yehovah’s pattern of His Wrath, Redemption, and Deliverance. Yehovah is the same yesterday, today and forever; and the patterns that He established in the Egyptian Plagues, the Passover, and the Exodus from Egypt provide us valuable insights into the events of the End of the Age….and we are seeing these events start to unfold today before our very eyes!
We see in this Portion Moses and Aaron challenging Pharaoh with signs and wonders. They engage in “battle” with his magicians who finally admit defeat by saying, “This is the finger of God.” (Exodus 8:19). We see Yeshua also using signs and wonders when He cast out demons, healed the sick, and even raised the dead. He even used this very same phrase when He confronted the Pharisees:
“But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.” Luke 11:20
He continued then with the parable of the strong man guarding his house, but was overtaken by an even stronger man who plundered all his goods. This parable shows us the spiritual conflict between the Kingdom of Heaven and the kingdom of darkness; we see this conflict is this week’s Portion as Moses and Aaron “invade” Pharaoh’s house with seemingly outrageous demands to “let my people go.” That conflict started in The Garden (Genesis 3), it continues today, and will ultimately be resolved when Yehovah establishes His Eternal Kingdom here on Earth (Revelation 22).
Rather than giving you my usual chapter-by-chapter overview of the Portion, I want to show how the patterns established here can be applied to the end-time events described in the Book of Revelation. Therefore, before we continue, I would strongly encourage you to read through the Portion and study the notes, Power Point slides and the two additional handouts: The Egyptian Plagues and The Hardening of Pharaoh’s Heart. My commentary that follows is based upon the assumption that you have read and studied all of these materials.
Yehovah’s Established Patterns
Up to this point in Torah we have seen three Wrath-of-Yehovah events:
- The Flood (a world-wide event for the purpose of destruction)
- Sodom & Gomorrah (a regional event for the purpose of destruction)
- The Egyptian Plagues (a regional event for the purpose of repentance)
There is one more wrath event coming: the Book of Revelation Plagues (a world-wide event for the purpose of repentance). In the three historical events, Yehovah protected His People from His Wrath: in the Flood He placed them in the ark (a City of Refuge, if you will); at Sodom & Gomorrah He literally moved Lot and his daughters to a City of Refuge (Gen 19:19-22); and in the Egyptian Plagues He placed the Hebrews in Goshen (a City of Refuge) 215 years before the event occurred, and He protected them from His wrath that fell upon Egypt. There was no sudden unexpected “rapture” event to remove His People from His Wrath; instead, He protected them in place from His Wrath which occurred all around them.
“For Yehovah did not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.” (I Thess 5:9). The patterns do not show Yehovah removing His People with a “rapture” event; but rather He protects them as His Wrath takes place all around…just like the verse says. I’m sorry to burst the bubbles of any Pre-Tribulation Rapture people out there, but the evidence just does not support the concept of a sudden Rapture as a reward and deliverance from His Wrath.
Yehovah’s Patterns in the Egyptian Plagues: The Sequence of Events
From the Chart of the Egyptian Plagues, we see that the first three plagues fell upon all of Egypt. But starting with the fourth plague, the Land of Goshen was spared…until the tenth plague – the death of the firstborn. I would suggest that the Seal judgments in Revelation 6 correspond to the first three Egyptian Plagues, falling upon everyone. The Seal Judgments end with, “For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” indicating that the tribulation (upon all) is over and the wrath (upon unbelievers only) is about to start.
Then the fourth through the ninth plagues correspond to the Trumpet and Bowl Plagues of Revelation (chapters 8, 9 &16). These are the Wrath of Yehovah; but Yehovah’s People are protected from His Wrath: “And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.” (Matt 24:22). Who are “the elect”? That’s us – or, at least the remaining Believers – protected by Yehovah from His Wrath!
The rapture is real and it will happen (I Corinth 15:51-58); it’s just the timing that is unknown, and its purpose in misunderstood (because it is mis-taught!). The rapture is not a reward for righteousness; it is a physical bodily transformation so that we Believers may transition from our earthly (corrupt) bodies into our incorruptible resurrection bodies; that is how we may enter the Kingdom to continue our calling from Yehovah. We will then be equipped to rule and reign with Yeshua in His earthly Kingdom….and for all eternity! Halleluyah!!!
The Timing of the Plagues
Even though we have not yet been given the details of the Feasts of the LORD, these recurring appointments to meet with Yehovah fit the timing of the Egyptian Plagues. We don’t know when the Plagues began but we do know when they ended: at Passover. Does it then seem logical that the Plagues of Judgment would begin six months earlier on the Day of Judgment – the Day of Atonement?? I think so! And if that’s the case then the seven Judgment Plagues lasted for six months: from Tishri 10 (Day of Atonement) to Nisan 14 (Passover).
Applying this same “yardstick” to the End Time Plagues of Revelation, then the seven Judgment Plagues would begin on some future Day of Atonement and end at Passover; Yeshua would return on Passover to “promote” His People (I Corinth 15:51-58) by changing corruption into incorruption and mortality into immortality. Again…Halleluyah!!!
Now the prevailing Feast of the LORD teaching says that the Spring Feasts (Passover, Unleavened Bread and Firstfruits) were fulfilled at Yeshua’s First Coming with His death, burial and resurrection; and the Holy Spirit fulfilled the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) in Acts 2. And it says that the Fall Feasts (Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles) will be fulfilled with His Second Coming: He returns (and “raptures” Believers) on Trumpets; He judges the Nations on the Day of Atonement and He establishes the Millennial Kingdom on Tabernacles.
But, wait a minute; that doesn’t fit the pattern of the Egyptian Plagues. That timetable suggests He will return at Passover. Question: if the world is being taught today that Yeshua will return on the Feast of Trumpets in the Fall, but He will actually return at Passover in the Spring…then who do you suppose will appear some year on the Feast of Trumpets???? Who is the great deceiver, the great imposter??? We must be careful and have great discernment so that we (“the elect”) are not deceived by Satan. Yeshua warns us about this:
“So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” Matthew 24:26-27
At this time, Satan will be restored to his full power to deceive – if we so much as look at him, our eyes will convince us that he is the Messiah. Yeshua will return “as lightning that comes from the east to the west”; anyone else who suddenly and quietly appears on the scene – don’t even go to see him – you will be deceived into believing he is the Messiah.
This may be a hard teaching to understand and even harder to accept. For many years I taught the traditional Feast of the LORD timing – some of you who are reading this have heard me teach that. I repent today for that teaching and hope and pray that all who read this will understand Yehovah’s timing presented here and will be prepared, by the Holy Spirit, for the deception that Satan has prepared for us as Yeshua’s return draws near.
Before we leave this subject, there is the final Plague – death of the firstborn – to fit into the end time scenario. It may be hinted at in Rev 9:15:
“So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind.”
But I believe the true fulfillment of this is found in Romans 8:19,
“For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of Yehovah.”
Just as the death of the unrighteous firstborn Egyptians revealed the righteous (and still living) firstborn of those who were obedient and applied the blood of the lamb to their doorposts, so will this Romans 8:19 event (however it will manifest itself) reveal the righteous firstborn sons….as Sons of Yehovah. And this revealing of the Sons of Yehovah will usher in the Millennial Kingdom, as The Curse is lifted (Rom 8:20-24).
Yehovah is in Control
We see as the Egyptian Plagues unfold that Yehovah is controlling them. The Plagues increase in severity: first affecting the people’s comfort, then their possessions, and finally bringing death. We also see that the precision of the Plagues increase: in locality (as Goshen is exempted from the later Plagues). We even see Moses giving Pharaoh the option of picking the exact time to end the Plague of Frogs (Ex 8:9-11). That is precision!!
Throughout all this we still see Yehovah is in control! With each Plague we see that Pharaoh’s heart is “hardened.” Unfortunately the true meaning is hidden in our English translations (refer to The Hardening of Pharaoh’s Heart chart). There are two Hebrew words used that are both translated as “hardened”:
keved – to make heavy (as in kevod, the Glory – or Heaviness – of Yehovah); in this case, to make stubborn
chezak – to strengthen (as in Chazak, chazak v’nit-chazek, “be strong, be strong….” which we said two weeks ago as we finished the Book of Genesis); in this case to make resilient to withstand what is coming next.
The chart shows which word is used in each case, and it shows whether Pharaoh or Yehovah was doing the “hardening.” The first five Plagues are all Pharaoh hardening his own heart. But with Plague #6 he began to weaken and give in, so Yehovah stepped in and strengthened him. Why did He do that? Well, he wasn’t finished with the lessons He wanted Pharaoh (and the rest of Egypt, and the Hebrews) to learn. So he strengthened Pharaoh to continue to resist Him so He could complete the lesson! Pharaoh hardened his own heart in Plague #7, but something happened there to cause him to lose it. What was it?
Each of the Plagues was engineered by Yehovah to defeat one of the many gods that the Egyptians worshipped. But the seventh Plague combined the power of two of their gods who normally were at odds with each other: the god of fire and the god of ice. Yehovah used the powers of both of these gods to cause ice and fire to work together on the people of Egypt. Pharaoh knew then and there that he was up against a God who was far superior to all of his gods. So from that plague on, Yehovah had to continue to strengthen Pharaoh so he would hang in there to the end of the lesson!
So applying this part of the pattern to the end times, we can expect Yehovah to defeat all the gods of this world (because that’s what the Book says He will do!), and that He will be in control of every event that happens then. A careful study of the Trumpet and Bowl Plagues shows that they too increase in severity and in precision. But we
have hope in Yehovah’s protection and provision during these hardest of times; and we can look forward to our “graduation” at the end into His Kingdom; graduating from corruption to incorruption and from mortality into immortality!
Halleluyah one more time!!!
Haftarah Reading: (Ezekiel 28:25-29:21)
In last week’s Haftarah, we read Isaiah’s prophecy concerning the final redemption of Israel at the End of the Age. This week’s reading, from the Prophet Ezekiel, also describes that same redemption. It begins with Yehovah’s promise to regather His People from the four corners of the Earth in order to bring us into His Messianic Kingdom on Earth. The portion continues beyond what we are reading here to describe the fall of Pharaoh and Egypt. The Prophet attributes this fall to two reasons: Egypt failed to keep her promise to come to Israel’s aid against the attacking Babylonians; and they had turned from dependence on Yehovah, and they acknowledged that the God of the Nile as the source of their abundance. We read of Israel’s regathering from Ezekiel 28:25-26:
“Thus says the Lord Yehovah: “When I have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and am hallowed in them in the sight of the Gentiles, then they will dwell in their own land which I gave to My servant Jacob. And they will dwell safely there, build houses, and plant vineyards; yes, they will dwell securely, when I execute judgments on all those around them who despise them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord their Yehovah.”
Brit Hadashah Reading: (Revelation 6:45-17)
In last week’s Brit Chadashah reading, we saw the parallels with Pharaoh’s treatment of Israel to Anti-messiah’s treatment of his enemies (us!) This week’s reading shows similar parallels. We read again from the book of Revelation of the peoples’ reaction to the plagues that Yehovah will send upon the earth. Here we read of John’s account of this same End Time gathering of Yehovah’s people; here Yehovah is using the very same tactics as in the Egyptian exodus: plagues upon the earth & the hardening of men’s hearts. And just as with the Egyptian plagues, Yehovah will do things then that have never been seen before on the face of the earth. We read from Revelation 6:15-17:
“And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”