Parashat Beshalach 5764/2004
EJD
The weekly reading for the week of 15 Shevat, 5764 - February 7, 2004 Parashah: Beshalach Exodus 13:18 to 17:16; Haftarah: Judges 4:4 to 5:31 (Ashkenazi) Judges 5:1-31 (Sephardi); Mei Kituvim: Daniel 3:1-30; Brit Chadashah: Luke 1:39-55; 1 Corinthians 10:1-4
The Bagel: Blessor and blessee. It works. Adonay loves to bless His people. He is the Blessor and we receive His blessings and prosper. That prosperity is not necessarily material. We may suffer and yet prosper greatly. It is only because G-d blesses us first and enables us to carry forward the blessing to others. This creates a reaction in which we, in turn, bless G-d. In that case, we become the blessor (with a small "b") and Elohim becomes the Blessee. We bless G-d with our praises, and our lives. This week's readings develop this two-way pattern.
Torah: Exodus 13:17 to 17:16 In Parashat Beshelach we find the action of Adonay blessing Israel with freedom. They were delivered from the exterminating hand of Pharaoh. They miraculously crossed the Red Sea. As a result, Miriam lead the choir (Israel) in praise and song to Adonay as the Savior-King, who rescued Israel from its troubles in Egypt. G-d affirmed to Israel of His power to transform circumstances. He changed the grumbles of Israel into the praises of the people of G-d. Israel blessed G-d. Of course, it wasn't long before the tables were reversed and Israel complained against G-d. The difference is first of all because G-d first loved Israel and helped her. If G-d's blessing came in a difficult situation in Egypt, then the same G-d was capable of sustaining the blessing in the harsh environment of the desert. It was a matter of trusting in both situations. The lesson of the Amalekites was to teach Israel that G-d will continue to bless, but not without difficulty. Israel needed to bless in return in spite of the desert and implacable enemies.
Haftarah: Judges 4:4 to 5:31 In the Haftarah reading it is the victory over the Canaanite king and his commander Sisera that justifies the song that Israel sang. Deborah's song was a response to the blessing of victory. Adonay blessed Israel through Deborah and Barak, so Deborah in turn blessed G-d through praise. It was Yael's tent peg that G-d used to end the conflict. It was the praise to Adonay that mitigated the cycle of unbelief leading to sin, and the consequent dominion of the enemies. G-d delivers and we praise Him.
Mei Kituvim: Daniel 3:1-30 This reading of Mei Kituvim is a contrast to the Torah reading, because Nebuchadnezzar, the pagan, Babylon king ends up praising the Most High G-d. The three Hebrew children were delivered from the furnace. It was heat instead of water.1 The rescue was a spectacle that Nebuchadnezzar saw firsthand. There was another divine being in the midst of the furnace. It was Adonay, the G-d of Israel intervening on behalf of His chosen nation. For if this deliverance were not done, then Israel probably would've either been entirely paganized or exterminated. Instead, Adonay brought a miracle that turned the pagan world upside down.
It was the worship of the true G-d that the king commanded empire wide. Nebuchadnezzar was delivered from his own false gods by an encounter with the living and true G-d. He was blessed by Adonay, so in turn: "Nebuchadnezzar spoke up and said, 'Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who sent His angel to save His servants who, trusting in Him, flouted the king's decree at the risk of their lives rather than serve or worship any god but their own God'" (Daniel 3:28 Tanakh JPS). The Divine Blessor blessed a pagan blessee, so he could be a blessor to G-d in turn.
Brit Chadashah: Luke 1:39-55; 1 Corinthians 10:1-4 Our reading here takes us to the ultimate blessing. It forms the basis for all blessing. Miriam (Mary) was privileged to be called to this role, to be the mother of Yeshua, so that the blessing of salvation could be made to all - Jew and Gentile alike. This birth was a act of deliverance. It set in motion the kingdom of G-d by the birth of King. It was His perfect life, death, and resurrection that completed the atonement.
There is in her act of blessing G-d a declaration of G-d as the Blessor of Israel, which is reminiscent of the deliverance in Egypt:
"His mercy goes on from generation to generation, to all who fear him. His mighty arm does tremendous things! How he scatters the proud and haughty ones! He has taken princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly. He has satisfied the hungry with good things and sent the rich away with empty hands. And how he has helped his servant Israel! He has not forgotten his promise to be merciful" (Luke 1:50-54 NLT). Pharaoh, the proud one was destroyed, but humbled Israel was fed by supply of Adonay.
The ultimate example of G-d as the Blessor is in sending Yeshua to make redemption permanent. Because He was born, fulfilled the Torah in His life, and paid the penalty for our sin, we can approach G-d in His holiness and be accepted of Him without fear of wrath against sin. When we receive this blessing, we are blessed indeed. We can in turn worship G-d in spirit and in truth and as such be a blessor to G-d and others.
Cream Cheese: "How are you?" may be asked by someone, "I'm blessed!" can be your response through Yeshua.
1 Although the trouble in Egypt during the Exodus was like that of dwelling in the midst of a furnace: "which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace...." (Jeremiah 11:4 JPS 1917) it was descriptive of G-d's role of purifying Israel. The Anti-semite's role is to exterminate Israel. Unwittingly, in pagan ignorance, Nebuchadnezzar chose a policy of anti-semitism (anti-Jewishism) in his decree of compulsory worship of false gods. But G-d turned it all around by a miracle that delivered Israel certain extermination and Babylon from the consequences of such a program.
Unless noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
|
