The Bagel: 7 Plagues, 7 chances, and 7 bowls. Our reading this week describes the dialog between Moses and Pharaoh. But it really was a dialog between the God of Israel and a self-proclaimed deity - Pharaoh himself. God gave Pharaoh seven plagues to make Himself known and to show His absolute primacy. God also gave 7 opportunities to repent. When Pharaoh rejected the evidence of the plagues and the proffer of mercy (repent and "let my people go!") the die was cast. From now on, at the end of the seventh plague, God hardened Pharaoh's heart so as not to repent.

Each plague should've been enough to change course. But when you are god, you can have no other gods before you, or above you. When Pharaoh said "I don't know who the Lord is" he was making a tacit denial of the God of Joseph. It took centuries of slow dismantling of the truth concerning the God of Joseph. It was the God of Joseph that spared Egypt during the seven years of famine through the seven years of plenty and the wisdom of God through Joseph. The God of Joseph became a part of Egyptian history. The progressive little denials eventually will become a total rejection. This pattern is repeated in history. Think of Nazi Germany as the final rejection of the freedom obtained through the Reformation.

God made Himself known to Pharaoh, Egypt and to the world through the seven plagues. At first, Pharaoh thought Moses was just another magician. Egypt was filled with magic and magicians. But when Pharaoh's own court magicians exclaimed "This is the finger of God" the game was up. Pharaoh had no more excuses, God was in his face.

The Haftarah reading (apart from the Rosh Chodesh reading) casts a later Pharaoh in a similar arrogant vein as the Exodus Pharaoh. This later Pharaoh lived just before the exile of Judah for 70 years in Babylon. The temptation for the people of Judah was to flee from Nebuchadnezzar to the safety of Egypt. But the reading foretold what would be the fate of Egypt. The Pharaoh and the gods of Egypt would be conquered by Nebuchadnezzar. The history of Egypt was changed forever and those Jews who sought refuge in Egypt perished.

The reading for the Brit Chadashah speaks of seven bowl judgments. This is a scene of future world redemption. But before that takes place there must be the time of Jacob's Trouble or the time of Great Tribulation. In that time are 3 sets of seven; 7 seals, 7 trumpets, and 7 bowls. The seven plagues of Moses' day find their counterpart in each of these sets. Like the plagues in Egypt these judgments are the beginning of world redemption. Like the ancient Pharaoh those in the world that refuse the opportunities to repent will reach the point of no return and find no place of repentance.

Cream Cheese: Truth in your face should lead to grace!

The weekly reading for the week of 1 Shevat, 5763 - 4 Jan, 2003 Torah: Vaera Exodus 6:2 to 9:35; Haftarah: Ezekiel 28:25 to 29:21; Haftarat Shabbat Rosh Chodesh Isaiah 66:1-24; Maftir Numbers 28:9-15; Brit Chadashah: Revelation 15:5-8; 16:1-21