Parashat Vaera 5765/2005
EJD
The weekly reading for the week of 27 Shevat, 5765 - January 8, 2005 Parashah: Vaera Exodus 6:2 to 9:35; Haftarah: Ezekiel 28:25 to 29:21; Mei Kituvim: Psalm 105:1-45; Brit Chadashah: Revelation 15:5-8; 16:1-21
The Bagel: Hail blasphemer! That could be taken two ways. One is the vocative sense as though giving honor to a person who dishonors, indeed disgraces G-d. But the meaning in the second sense is a play on words. It asks for the judgment of hail upon those who reach a state of no return. This week's collection of readings displays this play on words.
Torah:
Exodus 6:2 to 9:35. In Parashat Vaera, the most notorious blasphemer in history was the Pharaoh. He didn't think of himself as a blasphemer for in his culture he was supposed to play the role of Horus, the Son of Osiris. All Egypt worshipped Osiris as the god of the underworld. As long as the Pharaoh lived, he was Horus, the god of the sky, who was also worshipped. The purpose of the pyramids was for the transformation of the dead Pharaoh into Osiris. It was all part of the Egyptian belief system that made the Pharaoh divine, whether dead or alive. It wasn't until the time of Joseph and the role of his G-d that the Pharaoh became accountable to the One, Supreme Deity.
The long history of Egypt under the influence of Joseph's G-d began with the rescue of Jacob and his family. They came to Egypt during those years of famine. The whole design of Joseph's power was for the preservation of the people of Israel. But centuries had passed and the influence of Joseph began to wane. It was dismantled bit by bit over the years. The G-d of Israel over the gods of Egypt became obscured. At the same time the power and influence of the Jews in Egypt grew as did their population. When the Pharaoh of Moses' day saw Israel, he regarded it as a threat rather than a treat. So Pharaoh and Egypt adopted a stance against the G-d of Israel, when they chose to begin the process of oppression. When Moses returned to call his people to the worship of the One, True G-d, then the Pharaoh upped the ante. He chose to oppose Adonay. His stance was akin to blasphemy. He thought himself to be greater than the Creator. But He should have known better. The history of Joseph wasn't completely gone, but simply rejected.
Then, as our reading indicates that the overwhelming evidence of the plagues should have convinced the Pharaoh that he was less-then G-d. His policy of blasphemy was reeking havoc on Egypt. Each plague should have been enough - Di yeinu! But he refused to comply. So down came the hail. This was the seventh plague and it matches the seven years of plenty and the seven years of famine that the G-d of Israel miraculously used to deliver Egypt. This was the turning point at the hail. From now on G-d hardened his heart to his own destruction. He reached the state of no return.
Haftarah:
Ezekiel 28:25 to 29:21. In the Haftarah reading, we find that the Egypt of the fifth century BCE didn't learn the lesson from the days of Moses. It was trying to assert its old glory. When the Pharaoh of that time declared "The Nile is mine," he was reclaiming the old divinity. It was also a declaration of invincibility. The temptation for Judah was to flee the Babylonian menace by running to the safety of Egypt. Ezekiel was warning Judah not to trust in Egypt. There would be no refuge there. The irony of this Haftarah reading is that Judah's stay in the Land had reached the state of no return for those who refused to repent. The false solutions by those who rejected the prophets was either to fight the Babylonians in the Land or seek refuge in Egypt. Only the believing remnant understood that it was necessary for the Jews to go into exile in Babylon. But this stance was regarded as traitorous. You were a Meshumad (traitor) if you believed the words of Jeremiah, Ezekiel and others. The end of the reading concludes with not only the conquest of Judah, but the destruction of Egypt. Running to the blasphemer of Egypt (Pharaoh) was no protection from the hail of Babylonian spears and arrows.
Mei Kituvim:
Psalm 105:1-45. In the reading of the Kituvim, is the emphasis of praise to Adonay. This is the opposite to blasphemy. The Psalm recounts all the plagues that happened to Egypt. The Jews watched these events from the safe environs of Goshen. It must've been something to behold all the plagues from a distance. Israel got to behold the destruction of the Blasphemer, the Pharaoh and the Egyptian army in hot pursuit, on the sands of the dry Red Sea where they stood watching. G-d made a distinction in the Red Sea, it was dry where there was praise (or about to be praise through the Song of the Sea - Ex 15) and Tsunami-like where there was blasphemy to the downfall of Pharaoh and his hordes. The Psalm is a declaration of the rewards of praise and the dangers of blasphemy.
Brit Chadashah:
Revelation 15:5-8; 16:1-21. When we get to the Brit Chadashah, we have the ultimate in blasphemy and the state of no return. This is the period of future (to us) history known as the "Great Tribulation." It is also known as the time of "Jacob's Trouble" from Jeremiah 30. Unbelief in the Great Tribulation will reach the state of no return. When the judgments of heaven in the form of the Seven Bowls from the Bet-HaMiqdash (Holy Temple in heaven) are poured out on the earth, then the unbelievers who chose Pharaoh's ways will blaspheme openly. Blasphemy will no longer be an occasional, shameful thing that it can be now.
When the Seventh Bowl is poured out, the nature of it will be a hyper-version of the seventh plague in Egypt: "And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, came down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague was extremely severe" (Revelation 16:21 NASB). Hail blasphemer! And what does the blasphemer do? Blasphemes more radically. Judgment brings the worst out of unbelief. And when a state of no return is reached, then hail it must!
Cream Cheese The old adage: "Turn or burn" is also "If you rail, then feel the hail!"
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