Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar:
Exodus 14:15, 16: “And Jehovah said to Moses: ‘Why do you cry to me? Speak to the sons of Israel and let them move forward. And (then) you (will) lift up your rod and hold out you arm over the sea and split it, so that the sons of Israel will march into the sea on dry ground.’”
The children of Israel were trapped. Pharoah’s army on one side and the red sea on the other. No where to turn. They began to cry that it was better to be slaves under Pharoah than to die. The situation was hopeless and they expected nothing but death. Moses declared that God would send a great miracle and they would be saved. Then Moses prepared to address God asking for the miracle. Yet God said a strange thing.
“Why do you cry to me?” The word cry (tise’ak) comes from the root word “se’ak.” If you ever watched Star Trek you will remember Spock’s father’s was named Serak. Se’ak literally means to make a plea for unity (Lenord Nimroy who played Spock is Jewish). The character Serak in Star Trek was an ambassador to the universe whose mission was to bring unity to all living things. If it wasn’t Lenord Nimroy who suggested the name for his screen father it had to be someone who was Jewish.
In this story we have Moses tisea’ka to God. The taw in front of Se’ak puts this in a future tense. Moses had not yet called out to God. Translators have a problem with this passage as a literal translation would be ackward: “And God said to Moses, why will you call out to be unified with me?” In the context Moses is asking to be unified with God to receive power for a miracle). Yet, let’s stay with that literal translation and see what we get.
The next word is “devar,” The grammatical form used here is a Piel imperative. “You tell the people in not uncertain terms ‘move forward.’” The next phrase is “Lift up your rod.” The word to lift up or raise is Harem, not Nasah which is the generic word for raising up. Harem comes from the word mountain Har, with a mem put at the end. The mountain representing an imtimacy with God as discussed in my last devotional with a mem which represents the hidden mysteries and secrets of God. This is in a future tense and should be rendered: “Tell the people in no uncertain to move forward (toward the Red Sea) and then as you draw near to Me you will receive hidden knowledge.” Not power, but hidden knowledge which will bring about the power of God.
In John 14:12 Jesus tells his disciples: “Indeed I tell you truly, he that believes in me, the works which I do that one shall also do and greater things than these shall you do because I go to the father.” Too many full Gospel Christians wrongly assume that the Greek word for works here is “energeo,” where we get our word energy. In other words the works we perform are filled with power. Actually there word for “works” here is “ergon,” which literally means to carry out a task.
This is so very important to understand. We get this arrogant idea that we have the power of God and we lay hands on someone and impart that power. This is not what Jesus was teaching in John nor what took place at the Red Sea. We, as Moses, are only to carry out a task. In the performance of that task, the power of God is released. In our passage in Exodus we find that Moses and the people had to perform a task, “move forward.”
The Talmud tries to explain this by illustrating what could have happened, not that it did, but the Talmud is only trying to expound on this truth.
As the story unfolds in the Talmud, the people were paralyzed with fear. Moses lifted his rod, spoke the sacred name of God, spoke the Words that God gave him to speak, but the sea did not part. He tried again and again, but there was no miracle. Moses commanded the people to move forward. No one dared to move forward for that would mean to walk into the sea and drown. Suddenly man stepped forward, without fear, with perfect faith he began to walk toward the sea. The people went quiet. Some called to him to stop this suicidal march, but he continued and boldly waded into the sea. The water got deeper, it rose to his nostrils, the people screamed in terror. But when the water reached his head, the sea then parted. You see, Moses had no power, his rod had no power, only God had the power and it would not be released until the performance of an act of faith. This bit of hidden knowledge to appropriating the power of God was then revealed to Israel.
Yes, I know, we would much rather have the power then go out. But Jesus taught we must first perform the task and then the miraculous will come.
Oh, by the way, that man that walked into the Red Sea? The Talmud identifies him. He Was The Prince Of Judah.
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