Parashat Ve'eira (And I Appeared)

Shemot (Exodus) 6:2–9:35

Our Scripture (Torah) portion this week opens with a wonderful reminder of who God is, His faithfulness and His endless love and grace (Exodus 6:2–13):

God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the LORD; and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name, LORD (YHWH), I did not make Myself known to them. And I also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they sojourned. And furthermore I have heard the groaning of the sons of Israel, because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage; and I have remembered My covenant. Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage (Labor). I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you to Me to be My people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land which I raise My hands to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you as an heritage; I am the LORD." Moses spoke thus to the sons of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses on account of their despondency and cruel bondage.

Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the sons of Israel go out of his land.” But Moses spoke before the LORD, saying, “Behold, the sons of Israel have not listened to me; how then will Pharaoh listen to me, for I am unskilled in speech?” Then the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and gave them a charge to the sons of Israel and to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

As I read the above verses, I took great comfort in the knowledge that, at the end of the day, everything will come together for those that belong to Him. What a great comfort it is to know that, in spite of the mountain we may face, the challenges, discomforts, and struggles that God sees, knows and cares. He is right here beside us. He will bring it all together in the end for our good.

Be encouraged that even Moses (who literally spoke with the Almighty God!), had moments of doubts and disbelief. Moses knew God's entire plan of redemption for the children of Israel; yet, we see that Moses many times struggled to have faith that God would do what He said He would do, and he always tried to give an excuse for not doing that which God asked him to! We see that Moses - the great Moses - was human just like you and me, full of fears and struggles. Yet, at the end of the day, he was obedient and followed God's call on his life.

To us followers of Messiah, He has also told the entire story of redemption. And we know the end! Let us take courage in that, and press on in doing that which He called us to. Let's not grow weary in honoring Him. Be encouraged and take courage!

Shabbat Shalom,
Moran