17th Portion [9-15 Feb 2025]
Theme of the Book of Exodus:
About pursuing the instructions in order that we can build a dwelling place for Yeshua.
Meaning of "Yitro" = "Jethro"
This week's Torah portions:
Sunday: Exodus 18:1-12
Monday: Exodus 18:13-23
Tuesday: Exodus 18:24-27
Wednesday: Exodus 19:1-6
Thursday: Exodus 19:7-19
Friday: Exodus 19:20-20:14
Shabbat: Exodus 20:15-26 & Isaiah 6:1-7:6 & Isaiah 9:5-6
Apostolic Writings:
Matthew 8:5-20
This parashat the Israelites camped at Mount Sinai. This portion starts with Yitro - Moses's father-in-law. When Yitro heard about how Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, he took Moses's wife and two sons and went to Midian to meet up with Moses & the Israelites.
When Yitro came to Moses, Moses told him about God's hand over them and what He has done for them up until that point. The next day Yitro saw how much weight Moses carried on his shoulders on behalf of the Israelites - all of Israel came to Moses to seek his counsel.
Yitro realised that Moses won't be able to keep it up on his own at that pace. He therefore told Moses that he could not continue like that and told Moses that he will have to delegate some of the load to others. Yitro advised Moses to appoint others to help him to provide council to the Israelites. After Moses has done so, Yitro went back to Midian.
In this portion we also read about an encountering which Moses had with God on the mountain. God told Moses to go and tell the Israelites that He would make them a holy nation, a nation of kings and priests unto all the nations.
Remember that in the beginning of the book of Exodus, God gave the 7 promises to the Israelites and one of those promises was that He will take them to be His nation. In this portion, Abba confirms it.
We then read that the Israelites were instructed to not come close to the foot of Mount Sinai. Only Moses and Aaron were allowed on the mountain during that time. Abba then gave them the Ten Commandments.
The Ten Commandments are still valid for our lives today just as much as it was back then when it was given to the Israelites in the wilderness. When we arrange our lives according to Abba's instructions, it guides us to handle the situations we might face.
Safe to say that one commandment is not more important than the other right?
Now I know some might mention Matthew 22:36-39 in an attempt to proof the contrary.
In these verses we read: "Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."
Scripture should always be read in context of course. So let's take a look at what verse 40 says: "On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
Law = Torah = first five books of the Bible = Genesis to Deuteronomy.
Prophets = Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Lammentations, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.
Thus, it means that those two (mentioned in Matt 22:37-39) are the most important, because if you obey them - the rest of the commandments would automatically follow. You cannot love God with all your heart, soul and mind, when you compromise on His instructions. I love how Scripture confirms Scripture.
In John 14:15 we read Yeshua's own words during His time on earth where He said: “If ye love Me, keep My commandments.” Thus if we obey the "first and great commandment" - by loving Abba with all out being, then we will also obey the rest of His commandments.
One of those commandments is honouring the Sabbath. Which is not on a Sunday. I'll just leave the link to the Shabbat blog here (As we don't have time to jump into it in this blog).
Back to this week's Torah portion! The Israelites received the Ten Commandments and they were overwhelmed by all of it. They asked Moses to rather intercede for them with God because it was too much for them to handle.
The portion finished off, confirming once again that the Israelites were not allowed to worship any statues nor have any graven images. Today we know the same applies and it's not only regarding physical images and statues but also idols in our hearts.
From Kol Kallah's teaching - they sum it up beautifully... at the start of this week's portion - they had mankind's order in place. Moses was the one who sat and listened to everyone and gave instructions / solutions / ideas on how the people should handle their situation or what they should do about it.
Then Yitro, Moses's father-in-law said that Moses should set up a council to help him with the people's questions and concerns as Yitro realised that Moses wasn't able to keep doing it on his own. Moses accepted Yitro's plan, probably because he was tired and overworked and saw Yitro's plan as a solution. However, that plan was never God's plan! Had Moses only waited a bit longer on God - he would have seen God's plan come into action - without him (Moses) having to make plans of his own.
God came to set order in place with His instructions. When we have His instructions written on our hearts, we will know how to act and how to live our lives. Today we are fortunate enough to have the Holy Spirit living inside of us which also gives us guidance and deeper revelation of the Word.
1 John 2:27 says "But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him."
Which confirms that when we truly have His instructions written on our hearts and it's our desire to honour God with our lives, then the Holy Spirit will guide us in all of our ways.
This by no means mean that we no longer need the teachings and guidance of others.
When we look at the original Hebrew and Greek in which the Bible was written, we see that this actually said that when we receive / hear / listen to teachings and we take it to heart - that we will be able to discern for ourselves. We would grow and mature to the point where we would know what is expected of us and how we should be living, without someone having to tell us to act a certain way continiously. You might be watching a teaching and then the Holy Spirit will give you the discernment and deeper understanding - which will move you to act and live according to those instructions.
Remember that the entire theme of the Bible is about chosing LIFE!
Once the instructions which I've heard (via teachings / Bible study, etc.) becomes life to me - I will no longer need anyone to instruct me what to do. Once it has become life for me, I would automatically pursue that!
When you discover information or listen to teachings, you have to make your own decisions. We need fellowship and we need spiritual mentors. What we learn from others, we have to take to heart and allow the Holy Spirit to give us the discernment needed and to equip us to apply it to our lives.
When the Israelites received the Ten Commandments, Abba's heart was for the instructions to be written on their hearts. But their hearts were hardened, that's why God wrote it on the stone tablets - to show them the condition of their hearts. They had the Ten Commandments and therefore they were able to discern how they should be living!
If they applied and lived according to the instructions, it would not have been necessary for Moses to set up the counsil. The sad truth is that the Israelites didn't allow God to enter their hearts and allow His instructions to become the foundation / base of their lives. Therefore they still needed the council to advice them on how to live and manage their lives. If we think about it - it's slavery!
God gave us freedom! He gave His instructions and the ability for us to discern, but the Israelites (and us today) didn't take it to heart. As a result, more systems and structures had to be set in place to ensure that we live according to His instructions. We have literally placed ourselves in bondage / slavery. God's heart for us since the beginning of time were to live in freedom!
We can summarise this portion with one word: order. We have to ask ourselves - according to which order are you living your life? According to man's order or according to God's?
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Portion 17: Yitro (This blog you are reading now)
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