Prashat Va'era 2025

Torah: Ex 6:2-9:35

Haftarah: Ezek 28:25-29:21

Brit Chadashah: Rom 9:14-33

Main Points:

God decrees the four statements of redemption.

The genealogy of Moses and Aaron.

Moses and Aaron appear before Pharoah.

The first Plague: The water turned to blood.

The second Plague: Frogs invade Egypt.

The third Plague: God sends gnats to infest.

The fourth Plague: Flies are sent upon the Egyptians, but not the Isralites.

The fifth Plague: Egypt’s livestock dies.

The sixth Plauge: Moses throws the soot from a kiln in the air and God sends boils on the people and livestock.

The seventh Plague: God warns Pharoah house and sends hail to kill all livestock not sheltered.

In last week’s Torah portion, Moses and Aaron went to speak to Pharoah: Ex 5:1 “And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.” Notice the invitation to celebrate the feasts. The Torah had not yet been given at Sinai, and this was addressed to a pagan Pharaoh, apparently as a directive. God was wooing his people. He was calling them into fellowship. His love and support for them are what enabled them to respond and eventually leave.  It has always shocked me how one-sided our relationship with God is. Even in the middle of our bondage, sin, and lack, God steps in and calls us, empowers us, and grants deliverance. It was never about our strength, abilities, talents, or any invention of human endeavor. We all come before the foot of the throne of God in repentance, undone, and in need of a Savior. He has, and always will be all we need.

In our Torah portion this week, the continuing saga of God’s love story for mankind unfolds in the plagues of Egypt. When we think of deliverance, we normally do not think of things getting worse. We imagine Yeshua standing on a boat in the winds and waves and commanding “peace be still”, and suddenly everything changes. That does happen, but it is not the only means at God’s disposal. Sometimes God chooses his own deliverance and provision because it leaves a testimony for others. When this happens, the faith of God’s people is on full display as God not only works in us, but he does it in a more public way that affects more than just the individual or the immediate family.

Have you ever considered that the testimony of God that you bear, your life, your focus, and your affection for the Almighty was intended to draw others as a witness? Sometimes the strongest testimony we have is what we live through and endure. The child of God will suffer. We are not immune from sickness, depravity, or trouble. In fact, it seems sometimes that more attacks come to the community of faith than others. We are the spiritual resistance that the enemy wants to destroy. In our intercessory role, we have seen waves of spiritual trouble come over whole congregations and entire movements.

We can endure many types of trouble and trials. We know that the enemy will relentlessly attack and he will send waves of sickness, trouble, and conflict to as many people as possible. Family after family suddenly begins to deal with the same type of trial and it is easy to get “lone ranger syndrome” and think you've been singled out. Some trouble is God sent to get our attention and cause us to pray. Some are an attack from the enemy. Other times trouble is just trouble that comes to everyone or worse is self-inflicted. (We should not give the enemy credit for our own mistakes. Doing this only gives him recognition.)

Despair comes into our suffering when stress and turmoil wear us down and we lose sight of God’s purpose. Viktor Frankl wrote in Man’s Search for Meaning, “In some ways suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning, such as the meaning of a sacrifice.” In the midst of a trial, especially one that is drawn out, it pays to renew oneself with God's ultimate meaning, his love for us that surpasses our understanding, and what he is trying to accomplish in our lives. God has not abandoned or forsaken anyone. Your ministry and life were not discarded. God does not have any “throwaway children”. 

The plagues of Egypt were carried out over a year and happened as the Israelites were being continually abused. He did not forsake them or forget them. He redeemed them and when he did, Egypt was forever changed. The bastion of paganism that Egypt (and Babylon) was, even after the children of Israel left, became two of the strongest Jewish communities in the ancient world outside of Israel. When you realize your trouble is transformative and has a purpose in the kingdom, things change. The trouble may be a trial, but the ministry is what you make of it. God called us to be a priesthood to the nations and much of that is carried out in our simple obedience to the word and sharing our lives with others. The unsaved may not be able to understand God at the moment, but they can connect with the struggles of life we face and are awed at how God walks with us. Use your love for God and walk of faith to testify. Share your hope and your life. Lift another out of despair today. God's love is overwhelming, never-ending, and reckless.

Rav Calev Lehrer

Apostolic Messianic International

Next Feasts:

Purim begins sundown on March 13th and ends at sundown March 14th.

Hebrew words to know:

Honored Guest- (Yiddish) Choshuve gast.

Honoring the Dead- K'vod Hamet

Honoring one another- - Kevod habriyot.

Hospitality- Hachnasat Orchim

Hotheaded Angry Person- (Yiddish) Hitsiger

Houses of Assembly- Batei Knesset

HY”D or HYD- Hashem yikom damam (May God avenge their blood). An honorific given for those who died in an antisemitic attack. (see Rev 6:9-11)

Hypocrite- Tzeviut. (Yiddish) Tzvuak. Pious person in a fur coat (Yiddish-der tsadik in pelts)