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Items of
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What's New
Compliments of First Fruits of Zion
reprinted by permission of FFOZ
Va’era – וארא : “And I appeared”
Torah : Exodus 6:2–9:35
Haftarah : Ezekiel 28:25–29:21
Gospel : Mark 3
“It might be the devil, or it might be the Lord, but you’re gonna have to serve somebody.” (Robert Zimmerman) “But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” (Romans 6:17–18)
In the Midrash HaGadol, a collection of Yemenite Jewish commentary on Torah, the Jews are fearful of inciting Pharaoh further, so they protest to Moses, “Can a slave serve two masters? We are enslaved to Pharaoh and are afraid to transgress his laws.” Yeshua says, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other” (Matthew 6:24). Israel could not serve both Pharaoh and God. Neither can we serve two masters.
As the Yeshua walked among us, demonstrating miracles, signs and wonders, driving out demons and delivering God’s people from oppression, He was like Moses in the midst of Egypt. Armed with signs and wonders, Moses did battle with Pharaoh, his magicians and the gods of Egypt. But his ultimate goal was the redemption of Israel. In one passage, the magicians of Egypt concede defeat and declare, “This is the finger of God” (Exodus 8:19). Yeshua refers to the same passage to explain how He drives out demons and heals the infirm. He tells the Pharisees, “If I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Luke 11:20). He goes on to tell them a parable:
When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are undisturbed. But when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away from him all his armor on which he had relied and distributes his plunder. (Luke 11:21–22)
Yeshua tells the parable of the Strong Man and the Robber to illustrate the conflict between the Kingdom of Heaven and the kingdom of darkness. The strong man who owns the house is Satan. This present world is his house. Satan’s possessions are people. Yeshua likens Himself to the robber. Just as a robber ties up the strong man and carries off his possessions, Yeshua bound the adversary and carried off His people. By freeing the demon possessed from the spirits that afflicted them, Yeshua was robbing the strong man’s house.
This parable applies well to Moses in Egypt. Pharaoh can be likened to the strong man. Egypt is his house. The children of Israel are his possessions. Moses is the robber. By the power of God, Moses binds up Pharaoh, his magicians and his gods and walks off with his possessions.
When the Master returns, He will come again as thief in the night to plunder the tyrant’s house.
Please consider supporting FFOZ with a financial contribution.
We are pleased to announce 3 different Restoration products, now available at the FFOZ Store (http://ffoz.com/store). The Restoration Book, the Restoration Workbook and the Audio Book. The new workbook contains fifteen chapters that correspond to the chapters in the book Restoration, written by D. Thomas Lancaster. Each chapter contains an introduction and questions to help the reader explore the concepts and ideas presented in the book in more detail.
This workbook is primarily intended for use in a group setting. Group leaders could set up a book study, where participants read a chapter during the week, and then the group could go over the workbook portion of the chapter during the study.
The Restoration Audio Book, read by D. Thomas Lancaster, contains six
CDs and is narrated by the Author.
FFOZ's Weekly e-Drash is based on our popular Torah Study
Program,
Torah Club. For an introduction to Torah Club
click here.
First Fruits of Zion, PO Box 620099, Littleton, CO
80162-0099 USA
Telephone 303 933 2119, Toll-free 800 775 4807, Fax 303 933 0997
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