Read Exodus 6:2-9:35 at Bible Gateway.
The Hebrew paragraph divisions are posted here. (I found a transcription error in my notes with the Hebrew paragraph divisions, and have made all the appropriate corrections.) Torah portion Va’era (“And I appeared”) forms its own Chiastic Structure:
The amazing way the seven plagues reveal the meaning of “I am YHVH” is discussed here. That the strong themes begin to reveal the God who performs His word is discussed here. How God multiplies His wonders through the plagues, and how the plagues reveal YHVH as the God who extends mercy in the midst of judgment, is discussed here and here. The A pair of the chiastic structure shows us that it is through the plagues that God teaches both Pharaoh and Israel what “I am YHVH” means … and contrary to what we might have been taught, “I am YHVH” does NOT mean, “I am vengeful, wrathful, angry, and judgmental.” There is no emotion of wrath or anger expressed in the plagues, but the teaching tools of Scripture reveal instead, that through the plagues, YHVH is teaching those who do not know Him, by patient increments, that He is the great God, greater than the false gods they have been taught to believe in, who extends mercy … even to Egyptians.
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