Exo 18:1-27
Hebrew paragraph divisions:
18:1-27 {p} YHVH is greater than all the gods
This chapter is all about the judgment of Moses for his people, and the able men he appoints to judge cases under him. The streamlining of judgment is sandwiched in between the arrival and departure of Moses’ father-in-law. To me, it speaks as a metaphor of the Messiah type, receiving wisdom from His Father to judge the peoples with equity.
Let the sea roar, and its fullness;
The world, and they who dwell therein.
Let the rivers clap their hands:
Let the hills be joyful together before YHVH;
For He comes to judge the earth.
With righteousness shall He judge the world,
And the people with equity. Psa 98:7-9
Exo 19:1-25
19:1-25 {s} YHVH descended upon Mt Sinai in fire, to enact the marriage covenant with Israel
In the third month Israel came to Sinai. On the third day, Israel was to prepare to meet YHVH. In fact, being prepared to meet with YHVH on the third day is mentioned three times in Exo 19:11-16, and three is a sign of Messiah in Scripture. We have been taught to think that the covenant YHVH made with Israel at Sinai is the opposite of the covenant YHVH made with us at Calvary.
Here, Scripture is teaching us, that this covenant prophesies of and reveals Messiah.
But what is revealed? Earlier in Exodus, Scripture showed us that Moses was a type of Messiah. In Exodus chapter 19, notice how many times Moses went up to God, and went down to the people; back and forth, back and forth. Moses is in fact mediating between the people and God, just as Messiah is the Mediator between God and men.
Furthermore, the covenant YHVH was enacting with Israel was a marriage covenant. The actions Moses takes, going back and forth from YHVH to the people, exactly mirrors the actions which are taken to enact a ketubah, a Hebrew betrothal and marriage contract, between a potential bridegroom and his potential bride. YHVH Himself declares it to be a marriage covenant, when He says,
“Behold, the days come,” says YHVH, “that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband unto them,” says YHVH. Jer 31:31-32
Messiah Yeshua is the Bridegroom who is coming for His bride.
Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife has made herself ready. Rev 19:7
But besides this testimony, YHVH also makes a declaration of love for His people in the Exodus 19 marriage covenant.
“You have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto Myself. Now therefore, if you will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure unto Me above all people, for all the earth is Mine.” Exo 19:4-5
Notice that He introduces His declaration of love, by reminding them of their deliverance from slavery and from the kingdom of the Egyptians. This is a metaphor and type of our own deliverance from slavery to sin and the kingdom of darkness. It is the first part of His expression of love.
For when we were yet without strength, in due time Messiah died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet perhaps for a good man some would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Messiah died for us. Rom 5:6-8
Exo 20:1-26
20:1 {s} And God spoke all these words, saying
20:2-6 {s} Israel shall have no gods before YHVH
20:7 {p} Israel shall not take the name of YHVH in vain
20:8-11 {s} Remember the Sabbath day to set it apart
20:12 {s} Honor your father and mother
20:13 {s} You shall not murder
20:14 {s} You shall not commit adultery
20:15 {s} You shall not steal
20:16 {s} You shall not bear false witness
20:17a {s} You shall not covet your neighbor’s house
20:17b {p} You shall not covet anything that is your neighbor’s
20:18-21 {s} The fear of God prevents us from sinning (breaking commandment)
20:22-26 {p} Explanation of ‘Have no gods before Me.’
Moses received the tablets of the testimony, upon which were engraved the Ten Commandments, the Law of God. Let’s remember that Yeshua is the Living Torah:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Joh 1:1
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Joh 1:14
The Living Torah is full of grace and truth. How can the written Torah be less, when understood and applied properly? It cannot be. Moreover it is by this Torah that Yeshua judges the earth.
“Not everyone who says unto Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of My Father which is in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, and in Your name have cast out demons, and in Your name done many wonderful works?’ And then will I profess unto them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who work Law-lessness!’ Mat 7:21-23
I will declare the decree: YHVH has said unto Me, ‘You are My Son, this day have I begotten You. Ask of Me, and I shall give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ Psa 2:7-9
But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth; and He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. Isa 11:4
Just judgment, in chapter 18, and the Law by which judgment is made, in chapter 20, surrounds the love of Yeshua for His Bride, expressed by the marriage contract, in chapter 19. Love is the heart of the Law.
EXODUS 18:1-20:26 ANNUAL YITRO “JETHRO” OUTLINE | EXODUS in CHIASTIC STRUCTURE
FINDING MESSIAH in TORAH: A MESSIANIC DISCOVERY THROUGH the TORAH PORTIONS
THE LAW of LOVE: THE GOSPEL of GRACE REVEALED in the COMMANDMENTS OF GOD
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