Exodus 2: Chosen to Deliver

 Introduction 

Where God gets involved in the human condition, and we as humans can actively see such involvement, we state 'there must be a God.' We admit that things are rotten in Denmark, that there is trouble in River City, that things cannot seem to get any worse, and then it does. But then we turn and view the work of God, in someone's enterprise, or in another's relief or in the rain in the parched west, and we boldly announce, "There is a God." 

Oswald Chambers, Scottish theologian died 1922) is quoted as saying, "Faith for my deliverance is not faith in God. Faith means, whether I am visibly delivered or not, I will stick to my belief that God is love. There are some things only learned in a fiery furnace." Of course Chambers is referencing the story in the book of Daniel about the 3 friends of Daniel and their experience in the Furnace that consumed everything, except them! It is a metaphor for troubles in this world, and Chambers is encouraging us in the midst of troubles. Most of us seek no pain and suffering. Many would rather avoid all misery. But as Chambers says, "some things are only learned" in such misery. 

In this chapter, we see various scenes of a drama.  The Jewish people are longing for someone to help, and the king is also. Where is deliverance? 

Act 1: In Egypt at birth. The delivering one is delivered 

Today's story begins near the river Nile. Egyptians viewed the river as a god which supplied them with bounty, produce, rest and comfort. The river will play a significant role in the rest of the book.  Jewish heroes may just pop on the scene, but they are from somewhere and their genealogy matters. The story features the princess of Pharaoh welcoming a basket with a baby, and she noted it was a Hebrew baby. How did she know he was Jewish? I believe it was the circumcision of the boy which was distinguishing.  I'm guessing that there was some kind of arrangement signed or spoken and thus at the end of the contracted time, Miriam brought Moses back to the princess. The future deliverer is delivered out of the Nile and out of the care of the princess and spared for sparing. God's plans will not be thwarted. 

Act 2: 40 years later: Conflict resolution. 

The story skips ahead. There is no need for equal measurement in the drama. And he gets to the next major conflict, the one between an Egyptian and a Jewish man. Something angered Moses. Probably it was the injustice.  Even so, the people to whom Moses is being sent, or at least is beginning to be sent, don't exactly welcome him as their deliverer. That will be the case throughout our Jewish history, summed up most dramatically in the person of Yeshua, Jesus who will be rejected to the end of his days by many of the very people to whom He was sent.

Act 3: In Midian: Moses delivering the daughters of Jethro

Moses exits after being outed and approaches the area of Midian, and sees some women being taken advantage of by some shepherds who no doubt muscle their way into the wells. These women are daughters of a man we know as Jethro. Moses delivers the women. As a direct result he gains a wife in Zipporah.

The new couple have a boy whose name means a Stranger There. In other words, Moses' ministry is not to be a settler in that place, in the wilderness, but rather, somewhere else. Strange, isn't it, since he spent another 40 years in the wilderness with the disagreeable people of our ancestry.

Act 4: Back in Egypt: Where is the Deliverer?

Our story today ends with the aching of the Jewish people back in Egypt. They don't know the adventures of Moses. They don't even know he's our hero yet. They think he was a one-off wonder who fancied himself a hero. But what they were not seeing was God's plans and God's sculpturing of his hero, the servant of God, Moses.

Conclusion: What do we learn as a result of reading this text?

1)    God has begun the answer to your prayers long before you even pray them

2)    God's choice of His deliverer is not always a welcome one to the people to whom he is sent

3)    God's plans will not be thwarted

4)    Jesus, God's eternal choice as Messiah and Lord, carries on the deliverance ministry of Moses, and is not always welcomed by his own people

 

Joseph's Legacy. (Chapter 1)

 What’s in a name?

Introduction to Exodus

Three men died 60 years ago, and each one had a tale to tell the planet. Their stories are more than fiction however. They impacted their worlds and as a result have affected ours even though none of them ever lived in Australia. The men are a pair of authors who were both obvious philosophers and the 35th President of the US. In order: CS Lewis, Aldous Huxley and John Kennedy. 

One of my favorite authors is Peter Kreeft who is prolific in his own way and a Lewis devoteé. He writes of these three in a book entitled "Between Heaven and Hell", Kreeft imagines a meeting somewhere beyond earth for these famous men. Dismissing the obvious theological problem of conversations in a sheol-type venue, the story line is quite good as he has them share their own philosophies. Lewis the believer, Kennedy the wishy-washy Catholic agnostic and Huxley the self-assured atheist. But in the realm of the after life, neither Huxley nor Kennedy is so sure. Lewis gains all the substance that the down payment of his faith had guaranteed him so many years before. 

Now sixty years after their passing, what remains of our awareness of these men? What about any historical person and what do we learn of life from them? I'm hearing the word 'legacy' as I ponder these opening comments. And I believe legacy is key in any long-ranged enterprise. Our concerns as fathers or as men or as Australians or as Jews or ... you fill in the blank... is 'what will remain?" 

This is the beginning of a series. I encourage you to read a section from the Scriptures and try to learn what that has to say to us as 21st Century people. For some, Bible rejecters we might call them, this consideration is old fashioned or irrelevant, filled with myths or fables from another time. But for others, this is a book with legacy. This is the handed-down traditions of men and women of God who had lives that were shaped by their relationship with the Almighty and who want to help shape our lives so many generations later. 

We could call this series "Out of Africa" since that's what the Latin compilers of the biblical texts decided to name the 2nd book, Exodus. The name of course means 'going out.' But the Hebrew name for the book, like all the biblical books, is taken from the first few words of the text. The Hebrew name for this book is "Sh'mot" meaning 'names.' 

In Shakespeare’s classic, Romeo and Juliet, the servant states “Find them out whose names are written here. … but I am sent to find those persons whose names are here writ.” After their first kiss, the star-crossed lovers separate. Act II features Juliet’s soliloquy, “O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo,” and continues with “Tis but thy name that is my enemy, thou art thyself though not a Montague,. What’s Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot, nor arm, nor face, nor any other part belonging to a man. O be some other name! What‘s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet; so Romeo would, were he not Romeo called, retain that dear perfection which he owes without that title/ Romeo, doff thy name and for that name, which is no part of thee, take all myself.” Like Juliet we ask, “what’s in a name?” 

And the answer is, it's our legacy. It's our past, our present, and our future. It's everything that has shaped us and made us into our person and our family and our community. It's what lies ahead for us in the future of risk and reward. And it's in the understanding of our name and our nature and our legacy that we forge our life's choices today. Knowing who we were and who we shall be is what helps us decide today what we will do. 

AND NOW Chapter 1....

Joseph's legacy

Exodus 1

Who we were

Who we are is directly related to who we were! Joseph was the hero of the last 13 chapters of the previous book of the Bible, that is Genesis. And this story does what every good author would do, brings in the past to begin our new story. We read "And Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation." (:6) It brings to conclusion the stories of the past. You would think that there would be residual effects from Joseph's life. He was the prime minister in the famine of 7 years that hit this entire region of the Fertile Crescent. But what effects were there? We read that after a time, "a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph." (:8). The history of Joseph and the family of Egypt was lost to the new Pharaoh. The new king either didn't read history or didn't care what had happened before. Remember, we can learn from what people teach or what people do or as in this case what people don't do. The Egyptians were in debt to the family of Joseph. They should have had a sympathetic relationship to the man and to the family of the man. But we Jews were too many and thus caused the new leadership to fear. (:10) It is estimated we numbered 3 million.

Who we are

The Jewish people are still called Hebrews here.  The first use of that term was in Genesis when Abram was so titled. (14.13) But now we are given a new name "Sons of Israel." Of course, this derives from the name of Jacob, father of Joseph, who got the new name, Israel after the wrestling match with the angel of the Lord. (Genesis 32) The 11 other sons of Israel are listed Reuben, Simeon, Levi…Gad and Asher (Ex. 1.2-4).

Who we will be

The hint of our tomorrow is in the text as well. What God did in the past is evidence of His plans for us in the future. He wants us to represent Him on the earth. And He will preserve us, no matter what others who devise evil will do. Note how difficult the Egyptians made our lives.  

Listen for these toughening verbs from verses 11-14:  "afflict them with hard labor...   And the Egyptians compelled the sons of Israel to labor rigorously; and they made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and bricks and at all kinds of labor in the field, all their labors which they rigorously imposed on them."

Pharaoh's antagonism is aimed at the little Jewish boys and thus at the future of the community. But that anger and hostility will be featured in the drama as we continue to read.

Conclusion: What do we learn as a result of reading this text?

1)              Choose well because your choices today become your life tomorrow

2)              God will preserve His people whom He foreknew

3)              God's choices of a people will override all other human choices

4)              We are called to a legacy and a future with God

 

 

Another prayer's end, and Henry is gone...

 22 July 2025

 

 

Shalom friends,

 

Earlier this month I asked many to pray among other concerns for a Jewish man in Alabama, for whom I’ve been in prayer since he and I met up in April this year. His name is Henry, and on 19 July he passed away. His believing daughter Anne wrote to tell me of his passing. I’m sad, especially for her and her loving family. Henry had nosedived into his last few weeks with some medication problems that caused his personality to shift, but that’s over now.

 

I considered what we were able to do as missionaries with Henry. His daughter has been on our mailing list for years, and when I wrote to people on that list inviting them to attend my preachment there in Montgomery, Anne showed up. She told me about her dad and his story was a big one. He had served in the US military as a pilot and was in a facility for veterans with needs. It was a lovely place with terrific staff, and Henry seemed to be in good shape.

 

His place was over an hour away from my next stop in southeast Alabama, and I was scheduled to drive back north and preach the next night, but I sensed in my spirit that I needed to go see him. Other things attracted my attention, but I couldn’t get Henry out of my mind. I added him to my prayer list, then drove from Eufaula that 67 miles. Lovely scenery, and continued prayers. 

When I arrived, we hit it off immediately. Henry told me stories of his military adventures, and his love for his family. We shared about things Jewish, and I shared my testimony of faith in Yeshua. He was all ears. God had clearly softened his heart, but his resistance was up when it came to personalizing faith in Messiah. I gave him my testimony in book form, and he was grateful to receive it. 

 

It wasn’t many weeks before Anne told me of Henry’s fading and then when he finally succumbed to his end, another wave hit Anne and I’m sure her brother, and many others in the family. It even hit me! And for that I wasn’t ready.

 

An Ezrahite named Eitan wrote Psalm 89, with great confidence in God and in his plans for his people, and in the midst, he writes, 

מִ֤י גֶ֣בֶר יִֽ֭חְיֶה וְלֹ֣א יִרְאֶה־מָּ֑וֶת

 

“What man can live and not see death? Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol?” (Psalm 89.48)

 

No one! Just a few weeks ago, I lost one of my best mates, with whom I walked through elementary, junior and senior high school back in Kansas City, and in the last couple of years, some others who were close to me all died in KC, also about my age. I had shared with each of them about the Gospel. What comfort do I have?

 

Some well-meaning believers try to comfort me with niceties like, “I’m sure the Lord heard your prayers and in the last minute will make him come to believe” or the “he blinked twice” or “I felt him squeeze my hand when…” or other such assurances. 

 

My assurance is what Abraham said, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?” (Gen. 18:25) And honestly, I can sleep in faith because I did what I could. Ezekiel the prophet was sent to a people who wouldn’t listen to him, but God gave him comfort with these words, “if you have warned the righteous man that the righteous should not sin and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; and you have delivered yourself.” (3.21)

I bought my KC mate the DVD series “The Chosen” seasons 1 and 2 and his nurse told me that he watched it regularly. Along with our regular spiritual discussions, I can honestly say, “The Judge of the earth will deal justly.” 

 

The evening Anne let others know about her dad’s passing, she went outside her home and right there, over the top of her father’s house was a spectacular rainbow. For her it was a comfort. For me it is a comfort. 

 

Timing really matters. Prayer matters. Please, when someone asks you to pray for them, or you feel an urgency to pray for a situation, don’t delay. Like Nike says, “Just do it.”  I will send you another prayer update soon, but this note is sent to you today to highlight two things. 1) Make sure you respond to the nudge of the Holy Spirit when he leads you to intercede for a particular person or enterprise or ANYthing and 2) be faithful as much as it’s up to you, to share the Gospel with others, in whatever measure of sharing their reactions allow. 

 

Time is short, and we just don’t know what is happening in another’s life. Pray for them to have dreams, for others to join us in Gospel witness, for strength and wisdom for us, and for one another. 

 

Thanks for all you do in keeping us out here sharing Yeshua!

 

A time to mourn: Dr Robert Levene

Mt Carmel Cemetery in KC

Last weekend I flew to Kansas City. I was in town a total of 17 hours. Then back to the airport and on to Nashville. Most of the people who attended the funeral of our friend (or for some, a family member) lived nearby and they could attend not only to the chapel and gravesite services, but also to Shiva held later that afternoon. I had to head back before the Shiva gathering.  

They say, "funerals are for the living, not for the dead." They may be right. The reason we gathered at Mt Carmel was to farewell Dr Robert Levene. For some it was cathartic; for others appropriate and polite; for me, it was very personal. Bob and his family had moved to our neighbourhood when we were about 10, and he and I became fast friends. We were both November babies, and thus usually among the youngest in our classes. He was 10 days my junior.  Early on we played together, sometimes with others from the school or the synagogue to which we both were regular in attendance. He and I were very often playing singles tennis until the middle of junior high school. We were in the same class in Hebrew school and graduated there in 1966. We rode bikes together. I remember a time Bob was over at my house and my parents were gone somewhere. My sister was 'in charge' and for whatever reason she determined it necessary, she chased him out of the house with a broom. Needless to say, Bob didn't return very soon after that.

Hebrew school graduation

We played chess and had tournaments at his house or ours. Other Jewish boys from the neighbourhood joined us. We loved science and had a chemistry club in at least my garage, maybe in his, I don't remember. Nowadays we would have video evidence from our TikTok and YouTube channels, but back then, nope. All we had and have is our memories.

Maybe that's why we attend funerals. To recapture the lost memories. To remember. To remind ourselves we were not always 73 yearss old. Of course, memories are often seen through glasses that are rose-coloured. Especially as times increase between them and us from hours to days to decades. So one person tells a story, and without a challenge, those stories will now remain true for all time. And as each person passes out of our spheres, less corroboration is possible. Oh for a journalist among us who would keep the truths and keep them accurately. 

Dr Bob as he came to be known was a searcher, an inquisitive, a man of 20,000 books in his library, which no doubt will be dismantled. He ended his life with some significant satisfaction. In the final week, he got to see his grandchildren who are both pre-school aged. What a treasure that is to Bob's two sons and it was to him as well, I'm sure. 

We argued about so many things, and in his most lucid moments over the last five years, those arguments were healthy and cordial, loving and respectful, as all debates ought to be between friends. He wondered about eternity and his final resting place. He listened as I explained my views on God, on Jesus, on resurrection and eternity. I bought him a Bible and had his name engraved on the front. Another time I brought him a couple of DVDs from the tv series "The Chosen" and according to his attendants, he really enjoyed watching those. 

We stopped playing tennis back in school days, and Hebrew and chemistry gave way to other pursuits, but friendship knows no bounds and no insurmountable obstacles. In the last 18 months I've lost some men in KC with whom I walked in my youth, like Dave Rabinowitz and Danny Kass, like Hyman Seifer and now Levene. 

When I return to visit my sister and some local KC family and friends, a piece of my life will be missing. I'm a better man for knowing Dr Bob. Maybe he was better for knowing me, but that's not for me to know or at this point, even to consider. 

Today, what am I going to do to make the world in which I live a better place? Tennis has given way to pickleball. Chemistry has given way to other academic interests, especially history. Synagogue continues and has widen to messianic interests and the Gospel Truth has replaced true-enough thinking. 

Each day I age, but only one day at a time. Our lives in Prairie Village gave way to St Joseph for him and New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington, DC, and Sydney Australia for me. But home is where the heart is, and our hearts were ever together then, and he remains in mine to this day. Funerals are for the living. 

Bob after shooting in DC...some personal reflections

How to read "Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace...where there is hatred, let me sow love." In light of murder in cold blood. How can we do that? What are our choices in responding? I invite your thoughts here.

Mourning the loss: A JFJ Press Release

Jews for Jesus mourns the devastating death of Yaron Lischinsky, a young Israeli diplomat and believer in Jesus, who was tragically killed alongside his soon-to-be fiancée, Sarah Milgrim, in Washington, DC. We grieve with their families, their friends, and the broader Messianic Jewish community in Israel and abroad.

Yaron’s life was marked by a sincere love for God, a deep commitment to the Jewish people, and a passion for peace. As a Messianic Jew, Yaron represented a growing, diverse, and vibrant community in Israel today: Jewish followers of Jesus who serve in the army, study in universities, and participate fully in Israeli society.

Many of our Jews for Jesus staff knew Yaron personally. He was a member of Melech Hamlachim, where several of our Israeli staff serve in leadership and attend.

“We are grieving the loss of Yaron, a member of the Messianic community in Israel and around the world,” said Aaron Abramson, CEO of Jews for Jesus. “What happened to Yaron and Sarah is not only a tragedy, but a sobering reminder that antisemitism is not bound by religious affiliation or political identity. It targets people simply for being Jewish. And hatred like this does not only threaten one group, it wounds all of us.”

As we remember Yaron and Sarah, we call on all people—Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and secular—to stand together against antisemitism and all forms of hate.

And we especially call on our fellow Christians to stand with the Jewish people during this time. We’re so grateful for the millions of believers in Jesus around the world who have been standing with us and our people since the tragedies of October 7, 2023.

We’ve all seen how hateful words and ideas become weaponized for evil. Now is the time to speak out, to show up, and to reaffirm that hatred toward any people is an offense to the heart of God.

May their memories be a blessing.

Jews for Jesus is an international, nonprofit organization made up of Jewish people who believe in Jesus and are committed to serving the Jewish community worldwide. Learn more ›

Eric Goldman's Jewish Cinémathèque: Ilana Trachtman: Ain't No Back To A ...

I happened on this television show in a random search while waking early in New Jersey today. After a springtime visit to Memphis' Civil Rights museum, intentional visit to Selma's famous Edmund Pettus bridge and the Birmingham jail, as well as the museum along the route of Selma to Montgomery marches (1965)... it has been a spring of learning. And grieving. And being impacted. 

This interview is stunning in its sometimes accidental serendipity findings and its import for today.