Mark Call

Join Mark Call of Shabbat Shalom Mesa fellowship a two-part study of the first part of the “plagues of Egypt” (Exodus 6:3 through chapter 9)

The story begins with an explanation that “When I appeared [thus, “Vayera”] to Abraham,” and Isaac, and Jacob, it was not the name “YHVH” that He emphasized, or “made Myself known.” NOW, however, “ani YHVH” is the fundamental, central part of what is to be made clear!

And that is precisely what He did, including sets of plagues that, in every respect, made that clear, and is now fundamental to what we see again being played out in our times.

Mark sets out the overview in the Erev Shabbat teaching:

There is, of course, much more going on in this fundamental story of deliverance than just plagues, and a “hard-hearted” Pharoah. It turns out, for example, that there are two distince, and very different, Hebrew words that are translated into English as “hardened his heart,” and that makes almost as important as “whodunnit”.

But this year, in particular, there is SO much about this Torah portion that ought to literally jump off the page as we see the undeniable parallels between those plagues, and the ones at hand now. It is not just the patterns, though, that are repeating, which give us guidance. It’s the fact that we now have His Written Word, THIS time around, that gives us one huge advantage — and challenge! — that neither the people of Israel, nor “Pharoah’s magicians” had then.

“Vayera: Lessons from Plagues, then and now. Who ‘makes a distinction’? ”