In this study we will take a look at the women within the Bible. We will look at each one of them and see how their story influences our lives today.

As we continue our study in this fantastic insight of the Women of the Bible, this morning we take a look at Zilchah, Potiphar’s wife.

THE FAILED SEDUCTION OF JOSEPH

Potiphar's Wife Cries 'Rape!'

Genesis 39

Potiphar's (belonging to the sun) wife tried to seduce Joseph, a slave in her husband's household in Egypt. Joseph refused her, and she took her revenge by accusing him of attempted rape. Joseph resisted the allure of a foreign woman (and a foreign culture) by staying true to Israelite ways, but there was a price to pay.

Pot'iphar. An Egyptian name, also written Potipherah, signifies belonging to the sun. Potiphar. With whom the history of Joseph is connected, is described as an officer of Pharaoh; chief of the executioners, an Egyptian." Gen. 39:1. Compare Gen. 37:36. (B.C. 1728).

He appears to have been a wealthy man. Gen. 39:4-6. The view we have of Potiphar's household, is exactly in accordance with the representations on the monuments. When Joseph was accused, his master contented himself with casting him into prison. Gen. 39:19-20. After this, we hear no more of Potiphar.

 What the story is about
The story of Potiphar’s wife is all about the difference between Egypt and Israel. Different ideals, different cultures, different practices.  

 Why is this particular story in the Bible? Because the seductive nature of Egyptian culture always posed a danger to the honesty of Israelite culture. 

 Egypt's sophistication was admired throughout the ancient world, and many people came under its influence. The Israelites led by Moses would eventually flee from it, just as, in this story, Joseph fled from an appealing Egyptian woman.

The time period for the story is uncertain, but it seems to be set during the Middle Kingdom, somewhere around 1727 BC. Potiphar may have been 'Ptahwer', an officer of Pharaoh Ahmenemhet III, but there is no real evidence either way. The story happens during a period of economic prosperity.

 The story unfolds in the household of a rich man, Potiphar, who owns many slaves. One of these is the Hebrew Joseph, a man of unusual ability who has been placed in control of Potiphar's large estate and household. 

 The story contains three central episodes:

1 Background details for the story (Genesis 39:1-6)
 2 The wife’s attempted seduction of Joseph (Genesis 39:7-12)
 3 The wife’s accusation (Genesis 39:13-20)

1  Captain of the guard = The idea behind this title means chief of police, or probably more precisely, Potiphar was head of Pharaoh’s personal security force. He was a highly trusted official in the government of Egypt.

Bought him from the Ishmaelites = Joseph was a slave. He seemed to have no control over his destiny but was bought and sold like a piece of property. He could have ended up with anyone, but Potiphar bought him.

In Genesis Chapter 37 beginning with verse 12 we read about Joseph brothers devise a plan to kill him, but then Reuben steps in and convinces them to cast Joseph into a pit. Then we read in verse 25 that the Ishmaelites come by and Judah gets a brain storm and convinces his brothers to sell Joseph to these Ishmaelites, for 20 pieces of silver. (20 in Biblical Numeric’s is disappointed expectancy. 20 is the double of ten, and may in some cases signify its concentrated meaning. But its significance seems rather to be connected with the fact that it is one short of twenty-one, 21 - 1 = 20; that is to say, if 21 is the three-fold 7, and signifies Divine (3) completion as regards spiritual perfection (7), then twenty, being one short of 21, it would signify what Dr. Milo Mahan calls expectancy)

 (2-3) Yahweh is with Joseph.

 (4-6) Yahweh blesses Potiphar for Joseph’s sake.

6   Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance = Joseph’s appearance was of special note. The Bible only calls two other men beautiful: David (1 Samuel 16:12) and Absalom (2 Samuel 14:25). Moses was said to be a beautiful child (Exodus 2:2).

 Joseph was the first son of the Hebrew brave woman, Rachel. He had every Yahweh-given advantage except personal freedom: he was handsome, intelligent, and shrewd - a born leader. He also had Yahweh's special favor. But he was a slave, although one of the high-ranking and influential servants who exercised power in ancient households and court circles.   

 After being kidnapped and sold into slavery, Gen. 37, Joseph found himself in the household of the second man in the story, a wealthy officer in Pharaoh's service, Potiphar, who became Joseph's master. By being forced of hard work and his own native intelligence, Joseph rose through the ranks of the household slaves, eventually becoming overseer of Potiphar's household and estates. Under Joseph's supervision, everything ran smoothly, and Potiphar was left free of responsibility, able to devote himself to his one great passion, food. 

‘…he had no concern for anything but the food that he ate.’ 

There is nothing wrong with enjoyment of food, but the implication of the text is that Potiphar had no interest in any of the other normal pleasures of life, including sex with his wife. 

 The Hebrew text uses the word 'saris' to describe him. This can mean 'courtier', 'someone who belongs to the king', but elsewhere in the Old Testament 'saris' is used to describe a eunuch.  Potiphar was married and therefore cannot have been a eunuch, but there may be a sly suggestion that Potiphar's sexual prowess was not all it should have been.  

 Potiphar's Wife tries to seduce Joseph - Genesis 39:7-12

7  His master’s wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, “Lie with me” = Potiphar’s wife was undeniably forward towards Joseph. Literally, Potiphar is called a eunuch of Pharaoh (Genesis 39:1). If Potiphar was literally a castrated eunuch, perhaps his wife looked for sexual activity elsewhere.

i. Maybe Potiphar’s wife felt deprived. It was possible that Potiphar was a eunuch, and the marriage was purely a ceremonial arrangement. It may be that she felt free to pursue sexual pleasure outside the marriage. This attitude is common today, and our modern culture believes people are deprived unless they pursue every sexual desire they feel. This is a lie and makes our sexual desires gods that rule one’s life.

ii. Also, it seems that in ancient Egypt there were low moral expectations on women, even married women. It was often assumed that women would have sex outside marriage. Potiphar’s wife wasn’t looking for a relationship, just a good time. Again, our modern culture promotes the idea that sex is great and often better apart from meaningful relationships. The truth – both biblically and lived out in life – is that sex is far better in committed, married relationship; that sex means something.

iii. Joseph was an attractive man (Genesis 39:6) and perhaps this had something to do with the longing of Potiphar’s wife. That he seemed beyond her reach was also probably a factor. If this was so, then she was not the first or last woman who tried to seduce a man out of a sense of challenge or in seeking self-worth. Potiphar’s wife may have looked to Joseph with a desperate attempt to feel desirable and worth something.

Lie with me = This was bold and a strong temptation to Joseph. It reminds the believer that when they face strong temptations, others have also faced them.

i. Satan wants Yahweh’s people to think their temptations are unique; that no other person could understand what they are going through in a particular temptation. The Bible reminds the believer there is no temptation that has overtaken us except what is common among people (1 Corinthians 10:13).

ii. “Slavery itself was a small calamity compared with that which would have happened to young Joseph had he been enslaved by wicked passions.” (Spurgeon)

(13-18) Potiphar’s wife falsely accuses Joseph before Potiphar.

(19-20) Joseph is sent to prison.

Summary 

 This story explores the moral vacuum in the heart of a rich, bored woman. She has power over other people's lives, but none over her own. She lacks the children she had a right to expect, and she lacks the love of her husband. In short, she has no purpose. As the story unfolds, we realize that Joseph the slave was able to exercise more control over circumstances than she was. 

 In an apparently vulnerable position, Joseph was able to resist the allure of a foreign woman and a foreign culture. Both tried to entice him, but he stayed true to the Israelite moral code, which had a different understanding of the rights of men and women. 

 'In the Joseph story, good things happen to bad people, bad things turn out to be good things by misadventure. It is no coincidence that just after the sale of Joseph into slavery, Judah enters into ambiguous sexual relations with a Canaanite daughter-in-law, Tamar. 

Join me as we go Chapter by Chapter, Verse by Verse, Unraveling the Words of Yahweh!

Have any questions? Feel free to email me; [email protected]

 In this study we will take a look at the miracles that Yahweh performed on the Egyptians, when Israel was held in bondage, during this period in Exodus. We will see that those miracles were against the Egyptian deities or gods that they worshipped.

The story of Moses is not just the story of the freedom of a group of slaves from Egypt in the second millennium BCE. It is the blueprint of the Plan of Salvation of the world as seen from the structure laid down in the Bible.

 Moses was the prototype of the Christ or Messiah. More importantly, the nation of Israel saw Moses as a prototype and the Bible record illustrates that point. Moses said: ‘And Yahweh said unto me, they have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.’ (Deut. 18:17-18).

In this study I continue in Exodus Chapter 12 verse 4

 Chapter 12

Verses 1 – 20              The Passover Instituted

Verses 21 – 28            The Passover Communicated

Verse 31 – 14:31         Yahweh’s Deliverance of Israel

Verse Outline

Verses 1-2 = Month

Verses 3-11 = The Symbol

Verses 12-13 = The Signification and Reason

Verses 14-17 = The Symbol

Verses 17 = The Signification and Reason

Verses 18-20 = The Month

 The Institution of the Passover

The deliverance from Egypt [which is symbolic of bondage] is to be not only from physical but also from spiritual slavery. Israel [whom El commands or rules] is to be freed from all heathen influences and consecrated to the service of Yahweh. These commandments concerning Passover open the religious legislation of the Torah. The occasion when they were given and the manner in which they were enjoined emphasize the basic importance of that Festival in the life and history of Israel. The Exodus from Egypt is not only one of the greatest events and epochs in the history of the Jews, but one of the greatest events and epochs in the history of the world. This Exodus proves without a shadow of doubt that Yahweh is the most powerful Creator throughout the world, has He defeated all the gods of the Egyptians. 

 4    If the household be too little = That is, if there be not persons enough in one family to eat a whole lamb, then two families must join together. The rabbis claim that there should be at least ten persons to one paschal lamb, and not more than twenty. Josephus tells us in “The Wars of the Jews”, Book 6 Chapter 9, Section 3, “from the ninth hour till the eleventh, but so that a company not less than ten belong to every sacrifice [for it is not lawful for them to feast to themselves], and many of us are twenty in a company etc. Side note: this number of a company for one Passover lamb, between ten and twenty, agrees exactly with the number thirteen, at our Saviors last Passover.

5    Without blemish = Having no natural imperfection, no disease, no deficiency or redundancy of parts. On this point the rabbis have trifled most bizarre, calculating fifty blemishes that make a lamb or kid, or any animal, improper to be sacrificed: five in the ear, three in the eyelid, eight in the eye, three in the nose, six in the mouth, etc., etc.

A male of the first year = That is, any age in the first year between eight days and twelve months. The Rabbis take this to mean within the first year of its birth. ‘This tender age, the type of innocence, made it peculiarly adapted for a sacrifice of the Covenant to be concluded between Elohim and Israel as a nation.’

From the sheep, or from the goats = The שה  seh means either; and either was equally proper if without blemish. The Hebrews however in general preferred the lamb to the kid.

6   The whole assembly - shall kill it = Any person might kill the lamb, the sacrificial act in this case not being confined to the priests.

In the evening = בין הערבים  beyn haarbayim, “between the two evenings.” The Jews divided the day into morning and evening: till the sun passed the meridian all was morning or before-noon; after that, all was afternoon or evening. Their first evening began just after twelve o’clock, and continued till sunset; their second evening began at sunset and continued till night, i.e., during the whole time of twilight; between twelve o’clock, therefore, and the termination of twilight, the Passover was to be offered.

“The day among the Jews had twelve hours, John 11:9. Their first hour was about six o’clock in the morning with us. Their sixth hour was our noon. Their ninth hour answered to our three o’clock in the afternoon. By this we may understand that the time in which the Messiah was crucified began at the third hour, that is, at nine o’clock in the morning, the ordinary time for the daily morning sacrifice, and ended at the ninth hour, that is, three o’clock in the afternoon, the time of the evening sacrifice, Mark 15:25, 33, 34, 37. Therefore their ninth hour was their hour of prayer, when they used to go into the temple at the daily evening sacrifice, Acts 3:1; and this was the ordinary time for the Passover. It is worthy of remark that Yahweh sets no particular hour for the killing of the Passover: any time between the two evenings, i.e., between twelve o’clock in the day and the termination of twilight, was lawful. The daily sacrifice (see Exo. 29:38, 39) was killed at half past the eighth hour, that is, half an hour Before three in the afternoon; and it was offered up at half past the ninth hour, that is, half an hour After three. In the evening of the Passover it was killed at half past the seventh hour, and offered at half past the eighth, that is, half an hour Before three: and if the evening of the Passover fell on the evening of the Sabbath, it was killed at half past the Sixth hour, and offered at half past the Seventh, that is, half an hour Before two in the afternoon. The reason of this was, they were first obliged to kill the daily sacrifice, and then to kill and roast the paschal lamb, and also to rest the evening before the Passover. Agreeably to this Maimonides says ‘the killing of the Passover is after mid-day, and if they kill it before it is not lawful; and they do not kill it till after the daily evening sacrifice, and burning of incense: and after they have trimmed the lamps they begin to kill the paschal lambs until the end of the day.’ By this time of the day Elohim foreshowed the sufferings of Yahshua Messiah in the evening of times or in the last days, Hebrews 1:2; 1Peter 1:19, 20 : and about the same time of the day, when the paschal lamb ordinarily died, He died also, viz., at the ninth hour; Matthew 27:46-50.” 

Once again Josephus gives us an insight on this “The Wars of the Jews”, Book 6 Chapter 9, Section 3, ‘So these high priests, upon the coming of that feast which is called the Passover, when they slay their sacrifices, from the ninth hour till the eleventh, but so that a company not less than ten belong to every sacrifice, (for it is not lawful for them to feast singly by themselves,) and many of us are twenty in a company, found the number of sacrifices was two hundred and fifty-six thousand five hundred; which, upon the allowance of no more than ten that feast together, amounts to two millions seven hundred thousand and two hundred persons that were pure and holy; for as to those that have the leprosy, or the gonorrhea, or women that have their monthly courses, or such as are otherwise polluted, it is not lawful for them to be partakers of this sacrifice; nor indeed for any foreigners neither, who come hither to worship.’

7    take of the blood, and strike it on the two side-posts, etc. = as a sign of safety to those within. The posts must be considered of tents, in which the Israelites generally lived, though some might be in houses. Though the Israelites were sinners as well as the Egyptians, Elohim was pleased to accept the substitution of a lamb - the blood of which, being seen sprinkled, by using a bunch of hyssop dipped in the lamb’s blood, on the doorposts, procured them mercy. It was to be on the side posts and upper doorposts, where it might be looked to, not on the threshold, where it might be trodden under foot. This was an emblem of the blood of sprinkling (Hebrews 12:24; 10:29).

8    and they shall eat = ‘'âkal’ ‘‘aw-kal'’ 

aleph = (ox) strength, strong, power, leader

Kaph = (open palm) bend, open, allow, tame 

lamed – (shepherd staff), teach, yoke, to bind

Aleph = (ox) strength, strong, power, leader

Tav = (cross) sign, covenant seal, mark and cross

The Hebrew Letter ‘kaph’ is a picture of the bent palm representing the bending or subduing of the will, the Hebrew Letter ‘lamed’ is a picture of a shepherd staff or yoke. Combined these mean "tame for the yoke". An animal or land that is tamed has been worked and is complete and ready for use. Taming include; construction of holding pens, putting the soil to the plow, harvesting of crops, milk or meat. One eats once the harvest is complete. Spiritually speaking we are not talking about any type of flesh. By adding the ‘eth’ we are looking forward to the time when the true Passover Lamb will lay down His life for you and I. By partaking in the eating and drinking of the bread and wine.

Have any questions? Feel free to email me [email protected]

The Plagues Were Against the Gods of Egypt
In this study we will take a look at the miracles that Yahweh performed on the Egyptians, when Israel was held in bondage, during this period in Exodus. We will see that those miracles were against the Egyptian deities or gods that they worshipped.

The story of Moses is not just the story of the freedom of a group of slaves from Egypt in the second millennium BCE. It is the blueprint of the Plan of Salvation of the world as seen from the structure laid down in the Bible.

 Moses was the prototype of the Christ or Messiah. More importantly, the nation of Israel saw Moses as a prototype and the Bible record illustrates that point. Moses said: ‘And Yahweh said unto me, they have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.’ (Deut. 18:17-18).

In this study I continue in Exodus Chapter 11 verse 8

The warning of the Last Plague

8              And all these thy servants = Pharaoh's nobles, ministers, courtiers and counselors, who were then in his presence, and stood about him, to whom Moses pointed.  

 shall come down unto me = from Pharaoh's palace, which might be built on an elevated piece of ground, to the place where Moses had dwelt during the time he had been in Egypt, which might lie lower; or these should come from Zoan, or from Memphis, whichever of them was now the royal city, to the land of Goshen, which lay lower than the other part of Egypt; or it may only denote the submission of Pharaoh's, servants, that they should in the time of their distress be so humble and condescending as to come themselves to Moses, and as it follows. 

 and bow down themselves unto me = in the most submissive manner, humbly entreating, and earnestly begging him. 

9              And the Lord said unto Moses = Not at this time when he went out from Pharaoh, but some time before this, for the words may be rendered, "the Lord had said", for so he had, as is related, Exod. 7:3, but the historian makes mention of it here, to show that Moses was not ignorant of the event of things; he knew that Pharaoh's heart would be hardened from time to time, and that one plague after another must be inflicted, before he would let the people go; and therefore when he prayed for the removal of any, it was not in expectation that he would abide by his promise, but to do the will of Yahweh, and the duty of his calling. 

 Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you = to Moses and Aaron, and let the people of Israel go as required of him. 

 that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt = which Jarchi interprets of the smiting of the firstborn, dividing the waters of the Red sea, and the destruction of Pharaoh and his host in it; but since these words were said before any of the plagues, were inflicted, it may refer to them all. 

I read from Thomas Horn Book ‘The Gods’

10           hardened = ‘châzaq’ ‘khaw-zak'’ ‘chet-zayin-quph’ ‘Aleph-Tav’

Chet = (tent wall) outside, divide, half

zayin = (mattack) food, cut, nourish

quph = (sun on the horizon) condense, circle, time

Aleph = (ox) strength, strong, power, leader

Tav = (cross) sign, covenant seal, mark and cross

This Hebrew word means to Seize: To grab hold tightly, to refrain or support by grabbing hold. But by adding the ‘eth’ we see that the Spirit of Yahweh/Yahshua is the one that is actually seizing Pharaoh’s heart. Why is Yahweh doing this? I believe so that all of the Egyptian deities would be defeated by the miracles perform by Yahweh/Yahshua Messiah!

Chapter 12

Verses 1 – 20              The Passover Instituted

Verses 21 – 28            The Passover Communicated

Verse 31 – 14:31         Yahweh’s Deliverance of Israel

 I Read from the Legends of the Old Testament, Moses before Pharaoh, PDF page 291
The Institution of the Passover

The deliverance from Egypt [which is symbolic of bondage] is to be not only from physical but also from spiritual slavery. Israel [whom El commands or rules] is to be freed from all heathen influences and consecrated to the service of Yahweh. These commandments concerning Passover open the religious legislation of the Torah. The occasion when they were given and the manner in which they were enjoined emphasize the basic importance of that Festival in the life and history of Israel. The Exodus from Egypt is not only one of the greatest events and epochs in the history of the Jews, but one of the greatest events and epochs in the history of the world. This Exodus proves without a shadow of doubt that Yahweh is the most powerful Creator throughout the world, has He defeated all the gods of the Egyptians. 

1          the Lord spake unto Moses = rather, “had spoken unto Moses and Aaron”; for it is evident that the communication here described must have been made to them on or before the tenth of the month.

2              this month = It is supposed that Yahweh now changed the commencement of the Jewish year. The month to which this verse refers, the month Abib [which signifies an ear of corn, and at this time we find that the barley was in ear], answers to a part of our March and April; whereas it is supposed that previously to this, the year began with Tisri, which answers to a part of our September; for in this month the Hebrews suppose Yahweh created the world, when the earth appeared at once with all its fruits in perfection. From this circumstance the Hebrew have formed a twofold commencement of the year, which has given rise to a twofold denomination of the year itself, to which they afterwards attended in all their reckonings: that which began with Tisri or September was called their civil year; that which began with Abib or March was called the sacred or ecclesiastical year.

3              tenth day of the month = 10 equals Ordinal Perfection [expressing divine order or succession. Keep in mind that everything that Yahweh does is always in order! What does this mean for us Christians of today?

I quote John Wesley comments on this verse.

Have any questions? Feel free to email me [email protected]

In this study we will take a look at the women within the Bible. We will look at each one of them and see how their story influences our lives today.

As we continue our study in this fantastic insight of the Women of the Bible, this morning we shall finish Miriam the sister of Moses.

Miriam (rebellion) – Moses Sister – A Prophetess
Miriam was the older sister of Moses, and it was she who watched over him when he was placed in a basket on the River Nile. She went on to become a leader of the Hebrews when they escaped from Egypt and went in search of the Promised Land.

Miriam is best known for helping to deliver Moses at the Nile River and leading the Hebrew women in singing, dancing, and playing drums after crossing the Red Sea. Later, she and her brother Aaron challenge the actions and authority of Moses. She understands leadership to embrace diverse voices, female and male. But the price of speaking out is severe; Yahweh punishes her, after which she never speaks, nor is she spoken to. Centuries later, prophecy remembers her as the equal of Moses and Aaron in representing Yahweh before the people, and as the inaugurator of a performance and composition tradition of song, drums, and dances in Israel.

                Miriam, the prophetess, the sister of Aaron (Exod. 15:20.), is the first of her order mentioned in the Word of Yahweh. While Yahweh never ordained a woman to be priest, nor do we read of women as bishops or pastors in the New Testament, the vocation of "prophetess" is common to both dispensations. Hannah (1Sam. 1:2) was practically a prophetess, and so was Huldah, to whom King Josiah went in his time of perplexity. Deborah (Judges 4:5) was a prophetess (2Kings 22:14), and there were also false prophetesses, such as Noadiah (Neh. 6:14), as well as false prophets.

                Yahweh's order in the family is not according to earthly birthright. Speaking of the leaders of His people Israel, He says: "I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam." (Micah 6:4.) All these children of Amram were of the prophet order. Miriam was the eldest, Moses the youngest; yet Moses is first mentioned, because he knew his Yahweh more fully than either his brother or his sister. Aaron, his elder brother, ranks next, and Miriam, the eldest of the three, ranks last.

Miriam was a leader of the Hebrew people during the Exodus, the great founding event of Judaism. The episodes we have about her are disjointed and probably only represent a fraction of the stories originally told in the oral tradition of the Hebrew people. 

 The story of Miriam contains four different episodes:  
 
1 Miriam saved her brother Moses, Exodus 2:1-10. This well-known story shows that the survival of the leader of the Exodus, Moses, depended on the courage and ingenuity of one young woman, his sister Miriam.  

 2 The song of Miriam, Exodus 15:20-21. This fragment of the Song of Miriam is one of the oldest poetic couplets in the Old Testament. It is an example of a literary genre devoted to celebrating military victories with triumphal poems. 

 3 Miriam's ordeal, Numbers 12. This story is about the authority of established law. Moses was the great lawgiver of the Hebrew people Moses' legislation formed the basis of Hebrew life. The story acknowledged that Miriam and Aaron were both popular leaders, but the Law, represented by Moses, bound them. 

 4 Miriam's death, Numbers 20:1-2. Miriam died in a waterless place in the wilderness, but Yahweh subsequently caused water to appear there. 

 In this study we finish up with #3 Miriam’s ordeal and complete the study with Miriam’s death

 While they were at Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had indeed married a Cushite woman); and they said, 'Has Yahweh spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?' And Yahweh heard it. Now the man Moses was very humble, more so than anyone else on the face of the earth.

Yahweh knows when we criticize and snip at each other. No matter our position in the church, we have to remember that all of Yahweh's children are special to Him. In fact, today, we can be even closer to Yahweh than Moses was the one who stood face to face with Yahweh. Our Yahweh now lives inside of us, for we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. How then can we not be afraid to speak against another of Yahweh's servants, His child? If we do so, we may very anger Yahweh and cause Him to depart from us.

Numbers 12:10:

 Suddenly Miriam became leprous, as white as snow = Leprosy was a disease where the body rotted and decayed. It was considered a “walking death” – and Miriam had an advanced case of leprosy (white as snow) instantly. At this moment, Yahweh caused her body to reflect her heart.

Leprous = First occurance is in Exodus 4:6. Nine (Denotes Finality of judgment. It is 3x3, the product of Divine completeness. The number nine, or its factors or multiples, is seen in all cases when judgment is the subject.)so afflicted: Exo. 4:6. Num. 12:10. 2Kings 5:1, 2Kings 5:27; 7:3; 15:5. (2Chron. 26:20). Matthew 8:2; 26:6. Luke 17:12. (Nine cases, 21 individuals.)

By the way 21 in the Biblical Number for Divine Completion as regards

Spiritual Perfection, 

Many times, I have read that Yahweh punished Miriam by making her leprous. There is a big debate on whether Yahweh did this or not. Let’s read the verse again. Yahweh was angry and left in verse 9 and here in verse 10 we read of the cloud departing, and Miriam was leprous. No where are we told Yahweh made Miriam leprous or even that Yahweh punished Miriam with leprosy. Yahweh went away. There is protection under the shadow of Yahweh's wing, but when we leave that protection or by our actions cause Yahweh to withdraw we lose that protection.

11           Oh my lord! Please do not lay this sin on us = Aaron called Moses his master (my lord), and he attributed to Moses the power to strike Miriam with leprosy. Aaron also confessed his previous criticism as foolish and sinful (we have done foolishly…we have sinned).

13           So Moses cried out to Yahweh = This was the first word spoken by Moses in this chapter. He had not spoken the entire time he was accused, leaving it up to Yahweh to answer his critics.

14           Let her be shut out of the camp seven days, and afterward she may be received again = Yahweh did heal Miriam. If she were still a leper, she would not have been allowed to remain in the camp of Israel, and she was received again. Yet, Yahweh allowed her to live with the outward display of her inward heart for seven days – and allowed the whole nation to know it.

Miriam's question 'has Yahweh indeed spoken only through Moses?' was a profound one. 
 It asked   

How do we know what Yahweh wants? 

What ways does Yahweh speak to us? 

Who has authority over us? 

These questions are universal, asked by people of every place and era.

Numbers 20:2 

The people stayed in Kadesh (sanctuary); and Miriam died there and was buried there = Miriam died in Kadesh. Through the years of wandering in the wilderness, Israel came now to Kadesh. This is probably another place named Kadesh but presented to remind us of the failure of faith at the Kadesh of Numbers 13:26.

Miriam, with her brothers Moses and Aaron, led the Hebrew people throughout the forty years when they reverted to the nomadic life, searching meanwhile for a land where they could settle. 
 
The life they led was hard, and they must often have yearned for the stability and settled life they had left back in Egypt. Water was always scarce, the food supply was unreliable, and the physical living conditions were rigorous. Eventually these conditions took their toll on Miriam, and she died. 

 'The Israelites, the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh. Miriam died there, and was buried there.' 
Water, the symbol of life, had played quite a large part in Miriam's life. She saved her brother from the water; she led the song of victory after the parting of the Red Sea; she died in a waterless place. Immediately after her death, Yahweh gave abundant water to the people, in the form of a spring. 

Unlike most women in the Bible, Miriam is never called wife or mother. She has neither husband nor children. Jewish traditions, however, cannot tolerate her status as single. The historian Josephus deems Hur the husband of Miriam (Antiquities 3.54; see Exod 17:10–12). Rabbinic sources give her Caleb for a husband and Hur for a son (but compare 1 Chr 2:19).

 Join me as we go Chapter by Chapter, Verse by Verse, Unraveling the Words of Yahweh!

Have any questions? Feel free to email me; [email protected]

In this study we will take a look at the women within the Bible. We will look at each one of them and see how their story influences our lives today.

As we continue our study in this fantastic insight of the Women of the Bible, this morning we shall finish up with Zipporah and then take a look at Miriam the sister of Moses.

Miriam (rebellion) – Moses Sister – A Prophetess
Miriam was the older sister of Moses, and it was she who watched over him when he was placed in a basket on the River Nile. She went on to become a leader of the Hebrews when they escaped from Egypt and went in search of the Promised Land.

Miriam is best known for helping to deliver Moses at the Nile River and leading the Hebrew women in singing, dancing, and playing drums after crossing the Red Sea. Later, she and her brother Aaron challenge the actions and authority of Moses. She understands leadership to embrace diverse voices, female and male. But the price of speaking out is severe; Yahweh punishes her, after which she never speaks, nor is she spoken to. Centuries later, prophecy remembers her as the equal of Moses and Aaron in representing Yahweh before the people, and as the inaugurator of a performance and composition tradition of song, drums, and dances in Israel.

"I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy."—Joel 2:28.

         Miriam, the prophetess, the sister of Aaron (Exod. 15:20.), is the first of her order mentioned in the Word of Yahweh. While Yahweh never ordained a woman to be priest, nor do we read of women as bishops or pastors in the New Testament, the vocation of "prophetess" is common to both dispensations. Hannah (1Sam. 1:2) was practically a prophetess, and so was Huldah, to whom King Josiah went in his time of perplexity. Deborah (Judges 4:5) was a prophetess (2Kings 22:14), and there were also false prophetesses, such as Noadiah (Neh. 6:14), as well as false prophets.

         In the New Testament, Peter expressly declares that the pouring out of the Spirit of Yahweh upon all flesh should be upon sons and daughters, servants, and handmaids, "and they shall prophesy," quoting from the Old Testament. (Joel 2:28-32); compare (Acts 2:17-18.)  A number of those who "spake" "AS THE SPIRIT GAVE THEM UTTERANCE," (Acts. 2:4.) of the wonderful works of Yahweh on the Day of Pentecost, were women speaking in the spirit of prophecy. Philip, the deacon, we read, had four daughters "which did prophesy" (Acts 21:9); the Apostle Paul speaks of those women who labored with him in the Gospel. (Phl. 4:3.) It is he who especially recommends that, when women pray and prophesy, their heads should be covered; and explains what is this office of prophesying in the words: "He that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort." (1Chorin. 11:5; 14:3.) And while Paul commands that women should not speak in church, he ordains that all, i.e., both men and women, may prophesy, one by one, that all may learn, and may be comforted. (1Corin. 14:31-34.)

          Yahweh's order in the family is not according to earthly birthright. Speaking of the leaders of His people Israel, He says: "I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam." (Micah 6:4.) All these children of Amram were of the prophet order. Miriam was the eldest, Moses the youngest; yet Moses is first mentioned, because he knew his Yahweh more fully than either his brother or his sister. Aaron, his elder brother, ranks next, and Miriam, the eldest of the three, ranks last.

Miriam was a leader of the Hebrew people during the Exodus, the great founding event of Judaism. The episodes we have about her are disjointed and probably only represent a fraction of the stories originally told in the oral tradition of the Hebrew people. 

 The story of Miriam contains four different episodes:  
 
1 Miriam saved her brother Moses, Exodus 2:1-10. This well-known story shows that the survival of the leader of the Exodus, Moses, depended on the courage and ingenuity of one young woman, his sister Miriam.  

 2 The song of Miriam, Exodus 15:20-21. This fragment of the Song of Miriam is one of the oldest poetic couplets in the Old Testament. It is an example of a literary genre devoted to celebrating military victories with triumphal poems. 

 3 Miriam's ordeal, Numbers 12. This story is about the authority of established law. Moses was the great lawgiver of the Hebrew people Moses' legislation formed the basis of Hebrew life. The story acknowledged that Miriam and Aaron were both popular leaders, but the Law, represented by Moses, bound them. 

 4 Miriam's death, Numbers 20:1-2. Miriam died in a waterless place in the wilderness, but Yahweh subsequently caused water to appear there. 

 In this study we take a look #2 The Song of Miriam and #3 Miriam’s ordeal

Exodus 15:20-21

20.          Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron = This is the first mention of Miriam by name, and she is described as the sister of Aaron, so she is therefore also the sister of Moses (Exodus 4:14).

We also see that Miriam had some kind of prophetic gift. Later she used her leadership position in an unwise and ungodly way – to challenge the authority of Moses (Numbers 12).

Miriam was with Moses throughout the nine plagues. She came out of Egypt with Moses. Miriam was a woman of Yahweh. She was indeed a prophet herself (Exodus 15:20). The fact that Miriam was a prophet is a little known fact because everyone concentrates on Moses. Miriam was called to play a less prominent role than Moses but nevertheless a vital one.

 Miriam's role as a leader of the Hebrew women was obviously more extensive than is shown in the biblical text. Despite her personal charisma and power, her story has to a large extent been subsumed into the story of her brother Moses. 

Rulers in the ancient world led through force of arms and military might. Miriam and Moses proposed a different model of leadership. They led by example served their people rather than ruled them did what they believed Yahweh wanted rather than serving their own ends.     

 When the Hebrew’s were escaping from Egypt, they crossed what was probably a large papyrus marsh, called the Red Sea in the biblical text. Moses, Miriam, and her second brother Aaron led them.

 Numbers 12

This part of Miriam's story described an incident at Hazeroth (villages), as the Hebrew people wandered in search of their promised land.

Going to Moses, Miriam and Aaron raised two points that were troubling them: 

1.      They questioned his marriage to the Cushite (Ethiopian or Midianite) woman, not because of any personal rivalry, but because Hebrews condemned marriage with a foreigner. Some Bible translations call the woman a Cushite, others Ethiopian and some even say Sudanese. What is clear is that the woman was a foreigner. Bible scholars are divided over whether she was of African decent, as names and geography have changed in meaning over the centuries. In the ancient world the whole of the southern world from Africa to India was denoted by the word Ethiopia (English travelers as late as the 17th Century still used the name in that sense). All this leaves the possibility but not confirmation that Moses wife could have been of African decent.

 2.      They questioned Moses' authority over them, since Moses was the youngest of the three siblings. Yahweh had communicated with all three of them. Why then should Moses dominate the other two? 

 Join me as we go Chapter by Chapter, Verse by Verse, Unraveling the Words of Yahweh!

Have any questions? Feel free to email me; [email protected]

In this study we will take a look at the women within the Bible. We will look at each one of them and see how their story influences our lives today.

As we continue our study in this fantastic insight of the Women of the Bible, this morning we shall finish up with Zipporah and then take a look at Miriam the sister of Moses.

 ZIPPORAH (bird): THE WIFE OF MOSES.

Exod. 2:15-22

        Zipporah is the wife of Moses, given to him in marriage by her Midianite priest father. She heroically saves Moses and her sons from a random attack from an angel by cutting off her son’s foreskin; the explanation for this act is unclear. However, Zipporah is shown as fiercely devoted to her husband, even though he neglects her.

        Zipporah is a Midianite woman who becomes the wife of Moses. After Moses kills an Egyptian, he flees from the pharaoh and settles among the Midianites, an Arab people who occupied desert areas in southern Transjordan, northern Arabia, and the Sinai. He meets the seven daughters of Reuel, priest of Midian, at a well; rescues them from shepherds who are harassing them; and fills their jugs with water. In gratitude, Reuel (called Jethro or Hobab in other biblical passages) offers Moses hospitality, then gives him his daughter Zipporah in marriage (Exod 2:21–22). She and Moses have two sons, Gershom and Eliezer (Exod 18:3–4).

       Zipporah is the heroine of a bizarre incident that takes place as Moses heads back to Egypt with his wife and sons (Exod 4:20). On their way, at a night encampment, “The Lord met him [Moses] and tried to kill him” (Exod 4:24). No reason is given, just as no reason is given for the angel’s attack on Jacob as he came back from Mesopotamia (Gen 32:24). Jacob was alone and wrestled with the angel all night; Moses is with his wife, who comes to his rescue. She takes a flint and cuts off her son’s foreskin. She then flings the foreskin at “his” feet, declaring that he is hatan damim to her (Exod 4:26). Zipporah’s enigmatic statement has two possible explanations: she flings the foreskin at Moses’s feet, saying, “You are a bridegroom of blood to me” (NRSV), or she flings it at Yahweh’s feet, saying, “You are a blood father-in-law to me.” (Damim means “blood,” and hatan can mean either “bridegroom” or “father-in-law.”) Either way, her deed and words stop the attack. The story is already difficult for the narrator, who adds a comment that hatan damim refers to circumcision. The situation remains unclear to us. Zipporah, however, understood it and acted decisively to rescue Moses. Zipporah’s name, meaning “bird,” combined with her protection of Moses, is reminiscent of the fierce loyalty to her husband Osiris of the Egyptian goddess Isis, who is often portrayed as a bird of prey.

        Zipporah is not well rewarded. At some point before the exodus from Egypt, Moses sends her and the children away (Exod 18:2). After the exodus, her father, the priest of Midian (here called Jethro), comes to visit Moses, bringing Zipporah and her two sons. Moses is told that his father-in-law Jethro is “coming to see you, with your wife and her two sons” (Exod i8:6). Moses goes out to greet Jethro and takes him into his tent, but nothing is said about his greeting Zipporah.

        Moses’ neglect of Zipporah is obvious, as he (not Yahweh) tells the men at Sinai not to approach any women in preparation for Yahweh’s approach in three days (Exod 19:2). Since he himself is apparently always in preparation for meeting with Yahweh, we can infer that he never sleeps with Zipporah. In Num 12:1 Miriam and Aaron speak against Moses because of the “Cushite woman” whom he married, but they do not mention her name. Midrashic tradition assumed they were discussing Moses’ neglect of Zipporah. Other interpreters see the Cushite woman as a second wife, with Miriam and Aaron opposed to the marriage. But no children are ever recorded for a second wife of Moses.

Miriam (rebellion) – Moses Sister – A Prophetess
Miriam was the older sister of Moses, and it was she who watched over him when he was placed in a basket on the River Nile. She went on to become a leader of the Hebrews when they escaped from Egypt and went in search of the Promised Land.

Miriam is best known for helping to deliver Moses at the Nile River and leading the Hebrew women in singing, dancing, and playing drums after crossing the Red Sea. Later, she and her brother Aaron challenge the actions and authority of Moses. She understands leadership to embrace diverse voices, female and male. But the price of speaking out is severe; Yahweh punishes her, after which she never speaks, nor is she spoken to. Centuries later, prophecy remembers her as the equal of Moses and Aaron in representing Yahweh before the people, and as the inaugurator of a performance and composition tradition of song, drums, and dances in Israel.

"I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy."—Joel 2:28.

                Miriam, the prophetess, the sister of Aaron (Exod. 15:20.), is the first of her order mentioned in the Word of Yahweh. While Yahweh never ordained a woman to be priest, nor do we read of women as bishops or pastors in the New Testament, the vocation of "prophetess" is common to both dispensations. Hannah (1Sam. 1:2) was practically a prophetess, and so was Huldah, to whom King Josiah went in his time of perplexity. Deborah (Judges 4:5) was a prophetess (2Kings 22:14), and there were also false prophetesses, such as Noadiah (Neh. 6:14), as well as false prophets.

                In the New Testament, Peter expressly declares that the pouring out of the Spirit of Yahweh upon all flesh should be upon sons and daughters, servants, and handmaids, "and they shall prophesy," quoting from the Old Testament. (Joel 2:28-32); compare (Acts 2:17-18.)  A number of those who "spake" "AS THE SPIRIT GAVE THEM UTTERANCE," (Acts. 2:4.) of the wonderful works of Yahweh on the Day of Pentecost, were women speaking in the spirit of prophecy. Philip, the deacon, we read, had four daughters "which did prophesy" (Acts 21:9); the Apostle Paul speaks of those women who labored with him in the Gospel. (Phl. 4:3.) It is he who especially recommends that, when women pray and prophesy, their heads should be covered; and explains what is this office of prophesying in the words: "He that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort." (1Chorin. 11:5; 14:3.) And while Paul commands that women should not speak in church, he ordains that all, i.e., both men and women, may prophesy, one by one, that all may learn, and may be comforted. (1Corin. 14:31-34.)

                Yahweh's order in the family is not according to earthly birthright. Speaking of the leaders of His people Israel, He says: "I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam." (Micah 6:4.) All these children of Amram were of the prophet order. Miriam was the eldest, Moses the youngest; yet Moses is first mentioned, because he knew his Yahweh more fully than either his brother or his sister. Aaron, his elder brother, ranks next, and Miriam, the eldest of the three, ranks last.

     Miriam was a leader of the Hebrew people during the Exodus, the great founding event of Judaism. The episodes we have about her are disjointed and probably only represent a fraction of the stories originally told in the oral tradition of the Hebrew people. 

The story of Miriam contains four different episodes: 
 1 Miriam saved her brother Moses, Exodus 2:1-10. This well-known story shows that the survival of the leader of the Exodus, Moses, depended on the courage and ingenuity of one young woman, his sister Miriam.  

 2 The song of Miriam, Exodus 15:20-21. This fragment of the Song of Miriam is one of the oldest poetic couplets in the Old Testament. It is an example of a literary genre devoted to celebrating military victories with triumphal poems. 

3 Miriam's ordeal, Numbers 12. This story is about the authority of established law. Moses was the great lawgiver of the Hebrew people Moses' legislation formed the basis of Hebrew life. The story acknowledged that Miriam and Aaron were both popular leaders, but the Law, represented by Moses, bound them. 

 4 Miriam's death, Numbers 20:1-2. Miriam died in a waterless place in the wilderness, but Yahweh subsequently caused water to appear there. 

Join me as we go Chapter by Chapter, Verse by Verse, Unraveling the Words of Yahweh!

Have any questions? Feel free to email me; [email protected]

In this study we will take a look at the miracles that Yahweh performed on the Egyptians, when Israel was held in bondage, during this period in Exodus. We will see that those miracles were against the Egyptian deities or gods that they worshipped.

The story of Moses is not just the story of the freedom of a group of slaves from Egypt in the second millennium BCE. It is the blueprint of the Plan of Salvation of the world as seen from the structure laid down in the Bible.

 Moses was the prototype of the Christ or Messiah. More importantly, the nation of Israel saw Moses as a prototype and the Bible record illustrates that point. Moses said: ‘And Yahweh said unto me, they have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.’ (Deut. 18:17-18).

In this study I begin in Exodus Chapter 11

The warning of the Last Plague

1                       The Lord said = Or “Yahweh had said.” The first three verses of this chapter are parenthetical. Before Moses relates the last warning given to Pharaoh, he feels it right to recall to his readers’ minds the revelation and command which had been previously given to him by Yahweh.

2                       borrow = shaw-al, request or ask

3                       And the Lord gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, = So that they freely and willingly lent them the things they asked of them; which seems to be said by way of anticipation, for this was not done until the following plague was inflicted, see Exod.12:35, 

 The people = ‘am’ ‘ayin-mem’ ‘Aleph-tav’

Ayin = (eye) watch, know, shade (this letter is basically silent) 

Mem = (water) chaos, blood, mighty

Aleph = (ox) strength, strong, power, leader

 Tav = (cross) sign, covenant seal, mark and cross

 The Hebrew Letter ‘ayin’is a picture of the eye, the Hebrew Letter ‘mem’ is a picture of the sea representing mass. Combined these mean "see a mass". A large group of people in one location. But when we add the ‘eth’ ‘Alpeh-Tav’ we are not talking about any group of people, but Yahweh/Yahshua Messiah’s Elect.

5                       that sitteth upon his throne = this phrase to Pharaoh and not to the eldest son.

   First-born of the maidservant = the meanest person in the kingdom is contrasted with the noblest. Grinding the corn, the lowest labor, was the work of women, slaves and captives. Two portable millstones are used for the purpose, of which the uppermost is turned by a small wooden handle and during the operation the maid sits behind the mill

   First-born of beasts = the plague of the cattle described in Chapter 9:6 was limited to the ‘cattle which are in the field’. The Hebrew word for cattle in 9:6 is ‘mikneh’, whereas here the word ‘behemah’ is used. The Egyptians paid divine honors to various animals; and the first born of all these beasts were to be doomed.

6                       And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt = Of parents for the loss of their firstborn sons, their heirs, the support and glory of their families; children for the loss of their elder brethren; and servants for the loss of the prime and principal in their masters' houses; and all in a dreadful fright, expecting instantly death themselves. 

I read from Thomas Horn Book ‘The Gods’ PDF page 82, to close the section on the death of the firstborn.

Book of Wisdom of the Apocrypha Chapter 17

7                       But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast = That is, no hurt should be done to man or beast among them, to the firstborn of either of them, so there would be no noise or cry in their dwellings, but the profoundest silence, stillness, and quietness among them

that ye may know how that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel = by preserving them and theirs, when the firstborn of Egypt were destroyed, and by causing stillness and quietness among them when there was an hideous outcry and doleful lamentation among the Egyptians; and by bringing Israel quietly out from among them, none offering to give the least molestation.

Have any questions? Feel free to email me [email protected]

In this study we will take a look at the women within the Bible. We will look at each one of them and see how their story influences our lives today.

As we continue our study in this fantastic insight of the Women of the Bible, this morning we shall take a look at Jochebed and Zipporah.

JOCHEBED (Yahweh Gloried): THE MOTHER OF MOSES.

Jochebed, wife of Amram and mother of Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, is mentioned by name only in Exod 6:20 and Num 26:59, both genealogical listings. Jochebed, whose name apparently means YHWH is glory,” is notable as the first person in the Bible to have a name with the divine element yah, a shortened form of YHWH.

Jochebed, wife of Amram and mother of Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, is mentioned by name only in Exod 6:20 and Num 26:59, both genealogical listings. The narrative in Exodus 2 about Moses’ birth introduces her, without providing her name, as a member of the priestly tribe Levi; she marries a Levitical man, also unnamed here. The mother, in defiance of the Pharaoh’s order that every male Hebrew child be killed, hides her newborn son for three months and then places him in a basket in the Nile. Pharaoh’s daughter (also unnamed) finds the child and accepts the offer of Moses’s sister Miriam, who witnesses the rescue of her brother, to find a Hebrew woman as a wet nurse for the infant. The narrative cleverly places Jochebed as the caregiver for her own son.

The story in Exodus 2 clearly focuses on Moses, whose rescue from the river resembles other birth tales presenting culture heroes. The omission of the names of the child’s family members contributes to the heightened interest in Moses. The genealogical information about his mother, as not only the daughter of Levi but also as the wife (and aunt!) of a Levite, serves to highlight the priestly pedigree of both Moses and Aaron. In addition, Jochebed, whose name (Hebrew yokheved) apparently means “YHWH is glory,” is notable as the first person in the Bible to have a name with the divine element yah, a shortened form of YHWH. The tradition that Moses announces to the Israelites that YHWH is the name of their Elohim (Exod 6:1–8) is thus embedded in his maternal lineage: if his mother bears YHWH’s name, Moses learned it from her.

Pharaoh's daughter said to Jochebed: "Take this child away and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages." (Exod. 2:9.)

This is the last we hear of Jochebed, Moses' mother.

THE RESULT OF HER LIFE's WORK

was the man Moses. The true mother lives again in her son. There is the answer to her prayers; there is the result of her watchfulness; there is the true correction of her own faults reproduced in her son. Moses might never have been the man he was had it not been for Jochebed.

                Who knows how many a leader of Yahweh's people may be at the present time in course of training by some pious mother? Who knows but that the little James or John or William, who is playing with the kitten in the living room, may someday become a man to whom hundreds or thousands may look for help and direction? Oh let every mother who reads these pages understand her vocation when a higher than Pharaoh's daughter says to her: "Take this child and nurse it for Me, and I will give thee thy wages."

                But the wages of Jochebed were not to be given by the princes of this world. To be the mother of a Moses, whom Yahweh knew face to face, like who there arose not since in Israel (Deut. 34:10): this was an honor which none but Yahweh could give. 

ZIPPORAH (bird): THE WIFE OF MOSES.

Exod. 2:15-22

                Zipporah is the wife of Moses, given to him in marriage by her Midianite priest father. She heroically saves Moses and her sons from a random attack from an angel by cutting off her son’s foreskin; the explanation for this act is unclear. However, Zipporah is shown as fiercely devoted to her husband, even though he neglects her.

                Zipporah is a Midianite woman who becomes the wife of Moses. After Moses kills an Egyptian, he flees from the pharaoh and settles among the Midianites, an Arab people who occupied desert areas in southern Transjordan, northern Arabia, and the Sinai. He meets the seven daughters of Reuel, priest of Midian, at a well; rescues them from shepherds who are harassing them; and fills their jugs with water. In gratitude, Reuel (called Jethro or Hobab in other biblical passages) offers Moses hospitality, then gives him his daughter Zipporah in marriage (Exod 2:21–22). She and Moses have two sons, Gershom and Eliezer (Exod 18:3–4).

Zipporah is the heroine of a bizarre incident that takes place as Moses heads back to Egypt with his wife and sons (Exod 4:20). On their way, at a night encampment, “The Lord met him [Moses] and tried to kill him” (Exod 4:24). No reason is given, just as no reason is given for the angel’s attack on Jacob as he came back from Mesopotamia (Gen 32:24). Jacob was alone and wrestled with the angel all night; Moses is with his wife, who comes to his rescue. She takes a flint and cuts off her son’s foreskin. She then flings the foreskin at “his” feet, declaring that he is hatan damim to her (Exod 4:26). Zipporah’s enigmatic statement has two possible explanations: she flings the foreskin at Moses’s feet, saying, “You are a bridegroom of blood to me” (NRSV), or she flings it at Yahweh’s feet, saying, “You are a blood father-in-law to me.” (Damim means “blood,” and hatan can mean either “bridegroom” or “father-in-law.”) Either way, her deed and words stop the attack. The story is already difficult for the narrator, who adds a comment that hatan damim refers to circumcision. The situation remains unclear to us. Zipporah, however, understood it and acted decisively to rescue Moses. Zipporah’s name, meaning “bird,” combined with her protection of Moses, is reminiscent of the fierce loyalty to her husband Osiris of the Egyptian goddess Isis, who is often portrayed as a bird of prey.

Zipporah is not well rewarded. At some point before the exodus from Egypt, Moses sends her and the children away (Exod 18:2). After the exodus, her father, the priest of Midian (here called Jethro), comes to visit Moses, bringing Zipporah and her two sons. Moses is told that his father-in-law Jethro is “coming to see you, with your wife and her two sons” (Exod i8:6). Moses goes out to greet Jethro and takes him into his tent, but nothing is said about his greeting Zipporah.

Moses’ neglect of Zipporah is obvious, as he (not Yahweh) tells the men at Sinai not to approach any women in preparation for Yahweh’s approach in three days (Exod 19:2). Since he himself is apparently always in preparation for meeting with Yahweh, we can infer that he never sleeps with Zipporah. In Num 12:1 Miriam and Aaron speak against Moses because of the “Cushite woman” whom he married, but they do not mention her name. Midrashic tradition assumed they were discussing Moses’ neglect of Zipporah. Other interpreters see the Cushite woman as a second wife, with Miriam and Aaron opposed to the marriage. But no children are ever recorded for a second wife of Moses.

In this study we will take a look at the women within the Bible. We will look at each one of them and see how their story influences our lives today.

As we continue our study in this fantastic insight of the Women of the Bible, this morning we shall take a look at Tamar and Judah

The story of the life of Tamar appears in the ancestor narratives of Genesis. As Judah’s daughter-in-law, Judah believes she has killed two of his sons, (even though the Scriptures tell us that Yahweh killed them Gen. 38:7, 10) and controls her so that she is unable to remarry. However, she ultimately tricks Judah into impregnating her and therefore secures her place in the family. She gives Judah two sons, and her story illustrates her loyalty and her willingness to be self-confident and unconventional.

 We shall find her story in Genesis 38

 Tamar, daughter-in-law of Judah, married two brothers who died. By law she should have been able to marry the third brother so she could have a baby and be a full member of the tribe. When this did not happen, she took matters into her own hands. She dressed as a prostitute, had sex with her father-in-law Judah, and conceived twin sons.

Names in the Bible often says something about the person:

Tamar means ‘palm tree’, source of food, shade, life
 Judah means ‘give praise to Yahweh’
Er means ‘watchful’ is the name of Tamar's first husband;
 Er spelt backwards in Hebrew ‘ra’ is the word for 'evil'
Perez means ‘breach or he who pushes through’, the one who breaks through a wall; 

Zerah means ‘raising of the light'
Onan means ‘strong or the virile one’ - ironic, since he refused to give Tamar a child 

What the story is about 

The story describes the way a widow, Tamar, obtained a child for herself and an heir for her dead husband’s inheritance. It shows a virtuous woman who risked everything, her life and her reputation, to get what was rightfully hers.  

 It is part of the continuing Jewish preoccupations with social justice. The story also shows one of the main themes of the Book of Genesis: Yahweh’s promise to continue the Jewish people, through many generations, against all odds. 

 Tamar is one of the four female ancestors of Yahshua Messiah, in Matthew's gospel. All four had irregularities in their marriages/sexual relationships. 

The story of Tamar contains four different episodes:  

1                       Tamar married, but remained childless, Genesis 38:1-11. Tamar married into the family of Judah, first to Judah’s son Er and then, after his death, to Onan his brother. Because of Onan’s actions, she did not become pregnant. For a Jewish woman, this meant disgrace, because people thought that being childless was a punishment from Yahweh.

This practical law was about two things:

The woman's right to have children, and  keeping property within the family. 

 Under Levite law, Er’s younger brother Onan was obliged to give Tamar a child. But he refused outright to do so, probably because any child born to Tamar would carry Er’s name, not Onan’s, and when their father died the child would inherit the dead brother’s portion of the estate. He practiced the some form of birth control, and Tamar did not conceive. 

Onan thus failed to carry out the Levite obligation to Tamar, and disregarded his father's command. He died, and his death at such an early age was seen as just punishment from Yahweh. 

Deuteronomy 25:9-10 describes the punishment for a man who refused to obey the Levirate law: the woman went up to him in a public assembly, pulled his sandal from his foot, spat in his face, and said 'This is what is done to the man who does not build up his brother's house'. To us the punishment does not sound very much, but in the context of the time it meant public disgrace. The action in verse 9 had symbolic meaning: the foot symbolized the male genitals, the sandal the female sexual organs, and the spittle, the semen. 

 The woman’s action publicly humiliated the man, and his family's disgrace was remembered long after he himself was dead. Public shame was often used to enforce the law in ancient times. 

 When Onan died without giving Tamar a child, she looked to the third son of Judah to be her husband. But he was only a boy, too young to be a father. So Judah sent Tamar back to her family, promising to send for her when Shelah, [request or petition] the third son, was old enough. In fact, he was playing a trick on her, getting her to return to her father's household. 

Judah began to look on Tamar as a jinx, bad luck, responsible for the deaths of his two eldest sons.

 2                       She claimed her Levirite rights, Genesis 38:12-19. Eventually, Tamar had to trick Judah in order to obtain a child. By ancient Hebrew standards, her actions were legal and morally right.

Tamar waited patiently, but after a while it became clear that Judah did not mean to give her his third son Shelah as a husband. He refused to keep the Levirate law. 

 When she saw that she was to be left a childless widow, she decided to act. She did not blame ‘the system’, but took the initiative to obtain what was rightfully hers.  She would play a trick on Judah, just as he had tricked her. 

The deceiver now became the deceived.

 She dressed in the special clothing of a prostitute, which included a veil across her face that disguised her identity, waited for Judah at the city gates, and persuaded him to have sexual intercourse with her.

3                       She was accused of promiscuity, Genesis 38:20-26. Because she did not name the father of her child, it was assumed that she had been promiscuous, and Judah sentenced her to be burnt to death. But she saved herself by a clever ploy.

When Judah’s friend came to make payment to the unknown prostitute and reclaim Judah’s seal, cord and staff, the woman was nowhere to be found. Tamar had gone home, without telling anyone who she was. But through this one act of sexual intercourse with Judah she had become pregnant, a fact that was soon evident to the people around her. Judah, who already blamed her for the deaths of his sons, thought the worst when he heard that she was pregnant. She was accused of ‘playing the whore’. 

4                       She bore twin sons, Genesis 38:27-30. Her stubbornness was rewarded with the birth of sons, one of whom would be the ancestor of King David. 

Tamar’s persistence on her rights was rewarded by the birth of not one but two children! 

‘While she was in labor, one put out a hand; and the midwife took and bound on his hand a crimson threat, saying “This one came out first”. But just then he drew back his hand, and out came his brother; and she said “What a breach you have made for yourself!” Therefore he was named Perez.’

These twins were jostling for position even before they were born. The theme of a brother pushing ahead of his elder sibling is a common motif in Genesis. 

 Tamar’s sons were called Perez and Zerah. Perez would be an ancestor of King David. So we see the hand of Yahweh was in control the whole time this event was taking place!

Summary

In an odd sort of way, Tamar was more loyal to the tribe of Judah than Judah was himself. She knew she had a duty to produce an heir to her husband, and she was determined to do so, come what might. Despite her unorthodox methods, she was a woman of integrity who risked her life to fulfill her duty to herself and her family. She knew she had the right to a child, and she knew that her first husband Er had the right to an heir. So she acted to make this happen.  Once again, Yahweh's plan continued to unfold through the unorthodox actions of a woman.

 Join me as we go Chapter by Chapter, Verse by Verse, Unraveling the Words of Yahweh!

Have any questions? Feel free to email me; [email protected]

In this study we will take a look at the women within the Bible. We will look at each one of them and see how their story influences our lives today.

As we continue our study in this fantastic insight of the Women of the Bible, this morning we complete our study on Rachel and Leah

Names in the Bible often say something about the person:

Rachel means 'ewe', a female sheep, a symbol of prosperity and security for nomadic people
Leah means 'weary or wild cow'
Jacob means 'heel grabber', either his brother's heel at the moment of birth or his brother's inheritance later on; the name can also mean 'deceiver'
Laban means 'white'; it was sometimes linked with leprosy
Reuben means 'behold, a son!'
Joseph means 'may he add or increase'

The story contains five different episodes:  
 1 Rachel meets Jacob at the well, Genesis 29:1-14
 2 Leah and Rachel marry Jacob, Genesis 29:15-30
 3 Rachel has a son, Joseph, Genesis 29:31-15, 30:1-24
 4 Rachel and Leah leave with Jacob, and Rachel takes the sacred household deities, Genesis 30:25-43, 31
 5 Rachel has a son, Benjamin, and dies soon after, Genesis 35:16-30

In our last study we learned about Jacob leaving his homeland and traveling to his mother’s homeland of Haran to find a wife. There at the well Jacob meets his future wife Rachel. But hold on Rachel as we learned had a older sister Leah. When Jacob went into their father and asks for his daughters hand in marriage, Labin tricks Jacob into marrying Leah instead of Rachel. So we see that Jacob must fulfill his promise to Labin for the hand of Rachel. As the story unfolds we see Leah producing children for Jacob. However we see that Rachel faced a different problem. No matter how she prayed to Yahweh, no matter how much she was loved by Jacob, Rachel did not conceive. In desperation she gave her maid Bilhah [timid, bashful] to Jacob, so that he could conceive a child with Bilhah as a surrogate mother for Rachel. This practice was common in the ancient world [Code of Khammurabi section 145]; the woman became a concubine instead of a servant, and it was a step up the social ladder for her. She might become the mother of the future tribal leader. 

 Bilhah had a son, whom Rachel named Dan [judge]. Then she had a second son, and Rachel called him Naphtali [my wrestling]. In response, Leah gave her own maid Zilpah [trickling] to Jacob, and this resulted in yet more sons: Gad [troop] and Asher [happy]. A bitter rivalry grew up between the two women.  

We pick up our story in Genesis Chapter 30

(1-4) Rachel, out of frustration, gives Jacob her maid Bilhah to bear children through her.

(5-6) The birth of Dan.

(7-8) The birth of Naphtali.

(9-11) The birth of Gad.

(12-13) The birth of Asher.

(14-18) The birth of Issachar.

(19-20) The birth of Zebulun.

(21) The birth of Dinah.

Finally we read in verse 22 that Yahweh remembers Rachel and opens her womb.

Verses 23, 24, “She conceived and bore a son and said, 'Elohim has taken away my reproach'; and she named him Joseph (let me add or adding), saying 'May Yahweh add to me another son!'” 

Rachel and Leah flee with Jacob

At this stage, Jacob felt Yahweh calling him to return to his homeland. Rachel and Leah were also dissatisfied by the way things were panning out financially, and felt they are not getting what they were entitled to as Laban's daughters. It was time to go. They both urged Jacob to take action. 

It seems that Rachel in particular was still angry at her father for what he had done to her. Before they set out, she took the small figurines that represented the spirits of ancestors and the protective deities of her father's family (the teraphim), telling no one at all what she was doing. 

This was not a random act of malice, for years ago on what should have been her wedding night, Laban had stolen Rachel's happiness. Now she stole something that was precious to him - pay-back for a life-time of bullying. 

But her act had wider significance than this, because the teraphim (This word occurs only in the plural, and denotes images connected with magical rites. The teraphim, translated, "images", in the Authorized Version, carried away from Laban, by Rachel, were regarded by Laban as elohims, and it would, therefore, appear that they were used by those who added corrupt practices to the patriarchal religion) were a form of title deed, and the person who possessed them could claim the tribe's wealth. Ownership of the household deities was the privilege of the head of the family, and by taking them Rachel secured this position for her husband. 

 The whole family group assembled; ready to return to the land of Jacob's father, Isaac. They crossed the Euphrates and headed towards the hill country of Gilead.

 But it was not going to be as easy as that. Laban pursued them, caught up with them, and confronted them. Where were the household elohims? They were missing and Laban wanted them back. 

 This was news to Jacob. He did not know Rachel had taken them, since she had kept them hidden and had not told anyone what she had done. Jacob then made one of those foolish pronouncements that give the reader a hint that something bad is coming: he indignantly denied knowledge of the theft, and said that whoever had done such a thing should die.

 Laban searched the tents of Jacob, Leah, and the two maids to find the teraphim- each woman in a polygamous marriage had her own separate tent.  

Laban found nothing. Then he went into Rachel's tent, where the teraphim were hidden. What he did not know was that Rachel had hidden them in the saddlebags of her camel. She greeted her father respectfully but did not rise from where she was sitting. She explained modestly that she could not do so, since she was menstruating.     

'Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you, for the way of women is upon me.'

This meant that the cloth on which she was sitting was ritually unclean, and could not be touched by anyone. Most ancient tribes had customs that allowed menstruating women to withdraw from physical contact with the tribe while they had their periods, and women welcomed this time of rest from their usual tasks. 

Rachel's manner towards her father was so sweet and yielding that Laban did not argue or tell her to move, and the upshot was that he left her tent empty-handed. She had used the laws of ritual cleanliness to her own advantage. The irony was that it was a lie. She was already pregnant with a son.

Since Laban could not find the teraphim, he had to back down. The two men made a face-saving covenant, and early the next morning Laban said good-bye to them all, and left.

When Laban was gone Rachel's family moved on, and on the way to Ephrath she went into labor. This time things did not go well for her. The pains were very bad, and Rachel suffered terribly. To comfort her, the midwife told her it would be a boy. It was, but Rachel would not live to see him grow. She died in childbirth. 

 Join me as we go Chapter by Chapter, Verse by Verse, Unraveling the Words of Yahweh!

Have any questions? Feel free to email me; [email protected]