This Torah portion provides a lot to talk about. Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt. G-d’s cloud by day and fire by night gives direction to Moses’ leadership. Pharaoh has a change-of-heart and pursues the Nation to the Red Sea. God splits the Red Sea so His people can escape the pursuing Egyptians and He (HaShem) can entrap their pursuers as the seawaters return. The people cross the Red Sea on dry ground. We witness G-d’s provision when He turns bitter water sweet, drops manna from heaven and quail meat from the air. G-d gave them the holy Shabbat at Massa, G-d instructed Moses to strike the rock producing water for the people. Lastly, Aharon and Hur prop up the hands of Moses, giving the Hebrews the victory in their battle with the Amalekites.
In the readings for this week, you can see examples of what I want to talk about in the Torah, the haftarah, and the Gospel portions as well. What I am referring to is fear.
In Scripture, there are two kinds of fear: one is “Pachad” the dread, distress, or dismay we experience when we imagine the worst-case scenario or what could or might happen. It disturbs our peace. It prevents us from thinking clearly. It erodes and destroys our peace of mind. It distracts us from the things we should be doing in obedience to G-d. It makes us vulnerable to hasatan’s influence and control.
The other kind of fear is “Yirah” – it comes when we perceive ourselves to be a part of something bigger than the world we usually inhabit. It can make you feel as though you were on holy ground. Yirah, when translated into English, as you might expect, has multiple meanings. Most likely, the interpretation is awe or fear of the LORD, but it can also mean respect, reverence, and worship. Yirah might come from visiting Niagara Falls, the Grand Canyon, or a magnificent sunset. It can also come when you are aware that G-d is using you as an instrument of His direct will. It is a feeling that can overtake you when you sense you are in the presence of the Creator of the Universe.
Our parashah for this week is Beshalach, “After he had let go” in English. In the Complete Jewish Bible, the first two verses of this portion are as follows:
G-d recognized that the people were not prepared to go directly from Egypt into Israel. Had Israel proceeded directly to Canaan, it would have taken about 11 days. Going this way meant the Israelites would have to deal with hostile forces: Egyptian garrisons and the warlike Philistines. Their continual complaining about their unmet needs and their yearning to give up and return to Egyptian slavery were good indications that their veneer of courage in the face of all this hostility would likely dissolve, exposing their fear of the unknown and triggering an intense desire to return to what they knew – their Egyptian slavery. God knew they were not strong enough in their understanding and practicing of G-d’s precepts and commandments. They needed time. If the Hebrews had to face this hostile environment now, their fear would take hold of them and cause them to lose faith in HaShem, disobeying Him as a result. When Pharaoh regretted his decision to kick Israel out of Egypt, he went after them with a vengeance. Pharaoh and his army approached the Israelites, and the former slaves saw them coming. Then, In great fear the people of Isra’el cried out to Adonai 11 and said to Moshe, “Was it because there weren’t enough graves in Egypt that you brought us out to die in the desert? Why have you done this to us, bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Didn’t we tell you in Egypt to let us alone, we’ll just go on being slaves for the Egyptians? It would be better for us to be the Egyptians’ slaves than to die in the desert!” (Exodus 14:10b-12) In fear, they call out to Adonai and Moses. But do they cry out for help? No, they just whine! Moses admonishes the people: 13 Moshe answered the people, “Stop being so fearful! Remain steady, and you will see how Adonai is going to save you. He will do it today — today you have seen the Egyptians, but you will never see them again! 14 Adonai will do battle for you. Just calm yourselves down!” (Exodus 14:13b-14) Almost immediately thereafter we read:17 After Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not guide them to the highway that goes through the land of the P’lishtim, because it was close by — God thought that the people, upon seeing war, might change their minds and return to Egypt. 18 Rather, God led the people by a roundabout route, through the desert by the Sea of Suf. (Exodus 13:17-18a)
Now, a “midrash” is a commentary for the purpose of adding understanding or giving a fuller meaning to a sacred text. My comments here today are a midrash that is intended to help you uncover more meaning in the readings. In Jewish tradition, there is a midrash which tells the story of Nachshon, the son of Amminadab. Amminadab is the father-in-law of Aharon, the High Priest, and leader of the tribe of Judah. (The Greek New Testament also identifies him as the father-in-law of Rahab.) Nachshon ben Amminadab hears God and sees Moses stretch out his hand in obedience to God. So does everyone else, but Nachshon takes the initiative. as Moses lifts his hand and splits the Red Sea, Nachshon wades into the water. He goes in and starts to cross the river while the water still surrounds him. Just as the water is about to touch his lips, the waters divide! Another midrash on this biblical episode entitled, “Up to Their Nostrils” is found in the Platt Chumash (Union of American Hebrew Congregations, New York, 1984, page 484): Why does it say (14:22): “And the Israelites went into the sea on dry ground”? To teach us that only after they had gone “into the sea” up to their very nostrils did the waters divide and expose “dry ground.” All of us have fears, but action in spite of our fear, a definition for courage, is confirmation of the return to faith on the part of the Israelites. Nachshon, by his courageous example, encouraged everyone to follow. The complaining, whining, and grumbling, however, did not stop. As fear overtook the people, G-d provides in a miraculous way. This satisfied them and encouraged them, until the next time! Water, manna, quail: each time the people grumbled they were showing their fear (pachad) and loss of faith. But God is faithful even when we are not. The parashah ends with an illustration of the challenge we all face: to overcome fear with courage. In the battle with the Amalekites, the raised hands of Moses encouraged the Hebrews, but when they could not see his hands raised, they lost heart and began to lose. The entire final chapter of this parashah (Exodus 17) encapsulates and summarizes the importance pachad (the bad kind of fear) has in the Torah. The chapter can be divided into two sections: the wanderings of the Israelites (Exodus 17:1-7) and the battle with the Amalekites (Exodus 17:8-16). The first verses of chapter 17 give locations to where God lead the people from Raamses in Egypt to Refidim in the wilderness. Although the wanderings in the first seven verses of this last chapter of Beshalach may appear to be the same as the listing in Numbers 33:1-55, Exodus 17:1-7 lists only the places where, by their grumbling, the people demonstrated a loss of confidence and faith in the Almighty. They lost confidence in His word, and G-d’s ability to accomplish the completion of their deliverance. After this list of the places where the people complained, the very next verse starts off saying, Then ‘Amalek came and fought with Isra’el at Refidim. (Exodus 17:8) The Jewish Sages say this passage implies that Amalek fought with Israel as a direct consequence of their lack of faith in HaShem as well as themselves. Quoting from the Hertz Chumash (Soncino Press, London, 1976, page 280: then came Amalek. As an immediate sequence of the murmuring on the part of the Israelites, say the Rabbis. It is the invariable lesson of Jewish history that whenever Israel begins to doubt G-d and itself asking, Is the LORD among us or not? an Amalek unexpectedly assails it. In the Jewish tradition, “Amalek” means any enemy of Israel. Gematria, a tool of interpretation that attaches numerical significance to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, shows that the value of “Amalek” and the value of “doubt” are both 240. An important lesson we can learn from all of this is found in Psalm 27:14 and many other places in Scripture: Put your hope in Adonai, be strong, and let your heart take courage! Yes, put your hope in Adonai! One last point about the Exodus: why did G-d engineer things so that Pharaoh would drive out the Israelites? The reason is because, by the time deliverance came, the fears of the Hebrews made them fearful of leaving! In fact, Jewish thinking suggests that as many as four-fifths, 80%, of the Hebrew people died in Egypt because they were either afraid to leave, or, had become assimilated into the Egyptian culture and didn’t want to leave! In Haftarah Beshalach, Deborah, a prophetess in Israel, summons Barak and gives him an order from G-d: he is to gather 10,000 men from the tribes of Zebulon and Naftali to defeat Sisera and his army. Barak, out of fear, disobeys God and tells Deborah he will fight Sisera, BUT Deborah must go with him, which she agrees to do. But as the prophetess tells Barak, because of his unwillingness to fully follow G-d’s orders and lead, the renown and the prestige of the victory will not go to him. It will go to a woman. And it occurs just as Deborah foresees. To bad for Barak. His fear and doubt kept him from fully embracing G-d’s command and the blessings that would follow. The Gospel reading (Matthew 14:22-33) tells how Jesus walked on the water. It also says, so did Peter. The impetuous disciple Peter, who is in the boat with the other students of Yeshua, recognizes the Messiah Yeshua walking toward them on the waters of the Sea of Galilee. 28 Then Kefa called to him, “Lord, if it is really you, tell me to come to you on the water.” 29 “Come!” he said. So Kefa got out of the boat and walked on the water toward Yeshua. 30 But when he saw the wind, he became afraid; and as he began to sink, he yelled, “Lord! Save me!” (Matthew 14:28-30) Here is a great example of both kinds of fear: yirah and pachad. Yeshua said you can move a mountain if you have faith (Matthew 17:20-21). Peter had faith in Yeshua. That is what enabled him to walk towards the Master. But then, the wind distracted him, fear overtook him, and the confidence in the water walk that his faith enabled him to initiate disappeared. If you are a follower of the Messiah and his G-d and Father, striving to emulate God’s characteristics and carrying out His will, you come closer and closer to the spiritual and further from the secular. On this journey, with patience, you will experience “yirah”, moments when you know you are in the presence of G-d. The experience may be simply comprehending a holiness and an enormity that is incalculable. It may be an awareness that, at that very moment in time, you are an arm of God, and performing His direct will. Rabbi Alan Lew (1943-2009) was a conservative rabbi and President of the Board of Rabbis of Northern California. He had this to say about yirah:21 Moshe reached his hand out over the sea, and Adonai caused the sea to go back before a strong east wind all night. He made the sea become dry land, and its water was divided in two. 22 Then the people of Isra’el went into the sea on the dry ground, with the water walled up for them on their right and on their left. Exodus 14:21-22
When Moses asks to see the face of God, he is filled with yirah.“the fear that overcomes us when we suddenly find ourselves in possession of considerably more energy than we are used to, inhabiting a larger space than we are used to inhabiting.”
What Moses must have experienced in that moment is incomprehensible to me, but it must have included, at a minimum, a suspension of time and space. It must have been an instantaneous transference from the secular to the spiritual. I believe it must have been a glimpse into Heaven and the Kingdom of God. The Fear of the Lord is stamped all over the bible. Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Proverbs 2:5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. Proverbs 14:27 The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning a person from the snares of death. 2 Chronicles 19:7 Now let the fear of the Lord be on you. Judge carefully, for with the Lord our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.” There are 21 references to “The Fear of the Lord” in the bible. Yirah (the same thing as the Fear of the Lord) brings healing. In the Book of Job, God hears the laments of Job and Job’s question: Why me??? God answers Job’s question in the Jewish tradition: with another question: “Who is this who darkens the divine plan by words without knowledge? Now tighten the belt on your waist like a man, and I shall ask you, and you inform Me! Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?” (Job 38:1-4) G-d then takes Job on a miraculous tour of the universe and planet Earth. Job knew better than to argue with the G-d of the entire universe! Job’s answer to Go-d’s question? “Behold, I am insignificant; what can I say in response to You? I put my hand on my mouth. I have spoken once, and I will not reply; Or twice, and I will add nothing more.” (Job 40:4-5) These experiences of Moses and Job are beyond my comprehension. God said to Moses no one can see His face and survive. But HaShem did send His son, our Messiah, who is the image of G-d, and through him, and the operation of G-d’s Spirit, has given us the opportunity to draw closer to the Source of All Reality. Isaiah gives us a Messianic passage and ties it directly to the fear of G-d: 11 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord— 3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. (Isaiah 11:1-3) In case you are wondering: how will I know when God has favored me in this awesome way? You will experience a trembling in your spirit. Here is Job again: 14 fear and trembling seized me and made all my bones shake. 15 A spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body stood on end. 16 It stopped, but I could not tell what it was. A form stood before my eyes, and I heard a hushed voice: 17 ‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can even a strong man be more pure than his Maker? (Job 4:14-17) Unger’s Bible Dictionary (Moody’s Press, Chicago, 26th printing, page 348) has this to say about yirah: It dreads G-d’s displeasure, desires His favor, reveres His holiness, submits cheerfully to His will, is grateful for His benefits, sincerely worships Him, and conscientiously obeys His commandments. Do we fear G-d, or do we fear man? Many have knuckled under to the pressure our culture seems to be exerting on us. Fear God, and seek Him out, because one day we will stand before him. Let us prepare by continuing to move toward G-d and His righteousness, His holiness, doing our best to emulate Yeshua, who gives us the way, and reject the ephemeral temptations that are ever-present, sent by the devil, who is conspiring to destroy us. To be in G-d’s presence or to be directly used by God is addicting. I pray that each and every person hearing or seeing this message is now or soon will become addicted in this way. I am anticipating having this awe (this yirah) in my life again. But if it never comes again in this life, I am counting on it in the next. BaShem HaMashiach, Ormein19 And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” 21 Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. 22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.” (Exodus 33:19-23)
