A Journey Through Torah: An Introduction to God’s Life Instructions for His Children

By Michael G. Wodlinger and Glenn Sikorski

A Journey Through Torah: An Introduction to God’s Life Instructions for His Children, Volume Two: Shemot/Exodus, is written in simple and plain language for those who are new to the Bible and/or have a desire to understand God’s written Word in the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament. Here you will find many stories focusing on the Israelites journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. These stories also give us God’s life instructions, His guidance for our navigating this uncertain world.

Michael is a Messianic Jew, born and raised in a Jewish home. He came to know Yahveh and His Son Adonai Yeshua later in life. Michael is a retired university professor and an author of several books, manuscripts and papers, dealing with different aspects of teaching and learning. Currently, Michael is a Missionary with Chosen People Ministries. He and his wife, Chantal, live in Quebec, Canada, where he writes and publishes on You Tube and Facebook.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Aug 12, 2020
• ISBN: 9781973696100

Michael G. Wodlinger

Michael has an extremely strong desire to understand how God works in man’s mind and heart. His latest works focus on understanding God’s instructions to His children, as outlined in the first 5 books of the Bible. Michael comes to this task with a Masters of Theological Study, a Masters of Education and a PhD in Educational Administration. He has led a group of Messianic believers in Winnipeg, Manitoba and Quebec Canada.

Book preview

Copyright © 2020 Michael Wodlinger, Ph.D.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means,

graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or

by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the

author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author

and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of

the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of

people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

1 [phone]

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or

links contained in this book may have changed since publication and

may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those

of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher,

and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are

models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scripture quotations marked HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian

Standard Bible®, Used by Permission HCSB ©1999,2000,2002,2003,2009

Holman Bible Publishers. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®,

and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

ISBN: 978-1-9736-9609-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-9611-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-9610-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020912229

WestBow Press rev. date: 08/10/2020

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Introduction

What Is Exodus About?

How Is Exodus Structured?

Part I: Chapters 1–6

Parashah Sh’mot (The Names) — Exodus 1:1–6:1

Part II: The Plagues —Exodus 6–12

Parashah Va’eira (And I Appeared)

Parashah Bo (Enter) —Exodus 10:1–13:16

Part III: On the Road to Sinai — Chapters 13–18

Parashah B’shallach (After He Had Let Go) —Exodus 13:17–17:16

Escape from Egypt

On to Sinai

Part IV: The Covenant —Exodus 18:1–20:26

Parashah Yitro (Jethro) —Exodus 18:1 to 20:26

The Covenant

Part V: At Sinai —Exodus 21–40

Parashah Mishpatim (The Judgments) —Exodus 21:1–24:18

Parashah 19: T’rumah (Contribution) —Exodus 25:1–27:19

Parashah Tetzaveh (You Command) —Exodus 27:20–30:10

Parashah Ki Tissa (When You Take) —Exodus 30:11–34:35

Parashah Vayak’hel (He Assembled) —Exodus 35:1–38:20

Parashah P’kudei (Accounts) —Exodus 38:21–40:38

Conclusion

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

As always, Glenn and Michael are grateful for the leadership and guidance of our beloved Yahveh, our Lord God. May His name be praised above all others. Then, we wish to acknowledge the many others who contributed to the creation of this book through their considered and thoughtful critiques. We are indebted to you.

We also acknowledge you, our readers, for whom this book has been produced. Without your interest, we would never have prepared what you will find within these pages.

We wish to acknowledge that all scripture has been taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible, which seems to be the closest we found to the Hebrew Text. We are indebted.

Thanks also to Getty Images, which has allowed us to use a few of their images.

May God, the beloved master of Avraham, Isaac, and Jacob, bless you richly.

INTRODUCTION

You have just finished reading (and, I hope, learning) from the first book of Torah, B’resheit, In the Beginning, Genesis. The second book, Shemot, The Names, Exodus, takes the stories of B’resheit and builds upon them. Are you curious as to the name of the book? Shemot is the Hebrew word for names. Now, why would this book be titled Names? As I mentioned earlier, the title of each book of the Torah comes from the first few words of the text. The first few words of the book are, "These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob" (Exodus 1:1 HCSB). You see how the second book of Torah is tied to the first? This is Hashem’s¹ way of ensuring we are aware of the transition from part one of the story to part two.

WHAT IS EXODUS ABOUT?

Sefer Shemot, the Book of Exodus, tells the story of the forty-year wanderings of the Israelites and their mixed nation partners through the wilderness, mainly on the east side of the Yarden (Jordan) River, following their rescue by Yahveh², through His agents, Moshe and Aharon. However, this story goes deeper than just a narrative of a journey; it speaks also to the difficulties in transition from a people settled, yet in servitude, to a people facing the trials and tribulations of a nomadic life, yet free. How did they react when faced with these trials? What are their mindsets when the tribulations appeared to be greater than they can bear? As we will discover, the Sefer Shemot also explores perspective and the consequences of both positive and negative perspectives of Yahveh’s grace and love. At the same time, we are introduced to Yahveh’s plans for the children of Avraham, which fit within His covenant with the Patriarch of Israel.

HOW IS EXODUS STRUCTURED?

There are two levels of structure employed in the writing of volume two. The first level is through the parashot, or the weekly readings. Sefer Shemot, or the Book of Exodus, is divided into eleven parashot.

Sh’mot—The Names: Exodus 1:1–6:1

Va’eira—And I Appeared: Exodus 6:2–9:35

Bo—Enter Exodus: 10:1–13:16

B’shalach—When He Let Go: Exodus 13:17–17:16

Yitro—Jethro: Exodus 18:1–20:23

Mishpatim—Judgments: Exodus 21:1–24:18

T’rumah—Offering: Exodus 25:1–27:19

T’tzaveh—You Shall Command: Exodus 27:20–30:10

Ki Tissa—When You Elevate: Exodus 30:11–34:35

Vayakheil—And He Assembled: Exodus 35:1–38:20

P’kudei—Amounts Of: Exodus 38:21–40:38

44739.png

As well as Sefer Shemot being divided into parashot, there are also five discrete sections to the Book of Exodus.

Part I takes us through chapters 1–6: Israel’s Enslavement in Egypt and Yahveh’s Response.

Part II involves Chapters 7–12: The Exodus from Egypt

Part III consists of Chapters 13–18: Struggles in the Wilderness

Part IV involves Chapters 19–24: The Covenant

Part V takes us through Chapters 25–40: The Forty-Year Journey to the Promised Land

Let’s begin our examination of Sefer Sh’mot, the Book of Exodus. Genesis finished with Ya’akov and his family joining Yosef in Egypt. This story is now continued as we learn how Israel became enslaved by the pharaohs of Egypt in order to address the needs of the country to contain not only its food but also the increasing treasury from its conquests of other empires and nations throughout the Middle East.

PART I

CHAPTERS 1–6

PARASHAH SH’MOT

(THE NAMES)

Exodus 1:1–6:1

Israel settles in Goshen and grows prosperous and comfortable in their new home. A new Pharaoh ascends the throne of Egypt—one who does not know what Yosef did for his people. Israel is placed in bondage. Moshe, an Israelite and former prince of Egypt, reluctantly arises to lead Hashem’s people out of Egypt. Moshe and Aharon approach Pharaoh. Pharaoh increases Israel’s burden.

PARSHAH SH’MOT (THE NAMES)

Exodus 1:1–6:1

To me, it is important to know Hashem³ blessed Egypt, because the pharaohs and the people followed the advice Hashem gave Yosef (Joseph) when the land was faced with severe famine. From that time until the time Hashem punished her for her leaders’ intransigence begins, Egypt flourished and became a very powerful force in the region. However, it would not have become as wealthy as it did without the support of Hashem and His people, Israel. There is a very revealing line in chapter 1 that allows us to understand the events that led to Israel’s enslavement.

Exodus 1:6–7 (HCSB) tells us, "Then Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died. But the Israelites were fruitful, increased rapidly, multiplied, and became extremely numerous so that the land was filled with them." In Genesis, we were told Israel and his family of seventy souls settled in Goshen. Here, they flourished until they occupied all the land allotted to them. Archeological records tell us that there were many kingdoms led by the rulers of Egypt, most of which did not maintain records of the peoples of other nations. Corresponding to the period of time Israel was in the land of Goshen, Egypt was ruled by the Hyksos, a Semitic, Asian people thought to have originated in the current location of Jordan and Syria. These people were driven out of Egypt by the armies of Ahmose I. With the