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Welcome back as we resume with our regular program.  In this class we rejoin the class at Exodus 7:25 and continue to about 8:11.  Below are the verses.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to share your thoughts below in the comment area.  Thank you and God Bless.

Chapter 7

The Plague of Frogs

25Seven days passed after the Lord struck the Nile.

Chapter 8

1Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. 2If you refuse to let them go, I will send a plague of frogs on your whole country. 3The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and on your people, and into your ovens and kneading troughs. 4The frogs will come up on you and your people and all your officials.’ ”

5Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the streams and canals and ponds, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.’ ”

6So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land. 7But the magicians did the same things by their secret arts; they also made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.

8Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”

9Moses said to Pharaoh, “I leave to you the honor of setting the time for me to pray for you and your officials and your people that you and your houses may be rid of the frogs, except for those that remain in the Nile.”

10“Tomorrow,” Pharaoh said.

Moses replied, “It will be as you say, so that you may know there is no one like the Lord our God. 11The frogs will leave you and your houses, your officials and your people; they will remain only in the Nile.”

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It’s just you and me today as we explore Exodus.  Unfortunately I have lost the class recorded a year or so ago.  So, I am doing an encore presentation “live” in the Ultimate Issues Studio.

Today I’ll be covering Exodus 7:1 – 7:29 (or 8:4).

Below are the verses discussed in the podcast.  If you have any questions or ideas you’d like to share, please do so in the comments at the bottom of the page.  Thank you!

And thanks again for subscribing and spreading the word about ‘Torah Means Teacher’ and ‘Ultimate Issues‘.  I sincerely appreciate your help.

1Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. 2You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. 3But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt, 4he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites. 5And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.”

6Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded them. 7Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Aaron’s Staff Becomes a Snake

8The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 9“When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ then say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a snake.”

10So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. 11Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts:12Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 13Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

The Plague of Blood

14Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go. 15Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the river. Confront him on the bank of the Nile, and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake. 16Then say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness. But until now you have not listened. 17This is what the Lord says: By this you will know that I am the Lord: With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood. 18The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink; the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.’ ”

19The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over the streams and canals, over the ponds and all the reservoirs—and they will turn to blood.’ Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in vessels^a of wood and stone.”

20Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded. He raised his staff in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was changed into blood. 21The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. Blood was everywhere in Egypt.

22But the Egyptian magicians did the same things by their secret arts, and Pharaoh’s heart became hard; he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said. 23Instead, he turned and went into his palace, and did not take even this to heart. 24And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile to get drinking water, because they could not drink the water of the river.

The Plague of Frogs

25Seven days passed after the Lord struck the Nile.

Depending on which version you are reading it either moves to Chapter 8 or continues as Chapter 7: 26 – 29

26/1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. 2If you refuse to let them go, I will send a plague of frogs on your whole country. 3The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and on your people, and into your ovens and kneading troughs. 4The frogs will come up on you and your people and all your officials.’ ”

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Podcast: Torah Means Teacher

In this class we cover topics found in Exodus 6:14-7:6.  Commentary from Umberto Cassuto, Dennis Prager, Nahum Sarna, Jacob Milgrom, and Nahum Footnick.

Chapter 6:  Moses and Aaron Genealogy

13Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron about the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he commanded them to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.

26It was this Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions.” 27They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing the Israelites out of Egypt—this same Moses and Aaron.

28Now when the Lord spoke to Moses in Egypt, 29he said to him, “I am the Lord. Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I tell you.”

30But Moses said to the Lord, “Since I speak with faltering lips, why would Pharaoh listen to me?”

Chapter 7

1Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. 2You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. 3But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt, 4he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites. 5And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.”

6Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded them. 7Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.

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Podcast: Torah Means Teacher

Come join our class as we discuss some major issues developed in Exodus Ch. 6 verses 7 -30.  I know, I know… I say “23” in the intro, but I was wrong.  To be accurate we get to verse 30.  We’ll be talking about Israel, Judaism, Chooseness, and so much more.

Read below to follow along.

Exodus Ch. 6   verses 7 -30 (KJV)

⁷ And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

⁸ And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD.

⁹ And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel: but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.

¹⁰ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

¹¹ Go in, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.

¹² And Moses spake before the LORD, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips?

¹³ And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, and gave them a charge unto the children of Israel, and unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁴ These be the heads of their fathers’ houses: The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel; Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi: these bethe families of Reuben.

¹⁵ And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman: these arethe families of Simeon.

¹⁶ And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari: and the years of the life of Levi were an hundred thirty and seven years.

¹⁷ The sons of Gershon; Libni, and Shimi, according to their families.

¹⁸ And the sons of Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel: and the years of the life of Kohath were an hundred thirty and three years.

¹⁹ And the sons of Merari; Mahali and Mushi: these are the families of Levi according to their generations.

²⁰ And Amram took him Jochebed his father’s sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram werean hundred and thirty and seven years.

²¹ And the sons of Izhar; Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri.

²² And the sons of Uzziel; Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Zithri.

²³ And Aaron took him Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Naashon, to wife; and she bare him Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

²⁴ And the sons of Korah; Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph: these are the families of the Korhites.

²⁵ And Eleazar Aaron’s son took him one of the daughters of Putiel to wife; and she bare him Phinehas: these are the heads of the fathers of the Levites according to their families.

²⁶ These are that Aaron and Moses, to whom the LORD said, Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies.

²⁷ These are they which spake to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt: these are that Moses and Aaron.

²⁸ And it came to pass on the day when the LORD spake unto Moses in the land of Egypt,

²⁹ That the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, I am the LORD: speak thou unto Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say unto thee.

³⁰ And Moses said before the LORD, Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me?

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Podcast: Torah Means Teacher

Episode 3 of Torah Means Teacher.

In this class we discuss Exodus Chapter 6 verses 1-8.

Exodus Chapter 6:

1Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.”

2God also said to Moses, “I am the Lord. 3I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty,^a but by my name the Lord^b I did not make myself fully known to them. 4I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they resided as foreigners. 5Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.

6“Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 7I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am theLord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. 8And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’ ”

Links:

Buy Nahum Sarna’s “Exploring Exodus” here.

or the book I use, JPS Torah Commentary, here. 

As well as Umberto Cassuto’s book here.

 Also mentioned was “Why the Jews?” by Prager and Telushkin.

Thank you for listening and learning with us.

Any questions or comments?

Please feel free to mention below in the comments area.

What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow: this is the whole Torah; the rest is commentary; (and now) go and learn”  ~ Rabbi Hillel (Shabbat 31a)

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Podcast: Torah Means Teacher

Episode 2 of Torah Means Teacher.  Exodus 5:4-5:23.

Commentaries include Dennis Prager, Nahum Sarna, Umberto Cassuto, Rambam, Nehama Leibowitz and more.

Exodus Chapter 5:

4But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you draw the people away from their work? Get back to your labors!”5Again Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now many, and you would have them cease from their labors!”6So the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters over the people and their foremen, saying,7“You are no longer to give the people straw to make brick as previously; let them go and gather straw for themselves.8“But the quota of bricks which they were making previously, you shall impose on them; you are not to reduce any of it. Because they are lazy, therefore they cry out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’9“Let the labor be heavier on the men, and let them work at it so that they will pay no attention to false words.”

10So the taskmasters of the people and their foremen went out and spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I am not going to give you any straw.11‘You go and get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it, but none of your labor will be reduced.’”12So the people scattered through all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.13The taskmasters pressed them, saying, “Complete your work quota, your daily amount, just as when you had straw.”14Moreover, the foremen of the sons of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not completed your required amount either yesterday or today in making brick as previously?”

15Then the foremen of the sons of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you deal this way with your servants?16“There is no straw given to your servants, yet they keep saying to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are being beaten; but it is the fault of your own people.”17But he said, “You are lazy, very lazy; therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.’18“So go now and work; for you will be given no straw, yet you must deliver the quota of bricks.”19The foremen of the sons of Israel saw that they were in trouble because they were told, “You must not reduce your daily amount of bricks.”20When they left Pharaoh’s presence, they met Moses and Aaron as they were waiting for them.21They said to them, “May the LORD look upon you and judge you, for you have made us odious in Pharaoh’s sight and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

22Then Moses returned to the LORD and said, “O Lord, why have You brought harm to this people? Why did You ever send me?23“Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done harm to this people, and You have not delivered Your people at all.”

Links:

Buy Nahum Sarna’s “Exploring Exodus” here.

or the book I use, JPS Torah Commentary, here. 

As well as Umberto Cassuto’s book here.

 Also mentioned was “Why the Jews?” by Prager and Telushkin.

Thank you for listening and learning with us.

Any questions or comments?

Please feel free to mention below in the comments area.

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Podcast: Torah Means Teacher

In this class we discuss the meaning and commentary in Exodus 4:27 – 5:3.

 Exodus Ch. 4:

27Now the LORD said to Aaron, “Go to meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him.28Moses told Aaron all the words of the LORD with which He had sent him, and all the signs that He had commanded him to do.29Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the sons of Israel;30and Aaron spoke all the words which the LORD had spoken to Moses. He then performed the signs in the sight of the people.31So the people believed; and when they heard that the LORD was concerned about the sons of Israel and that He had seen their affliction, then they bowed low and worshiped.

Exodus Ch.5:

1And afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Let My people go that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.’”2But Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and besides, I will not let Israel go.”3Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God, otherwise He will fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.”

Links:

Buy Nahum Sarna’s “Exploring Exodus” here.

or the book I use, JPS Torah Commentary, here. 

As well as Umberto Cassuto’s book here.

Thanks for listening.

Post any questions, comments, or criticisms below.  I love it when you share!