SHEMOT – Ex.1:1–6; Isa.7:6–28:13, 29:22–23; Jer.1:1–2:3; Rom.12:1–21
By Raphael ben Levi
The greatest of all medieval Jewish thinkers known as Maimonides (1135-1204AD) or Rambam compiled and composed the 13 principles of Jewish faith, (known as the “yigdal” – ‘Yigdal Adonai U’maolam meod’… ‘Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised…) which underpins Judaism’s fundamental statements of faith.
Principle 12 – I believe by complete faith in the coming of the Messiah, and even though he tarry in waiting, in spite of that, I will still wait expectantly for him each day that he will come (‘ani ma’amin b’emunah sh’lemah b’viat ha’mashiach’) + Ha’karov – soon
I am sharing this because as we begin to read a new book in sequence from Genesis to Exodus, we enter a new phase for the Israelites where events switch suddenly from good to bad and bad to good. Yet in it all, God is always in full control. This is true for the finalised deal that will see the phased release of 30 Israel’s hostages. The terms are slanted in Hamas’ favour and the release of the hostages come at a price that many consider to be way too high. Yet despite everything, God is in full control.
The whole mood in the opening chapters of Exodus is opposite to what we saw at the end of Genesis where we saw the reconciliation of Joseph with his father and his brothers, and their blessings whilst under the favour and protection of Pharaoh. Yet we also see how circumstances in life can change quickly as with the Israelites when they were forced into slavery. The same could be said with European Jewry when the Nazis implemented the ‘Final Solution.’And so too in these end times that is characterised by sudden changes. But God is in full control!
The Jewish people have experienced many crises called in Hebrew a ‘mashber’ a word used for a child-birth chair where extreme hardship is compared to a woman giving birth. Yeshua used this metaphor to describe signs of the end times – a mashber like a woman in labour.
And so, following the death of Joseph and that generation, a new Pharaoh arose who enslaved the Israelites and was determined to destroy them. He ordered the Hebrew midwives to kill all new born males by drowning them in the Nile as a sacrificial offering to their pagan god. However, the Israelite midwives refused to comply with Pharaoh’s orders (Ex. 1:15-21)
Ironically, Moses was rescued by Pharaoh’s daughter who bravely performed a great act of kindness by saving Moses and raised him in the palace where he was educated in all the wisdom of pagan Egypt.
At a later stage, Moses fled for his life and ended up in Midian, where he became a shepherd, (a despised occupation in the eyes of the Egyptians) for a period of 40 years when God commissioned him to become the shepherd of His people. God humbled Moses placing him from an exalted position in the palace of Pharaoh to a harsh life in a barren desert where God revealed Himself to Moses within the flames of a burning bush and commissioned him to deliver the Israelites from the Egyptians. It was an event that’s referred to more than any other event in the Torah, the Prophets, the Writings, and even the NT. 1500 years later, Yeshua prophesied a future deliverance of the Jewish people – a second exodus and He used a fig tree for an illustration: “The next morning, on his way back to the city, he felt hungry. 19 Spotting a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. So he said to it, “May you never again bear fruit!” and immediately the fig tree dried up. 20 The talmidim saw this and were amazed. “How did the fig tree dry up so quickly?” they asked.” (Matt.21:18-20)
Soon afterwards, Yeshua shared with them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, Indeed, all the trees. 30 As soon as they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves that summer is near. 31 In the same way, when you see these things taking place, you are to know that the Kingdom of God is near! 32 Yes! I tell you that this people will certainly not pass away before it has all happened. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will certainly not pass away.(Matt 24:32-34);
Yeshua used a barren fig tree as an object lesson. When He cursed it, it was the only occasion He used his power to destroy something. The fruit of the fig tree referred prophetically to Israel as a nation, the people who were spiritually barren, due to be exiled yet with a hope and future because in the fullness of time the tree would bear fruit once again. The first part was prophetically fulfilled when Israel became a sovereign state in 1948 but the “time of the figs” (the fruit) was still pending as a future event when as Paul wrote, “All Israel will be saved.”
The action of Yeshua looking for fruit on the fig tree out of season signified His coming to the people ‘out of season’. Although many people considered Yeshua to be the promised Messiah, He didn’t match their expectations because they were expecting Mashiach ben David not Mashiach ben Joseph. Consequently, there was no fruit on the tree. And since they believed that the bearing of a fig tree’s fruit symbolised the arrival of the Messiah and the ushering in of the Millennium, its barrenness conveyed that this event had not yet arrived.
Yeshua cursed the fig tree to expose the Jewish nation’s unfaithfulness and unbelief. God caused them to wither as a nation (but not as a people) through exile, until 14th May 1948. Yeshua understood that the appointed time for the fig tree to yield its fruit in fullness would be when they would recognise Him as their Messiah. This is what He demonstrated when He cursed the fig tree.
This links in many ways to the previous two Torah portions when God in the fullness of time, delivered the Israelites from captivity and reasserted their identity. Until that moment, they remained a people without a land, symbolically a fig tree during winter, devoid of leaves and fruit until the moment when God restored them. This event, the re-establishment of Israel as a sovereign State after almost 2000 years of exile is one of the greatest miracles in modern history. But, soon we will see events that parallel it in these end times we are living in, when the Jewish people will experience a second exodus and “look upon Him who they pierced” (Zech.12:10) – a time when “all Israel shall be saved.” (Rom.11:27)
