Vaera - Signs of Salvation and Justice

you're listening to the weekly partial podcast with Hari goldwag recorded with hashem's NeverEnding assistance in R Israel 5784 2024 this week's par par and mosu and Aron come into parro they come into pharaoh and they say to par let our people go it's time for them to go and to serve God in the midbar in the wilderness PK tells us that Hashem gives Moshe and Aaron he heads up about what's going to happen when they get in there this is in chapter 7 I believe uh chapter 7 verse 8 says the mo as follows is going to say to you as follows when you get in there and when you ask for the Jews Freedom he's going to say to you as follows show show me a sign I want to see some kind of sign we're going to see what the sign is and then you should say to Aon to take his staff throw it down in front of parro it's going to be a tanan it's going to become a serpent PK tells us that's what they did they came in front of power they did so Aon threw down his his staff became a serpent okay parro also told his servants to do that they did it aon's staff swallowed out the other staffs parro didn't listen to the sign now I'd like to read with you a medish but I'd also like to understand try to understand think about what is the message of the sign what exactly was mosu saying with this sign and as we'll see a sign a myus or an ice a sign has a specific purpose it's supposed to prove something we're going to see together exactly what the concept of a sign is but the question is that I would like to address and try to understand as we continue what was the sign that mosha Ru what was parro asking for when he asked for a sign and what was moshe's sign why did Hashem say that by throwing down the staff and turning into a serpent what does that indicate to parro okay so let's read something together there's a few ideas here in the Mish I'd like to share with you very powerful very interesting and some of them are related to this idea some of them are not we're going to start off with ideas that are not directly related to the sign but an important lesson an important depth that we need to know says when par will speak to you and he'll ask for a sign so the question question is was hasem saying if he'll speak to you and ask for a sign this is what you should do or is hasem saying he will ask for a sign in explaining this concept in beginning his uh discussion of these verses he says the in Isaiah 46:10 it says says that tells us in the beginning what's going to be in the end and from Days of your that not the things that haven't happened yet Hashem says my will my my thought it will win in the end it will come out in the end all of my desires I will do so what is this first teaching us it's teaching us that hasm knows from the beginning of time what's going to happen in the end of time hasm knows before the story what's going to happen in the end of the story knows what's going to happen throughout the storym Tells from the beginning what's going to be in the end we find that in other contexts says something that's going to happen in the future as aorun point out it's something that depends on Free Will right if someone decides hasem says to mosha after you die the Jewish people are going to end up serving idolatry after Yeshua dies they're going to serve idolatry they're going to leave me they're going to they're going to violate their Covenant with me Hashem knows that we're going to do these things we we do have which is a is is a problem right it's a problem if we have a a free will the fact that hasm knows what we're going to do if we're going to do something wrong it seems to indicate that we don't have free will okay we're not going to get into that issue but the magish tells us that Hashem knows what's going to happen but it's not a contradiction to our free will somehow so here too uh and we and and the meas brings down that indeed that's what happened indeed the Jewish people did forsake hem and they didn't serve so we see that hem tells what's going to happen in the future he knows the choices that we're going to make but again that doesn't preclude our ability to have free will so so to in the same way parro Hashem was saying parro is going to make a bad choice he's going going to use his free will his to not allow the Jewish people to leave and so when the says doesn't mean that if he will say if he will say Y show me a sign he will show a he will ask for a sign he will deny your ability to leave and this is why I wanted to read this Mish for the following statement of the the son of says that whoever reads this verse suff the verse makes it sound like Hashem has some kind of you know he needs to make this bold statement almost I don't want to say this egoistic egoistic statement that my what I think is going to happen is going to happen the says the end of the says all of my desires will be done what is hashem's desire what does Hashem wantem doesn't want his Creations to fall he doesn't want that anything negative should occur to his Creations Isaiah 42 verse 21 not far a few chapters earlier from the P we're quoting it says Hashem says I want the people to be righteous I want my Creations the the the humans that I've created to be righteous and therefore I cause the Torah to be greater my instructions for the world are for that purpose says in Ezekiel 33: 11 you think that I want want the the wicked person to die like we say wants us if we've done wrong things has wants us to do chuva he wants us to repent and he wants us to live the right so that's why the P says it makes it sound at first like is my what I want is going to happen but he wants us to know it's not he what he wants to going to happen to preclude us like he's going to squash us on the way that's not what it means that's not what it means wants us to do [Music] chuva that's why it says all of my desires I will do oh so so Hashem wants his will to be done what he desires what he desires is that we on our own accord turn towards him that we do Chu if we' we've done wrong Hashem knows what we're going to choose yes he does know what we're going to choose he knows that we're going to do wrong but that statement of what we're going to do and the mistake that we are going to make is not a statement that that's what he wants it to be but rather a statement of ultimately what he really wants is for us to do chuva for us to repent for us to return for us to recognize that he is the god he is the creator so finishes off the statement by saying that that's exactly the same exactly what we found by by other statements regards to the Jewish people that are going to do a sin in the future Etc hash was just saying what's going to happen he was saying a statement but it doesn't take away the person's Free Will number one and it's not his ultimate desire's ultimate desire is that power himself should change his ways he should even someone like Pharaoh or perhaps especially someone like Pharaoh who's the leader of the the world at the time Hashem wants his hasem wants him to to recognize God okay that's the medish and I think that's an important lesson for us I think it's an important lesson for us as we as we learn the para we need to think about the things that go on in our lives where we've done wrong knows we're going to do wrong it doesn't pel us it doesn't make us into we don't become the wrong that we've done there's always there's always hashem's desire that the that the wickedness that we've done be be cleaned off we repent come back to him that's Point number one but and I think perhaps we'll see that that's part of perhaps what the sign was that MOS Ra was indicating to power perhaps we can understand it let's let's see before we understand the sign I want to know stuff I want to know something about signs okay so that's how we start off the podcast now we're going to get into the signs meas says like this the measure says that parro Pharaoh when he asked for a sign he was asking appropriately he was asking a fair question he said look you guys want to leave you want to go serve God that's what Hashem said he's going to he's going to bring you out with signs and wonders so Show Me A Sign show me a sign and it was a fair request as we're going to see the many sikim many righteous individuals who asked for a sign and they got a sign we'll see what the sign is it's so important to understand what the sign is but it was a legitimate request on parro's on parro's part would I should just let them go prove it to me that there is a God perhaps or prove it to me that there's a legitimate reason why you should go we find that there was a sign requested by had seen numerous Signs by explained when he came into the ark so the ark was protected from all of these people who were trying to stop Noah from entering the ark the ark was protected by wild animals who repelled those who tried to stop no from entering brought him through all these Miracles he was saved miraculously the entire world was destroyed he alone was saved miraculously unbelievable supernaturally the says that assures Noah there will never ever be a flood to destroy all of mankind so that's a pretty strong statement so so no even though he had seen that hashem's word was true he had seen the Miracles but he wanted a sign here's our first indication of what a sign is he wanted a sign here's the sign that I will will from now on use to remind myself and to remind you that I will never destroy humankind with a mobble with a destructive force like like a flood I plac the there's a there's a cases in in the cloud there's a rainbow and that rainbow indic indicates that I remember my promise so already we see that the sign is something to do with salvation or some something to do with Hashem not letting out his wrath or his promise that all will be well that's how I would say it when so requests a sign so and he gets the sign so that's a legitimate request so certainly parro who wasn't righteous he could ask for a sign he had been told that he's not going to that he's not going to live he's going to die and then he turns and he prays he asks hasem to forgive him he does chuva and Hashem says I'm going to cure you and aask says as a as a sign which M was on to say that in the middle he asked for a sign or he seemed to indicate that he needs a sign he's he's experiencing a terrible sickness he's going to die die from it Hashem promises him he's going to live I'm going to cure you and here's the sign on the third day you're going to go up to the you're going to go to the he asks for a sign I'm not familiar with the with the verses themselves I apologize for my ignorance in this area but in in the context asks for a sign and he receives a sign and the sign indicates that all will be well he's going to be able to go to certainly par the evil one is allowed to ask for a sign last case last example we find three great three people on a very high level they Hades they divine inspiration they went down into the into the fiery furnace they went down and they ended up Surviving the fiery furnace they didn't die they came out alive miraculously but they were also given a sign they had a sign the says what was their sign the PK says the night before the the the M explains that the night before they were supposed to be thrown into the fiery furnace they were praying and this verse kept coming into their mind said not for our sake save us not for our sake M had a different verse that kept coming into his mind and he kept saying do it for your honor hasem do it for your honor save us for your honor the third of them aarya said had this P that kept coming into his mind which means do it for your kindness and for your truth was answering the the angel why all the nations of the world say where is their God when they experienced this they kept maybe they even tried to go to a different verse but they they couldn't they just kept saying the same verses over and over again they couldn't [Music] stop so they saw it as a sign they understood it was a sign just brings another referring to the fact that they were people of a sign that these three sikim these three awesome incredibly righteous individuals they were people who experienced signs that said they became known as such people they received the sign they received the sign that they would be saved so if a righteous person has a right to ask for a sign and it's not considered a negative thing we understand why parro a wicked person Pharaoh would ask for a sign but now I want to come back try to understand in in all these cases there was a sign the sign was a sign of Salvation the sign was a sign that all would be well which Hashem provided and hasem assured these sikim these righteous individuals that all would be well what was the sign that Pharaoh was looking for what was the sign that parro was looking for so I think the pus is the simple understanding is that he was asking for a sign sh me something that show that proves as we said before that there is a God and that he is trying to take his people out and I was thinking about it what does this staff represent what is a staff a staff is something that you lean on and the staff became a serpent a snake who is the staff who who is represented by the staff and what is the sign of the staff perhaps we you could say like this this is a thought I that I that I was entertaining earlier the staff is the Jewish people who does parro lean on who is parro's staff and a staff is a piece of wood a dead piece of wood the Jewish people had no identity they had nothing they were just slaves they were just all they were there to do was whatever Pharaoh wanted them to do pyro said Jews make your own make your own bricks Jews build my my cities they were dead they were dead sticks that power leaned on to do his bidding but here what was happening and this is what happens in Gula this is what's happening today what happens when the Jewish people are redeemed is that they go from being a non- entity this idea actually heard from IR from a repair they go from being a non- entity the Jewish people for 2,000 years we've had no land we've had no cohesive identity been spread out amongst the Nations for all intents and purposes we were dead we were a Dead Nation we were like a staff a piece of wood that everyone else leaned on yeah we we came to positions of power in different countries our genius was used throughout the world different places in America our our people were used as political figures Etc to try to further mankind but we were just dead wood we were just a dead piece of a staff that other nations leaned upon and what happens the Jewish people are becoming a nation as they're leaving Egypt they're becoming a nation they turn into a snake we the Jewish people become a snake what does it mean it means that we we serve what is a a snake a snake represents something that bites a human being and can cause the human beings death or or their incredible pain right that's what a snake is and here our snake the Jewish people are about to rise and bite parro pharaoh and the Egyptians and our snake indeed swallows up all of their snakes they try to prove that they also have some kind of power they they the The Magicians of pharaoh upon whom parro also relies but they have no power only the Jewish people have the power and the power involves ASA says says that sometimes a nation and specifically the Jewish Nation serves to bring Justice on another Nation Justice must be served and sometimes Hashem uses One Nation against another Nation to bring about that Justice the Egyptians had done terrible things to the Jews they had put them in servitude but not just that they had done terrible things acin if you listen to what the M say about what was being done by Egyptians to Jews at that time they were mest them they they raped them they caused them terrible harm they were killing babies sounds very similar to what happened in Israel on October 7th but Justice needed to be served finally and the Jewish people needed to leave and Hashem was saying let my people go it's time for them to go and serve me to become their own nation and P said where's your sign Show Me A Sign show me a proof proof that salvation for your people is imminent hasem instructs Moshe and Aon to take the staff and throw it down on the floor the Jewish people the dead wood that you have leaned upon for decades it's about to become its own thing it's about to become something that's going to right a stick is something that's also can be used to to to bring about retribution right malus when a person needs to be struck he gets the whack they're going to turn into a snake to you they're about to become a nation they're about to become you're going to be you're going to experience Justice because of what you've done to them and so that is perhaps Hashem sees and and it's and it's it's connected to the previous mes I think because hem sees that there's going to be a denial by parro there's going to be a denial by the nations of the world a parallel denial that that we have a right the Jewish people have a right to stand up for justice to protect ourselves Etc talking about this moment but it's true all the time we we don't have a right to stand up as a nation to protect ourselves that's what the the nations of the world will claim just like par says you can't become a nation I will not let these people go but Hashem shows him it's not it's not even about it's about no it's about it's not about destroying power and destroying Egypt and destroying our enemies that's not what it's about it's about the recognition of AES in the world it's about the recognition of godliness in the world so about the recognition that good ultimately prevails look at each of these promises Noah is told that Hashem will never destroy the world again and here's a sign it's about good prevailing in the end and he's told that he's going to live there's going to be a future for the kingdom of the Jewish people had to have children his child child was going to be a Russia going to be Wicked but his grandchild was going to be a sadic we need to continue sometimes there are Cycles they were promised with these words which by the way the talks about as being the verses that we are supposed to say whenever we're in trouble hem save us not for our sake it's not us do it for your sake do it for the honor of your people do it for your kindness for the truth it's about the ultimate truth which is not the the death of the wicked not the destruction but rather [Music] wants he wants us not to really be a snake right what happens in the end the snake turns back into a staff but it's not the staff of pharaoh we are not meant to be the ones upon whom parro leans and acts through but rather we are meant to be the ones upon which Hashem leans and acts through we are supposed to be the the servants not of but of Hashem ultimately and that's the transformation that's the transformation that the Jewish people are about to go through yes in this process we do serve as a snake as a negative Force for those who have done wrong and Justice is served through that but the purpose of it is not to destroy hashm doesn't want the wicked to be destroyed if they'll do chuva if they repent the purpose is that there should be an ultimate recognition of Hashem properly I would add proper recognition of hem not as an Angry God who wants to flatten everyone as the Muslims believe and not as a freefor all as the Western the Western world has come to think of things but rather as a God who loves us wants a relationship with us and wants us to to to do chuva to be who we're meant to be so I want to bless you and ask you to bless me should help us that we should be able to understand the Simon what a sign means there are so many signs Hashem is showing us of the future of the of a positive future for mankind of a positive that the Messianic age it's it's going to be it's going to be soon and we're standing on the cusp of that and as we cross the threshold there are many difficult times but hem should help us recognize that all of these are it starts off as a staff changes into a snake but ultimately it's a staff again and the staff is hashem's Staff it's MOS renu's staff it has hashem's name on it the purpose of it is that we should serve Hashem ultimately thank you so much for listening have a wonderful shabas this podcast was made possible through the gracious donations of listeners like you for more podcasts like this please visit www.wag.com or search on iTunes Ari goldwag