- Va’era – And I Appeared, spelled: Vav, alef, resh, alef.
What do these letters mean in the context of ‘And I appeared’?
Wow/Vav – Connected to the statement: “I Am YHWH.” Alef – the Almighty Resh – the Almighty, the supreme head Commander revealed Himself as the Alef – from the infinite, invisible realm, entered through the barrier of the unseen to reveal Himself in a finite and tangible, yet powerful way. (The Almighty God crossed over from the upper open end of the letter Alef to the lower, closed endpoint of the Alef.)
Shemot (Exodus) 6:2 – 9:35
Yechezkel (Ezekiel) 28:25 – 29:21
Matthew 12:1-14; Acts 7:7; Hebrews 3:1-6; Romans 9:14-33; 2 Corinthians 6:14 – 7:1; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 5:9; Revelation 18:1-8
Many of us would love a vacation enjoying a beautiful land in a far-away, mysterious place. Travel agencies portray vacation destinations as delightful places to be married, or for a honeymoon. The problem for most of us is that we’re shackled in local areas by our jobs and limited incomes. But the people of YHWH do have a delightful destination that Abba calls ‘your land, Beulah (Married).’ How are we ever going to make it there?
The Restrainer of the Children of Israel
Who restrains us from returning to the Promised Land? What holds us back from there?
Pharaoh tried hard to restrain the children of Israel from growing into a more numerous, mighty people. He was afraid that the Hebrews would ally themselves with those who hated the Egyptians, fight against them, and then depart from his land. (Exo 1:10) So he appointed taskmasters to beat them down and restrain them, yet benefited from them by building up his kingdom using their might and abilities. Sound familiar?
Is this not the same tactic that tyrannical rulers use in the nations today? They do not want Yah’s people to grow so numerous and so mighty that they’ll revolt and leave them.
Where does the enemy believe we would go? Where are demonic hatred and violence most directed? Where is he in the worst way trying to keep us out of? Answer: the most hotly-contested real estate on the planet – the land of Israel and her capital Jerusalem.
The story of Pharaoh restraining the Hebrews foreshadows the ‘mystery of iniquity,’ that is ‘he who now restrains us,’ as prophesied by Paul:
And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders… 2 Thess 2:6-9
Hardening the Heart of the Restrainer
Why would YHWH harden a man to become so Torahless and cruel? Why would He harden the ones who restrain us? Why harden whom He desires?
So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. Romans 9:18
Paul answers many who wonder why we are so oppressed and encumbered with just making ends meet, and why a Pharaoh is ruling over Americans today:
For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very thing I raised you up so that I might display My power in you, and so that My Name might be publicized in all the earth.” Exodus 9:16, Romans 9:17
So never fear! The stage is now being set for the greatest demonstration of the power of Elohim, the Mighty One, that the world has ever seen! He has spoken through His prophets that He’ll use His power to break the power of the cruel taskmasters over us! He will destroy the man of Torahlessness and bring an end to ‘the mystery of iniquity.’
Greater than in the days of Moshe, our God will keep His Word to rescue, deliver, and bring His people back from the four winds of the earth by His Ruach HaKodesh, back to the Promised Land. He will again make His mighty Name YHWH known to all the world!
The right hand of Yah used the forces of nature to break the chains of bondage to Mitsrayim (miserable Egypt) from His people. No hand of man, no weapon of man’s warfare, nor device of human beings were used to judge Egypt and to deliver His people.
The ‘right hand of Elohim’ is Yeshua using His divine authority to save His people in mighty ways as He chooses to work. We can expect Him to deliver us again as He judges the nations with three sets of seven plagues as prophesied in the Book of the Revelation of Yeshua the Messiah. (Chapters 6-9, 11-12, 16-19)
The Exodus story is also an allegory of the believer set free from the tyranny of the devil and bondage to this world. It is a prophecy of the power of YHWH delivering a soul from whatever grip the talons of the dragon have sunk into a soul or upon a people.
Thank YHWH that He has chosen us to be vessels of mercy! If He hadn’t granted me mercy and set me free from the slavery of sin, the world of sin I was enslaved to would have utterly destroyed me. This story helps us with preparing testimonies of salvation.
Knowing the Great Name of Yahweh
And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as El Shaddai, but by My Name YHWH I did not make Myself known to them. Exodus 6:3
The letter Yod of YHWH is a picture in the paleo of the mighty working hand revealed. The children of Yisra’el (Israel) had never seen His right hand revealed like they were about to see Him go to work to deliver His people, using the rod in the hand of Moses.
The letter Vav, possibly pronounced ‘Wow’, was about to be revealed to households as the Lamb slain, Whose blood would be applied to their thresholds. YHWH Elohim would remember His covenant again and would connect His people back together with Him.
More than one brother has told me that he thinks he’ll perish when America is judged, and some believe they will be beheaded. Very few I know truly believe that they’re going in the Greater Exodus and will make it to the Promised Land.
Some undermine the faith of others that the land in the Middle East, as held by the Jewish people, is where the children of Israel are promised to go and occupy in the end times. Why would any believer want to go to a land where the ‘synagogue of satan’ supposedly rules? If we believe in the wind-of-doctrine characterization that today’s nation of Israel is a man-made fabrication run solely by fake, Khazarian ‘Jews,’ then why would anyone have any desire to do aliyah when the time comes? With that level of suspicion and mistrust, how can anyone see the hand of YHWH, who gave birth to a nation in a day and is sovereignly regathering the children of Israel to the land that He promised to Israel?
The Yod of Yod Hey Vav Hey saving His chosen ones has been often demonstrated against all odds in supernatural ways during the wars of Israel in modern times. Leslie and I see His hand supernaturally saving Israel. We’ve seen it documented with valid witnesses in the series Against All Odds.
We also like to watch updates on the war in Gaza by Chaim Malespin, chairman of the Aliyah Return Center. According to his friend Joshua Aaron, Chaim is the most influential Messianic Jew in the land today. Chaim sometimes shares incidences of supernatural intervention saving him and fellow soldiers on the front lines of Gaza.
Like nobody else I know, Jonathan Cahn chronicles the supernatural hand of the LORD in modern times against all odds, beyond any coincidences.
One understanding I’ve gained from his work is that YHWH Elohim has revealed His hand on two concurrent Jubilee, 50-year cycles, depending on His purposes and plans for redeeming mankind. We see how YHWH has worked to restore the people of Israel in 1897, 1947, and 1997. His work restoring the capital of Israel, Jerusalem, can be seen in 1917, 1967, and 2017. Demonstrating His sovereignty, He has used rulers who do not believe in Him to accomplish His purposes. It’s nothing new. He’s used kings like Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus and even the tyrant Pharoah, as we see in these Torah portions.
Leslie and I do not believe in coincidences, but Yah incidences. Yah’s hand can still be seen at work today saving His people all over the world. Like Bill Cloud, we believe that we are in the end-time generation of redemption. ‘The wise shall understand.’
He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for these words are concealed and sealed up until the end time. Many will be purged, purified, and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly; and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand.” Daniel 12:9-10, NASB
This prophecy explains why many suffer and even die in these end times – to ‘purge, purify and refine.’ It helps answer the question of whether Yah is really on the side of the nation of Israel, or not. It helps answer why He allowed the massacre of October 7th.
Sure, there are people in government and religious institutions in the land today that are servants of the enemy; but my Bible says they will be judged and will be purged out of the Land. That’s His doing, not ours. Numbers of true believers and true Jews do not mean much in God’s economy. Let Yeshua be the judge of who is His and who is not.
The Paradoxical Ways of YHVH
One day, Abba willing, I’ll write an exposition on how the many ways of YHWH are amazingly paradoxical. Our God works in paradoxes all the time! For example, His minority in earthly terms is yet the majority in Kingdom terms. Without that revelation, you’ll never see why in the world we would ever want to go back to the Promised Land. Please consider that the hand of Yah has always worked in mysterious paradoxes.
What is a paradox? The M-W dictionary meaning is ‘a statement that is seemingly contradictory, or opposed to common sense, and yet is perhaps true.’
However, Yah’s paradoxes are not just ‘perhaps true,’ they are ‘true.’ The children of this world do not believe in absolute truth, but believers in the Messiah do.
Children think in terms of paradoxes and enjoy them. Why do children like paradoxes? It’s part of their child-like faith.
Check into ‘Paradoxical Games for Children and Adolescents,’ if you care to see examples of what I mean, like Hide-N-Seek – there, but not there. Of course, reject any of the games that delve into the occult and other counterfeit, hijacked games of the enemy.
Adults get set in their ways, become too intellectually logical, and don’t think in terms of paradoxes like children do. It’s one reason that we see that children don’t tend to like hanging out with adults, but more with other children. We sure love and appreciate them!
YHWH has given us about 700 prophecies on the greater exodus and the regathering of the exiles of Israel in the Scriptures. We’ve seen it bring tears to the eyes of Aaron Shust.
The writers of the Scriptures wrote in paradoxes all the time, here’s a key paradoxical statement that leads out the Hall of Fame of Faith:
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of realities not seen. Hebrews 11:1, TLV
How can anything be real if it’s just hoped for and not seen? It takes a child-like faith and a sanctified imagination that believe in the paradoxical, awesome ways of YHWH.
The Journey Home
From what I see from the Torah’s perspective, only a few of us older generation people will make it there, who started out saved by faith in the Messiah but had believed that the Law was no longer valid. Will it be mostly the younger generation raised in Torah and the Gospel, our children, who we secretly think will be prey to the enemy? Will our children go in the greater exodus and make it to the Promised Land? Isaiah said’
“I and the children are for signs and wonders in Israel from YHWH of Hosts.” Isaiah 8:18
Hope I’m wrong, but it may be mostly the children doing aliyah, who love keeping Sukkot and can hardly wait for the next opportunity to go camping with their mishpochah again. May they convince their parents to come!
Sukkot is not just a rehearsal of the marriage feast of the Lamb, it’s about the exodus:
“You are to live in Suka (booths) for seven days. All the native-born in Israel are to live in Suka (booths) so that your generations may know that I had Bnei-Yisrael (the children of Israel) to dwell in Suka (booths) when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am Adonai your God.” Leviticus 23:42-43, TLV
Is that really what YHWH has promised those who keep the commandments and have the testimony of Yeshua? Is our exodus from Goshen just to bring us to a guillotine? What do you believe is your prophetic destination in life?
There are only two references to being beheaded in the Scriptures – John the Baptist and the tribulation saints of Revelation 20:4.
And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Yeshua, and for the Word of Elohim, and who had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with the Messiah a thousand years.
These Scriptures indicate two sets of saints who will rule and reign with King Yeshua:
- Those who already sit on thrones and
- Those beheaded for their witness of Yeshua and the Word.
Unquestionably, not all saints who rule and reign with Messiah, nor even all saints who go through the Great Tribulation will be beheaded. Many are martyred by other means of death. Yet according to the prophets, some will survive and remain alive at the second coming of Messiah. Study the prophets to see if it be so; here are just a few references: Isaiah 4:2-4; 10:20-27; Jeremiah 30:3-11, 31:10-12; Zechariah 8:6-15, 13:8; 14:2; Romans 9:26-29
Interestingly, the saints who were beheaded are not referred to as those who kept His commandments as others were earlier in the Book of Revelation.
What is the context of those believers? Let’s take a look:
After the dragon goes after the woman and fails to destroy her with a flood, he goes after the remnant next:
And the dragon was wroth with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of Elohim, and have the testimony of Yeshua. Revelation 12:17
After the fall of the great city Babylon, after the beast drinks of the cup of the wine of the wrath of the gall of Babylon, and after the beast drinks of the cup of the wine of the wrath of YHWH, here are those who will remain who waited patiently for their deliverance from Babylon and the Beast:
Here is the patience of the saints: here are those who keep the commandments of Elohim, and the faith of Yeshua. Revelation 14:12
Where in the Bible does it say that those who keep the commandments of Elohim and have the testimony of Yeshua do not survive the Great Tribulation? Let’s search it out.
In the world today, some have the witness of Jesus and uphold the Word, but say ‘the Law’ and the commandments in the ‘Old Testament’ are done away with.
Others have the testimony of Yeshua and keep the commandments, including the foundational ones found in the Torah of Moshe. Those faithful to the full counsel of Elohim are called in the Scriptures – “the remnant.” They are the ones whom YHWH promised to bring back from exile from the four corners of the world back to the Promised Land. In the land, they will be fruitful and will prosper according to the prophets.
For a hope and a vision so that people will not perish, seek the Father and His Word about your destiny, before saying something like the ten spies would have said in our day.
Again, allow me to encourage you to consider and ponder the Scriptures on the Greater Exodus in the prophets, such as Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zachariah, Paul, and Yeshua.
What are we pressing on towards in life? What’s our goal?
I press on toward the goal for the reward of the upward calling of Elohim in Messiah Yeshua. Philippians 3:14
That goal for us is to be with our Messiah in a land called “Beulah-Married.” According to the prophets, those who ”endure to the end” have an awesome, glorious destiny. We look forward to being with the Messiah in His land.
For Zion’s sake, I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake, I will not rest, until her righteousness shines out brightly, and her salvation as a blazing torch. Nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory. You will be called by a new name, which the mouth of YHWH will bestow.
You will also be a crown of beauty in the hand of YHWH, and a royal diadem in the hand of your Elohim. No longer will you be termed “Forsaken”, and no longer your land be termed “Desolate”. Instead, you will be called, “My Delight is in Her” and your land, “Beulah (Married).” For YHWH delights in you, and your land will be married. Isaiah 62:1-4
May faith, emunah, come by hearing and hearing by the Word of Elohim. May emunah, a strong birthing from chaotic waters, bring us out of Egypt, taking us to the Beulah land.
BaShem Yeshua HaMashiyach, the Deliverer of Yisra’el,
David Klug
PS: A note on my namesake – David. Forgive me if I’ve offended you by displaying the star of David in this article. I have many reasons to believe it is not a pagan symbol.
The Star of David is an ancient picture of the name David in ancient Hebrew letter pictographs and their functions. The ancient dalet is a triangular pictograph of a goat skin hanging down over the entrance to a tent. It represents the threshold of a covenant, the first dalet representing entering into the covenant of the Torah, the second representing entering into the covenant of the New Covenant in Yeshua. The Vav needs not to be displayed. Its function joins the two dalets together and fastens them inseparably, like the nails of Yeshua’s hands to the cross joining us to Abba.
The two covenants, the Torah and the Brit Chadashah are one covenant through Yeshua, the Messiah, Son of David. When I see this symbol, that’s what I think about it.
This symbol also reminds us that Yeshua is coming back as the Messiah, the Son of David, the Lion of Judah, not as the suffering servant, the Messiah, the Son of Joseph.
Leslie and I do not believe that the origins of this symbol go back to the star of Remphan, nor Molech, nor the Bilderbergers, nor any other vain, counterfeit attempt to usurp the Lion of Judah’s power and authority on earth. The symbol originates with creations of Elohim, like the pomegranate and the snowflake. The pomegranate has long been known to hold 613 seeds, representing the commandments of the Torah. That is why a pomegranate was placed on the end of the scepter of the king or the high priest of Israel. To Leslie and I, the Star of David represents the rule of Messiah Yeshua by His Torah.