Daily Verse: Exodus 7:1
Tuesday 24 Tevet 5783 (17.01.23)
You Will be Pharaoh's Master
וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהֹוָה֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה רְאֵ֛ה נְתַתִּ֥יךָ אֱלֹהִ֖ים לְפַרְעֹ֑ה וְאַהֲרֹ֥ן אָחִ֖יךָ יִהְיֶ֥ה נְבִיאֶֽךָ׃
"To this, God now replied to Moses: "Observe! I have made you a master over Pharaoh. You will rebuke him forcefully and afflict him with plagues and suffering. Your brother Aaron shall be your spokesman. Specifically, despite your speech impediment and inarticulateness, I will give you the ability to speak authoritatively"
The power of evil is tremendously strong. Even people who live close to HaShem, who are righteous and sincere have to fight evil (sometimes).
Pharaoh was the ultimate evil, he had completely detached himself from HaShem. HaShem here tells Moses that he will be master over Pharaoh. In short he will be stronger than Pharaoh and to the extent that he is his master, Pharaoh will have to do what Moses says to him. That because Moses fully committed himself to HaShem, HaShem goes with him, and therefore Moses will be strong enough.
אֱלֹהִ֣ים לָ֭נוּ מַחֲסֶ֣ה וָעֹ֑ז עֶזְרָ֥ה בְ֝צָר֗וֹת נִמְצָ֥א מְאֹֽד׃
HaShem is our refuge and stronghold, a help in trouble, very near.
עַל־כֵּ֣ן לֹֽא־נִ֭ירָא
Therefore we are not afraid
Tehillim 46:2
We need not fear evil, that it will be stronger than us. We have the choice to let sin conquer us or to let sin conquer us.
הֲל֤וֹא אִם־תֵּיטִיב֙ שְׂאֵ֔ת וְאִם֙ לֹ֣א תֵיטִ֔יב לַפֶּ֖תַח חַטָּ֣את רֹבֵ֑ץ וְאֵלֶ֙יךָ֙ תְּשׁ֣וּקָת֔וֹ וְאַתָּ֖ה תִּמְשׇׁל־בּֽוֹ׃
Surely, if you do right,
There is uplift.
But if you do not do right
Sin couches at the door;
Its urge is toward you,
Yet you can be its master.”
Bereshiet/ Genesis 4:8
If we choose good and reject evil, HaShem will help us overpower evil we will eventually be masters of evil, that is, we can make evil do that which we want, namely use it for good.
We are not as big as Moses, and it will be harder for us to stay strong and want to choose the good. It is therefore important to commit ourselves to the Rebbe and to the chassidim who bring his teachings to our generation. The teaching to commit ourselves to the 7 Noahide Laws, because that will help us make the right choices and will strengthen our bond with HaShem.
We will succeed in overcoming evil, Be'Ezrat HaShem.
Angelique Sijbolts is one of the main writers for the NoahideAcademy.org website. She contributes for the admin of the website in English and Dutch. She teaches Hebrew to beginners and intermediate students at the Academy.
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