In this episode, we will look into how Jethro’s encounter with Moses parallels God & Adam in the Garden of Eden. We will also consider what a shofar blast has to do with sowing seed, and how the giving of the Ten Commandments parallels the creation story in Genesis 1.
Exodus 18:17 Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good.” = לא טוב (lo tov)
Genesis 2:18 Then Adonai God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helper fit for him.”
Exodus 18:21 Moreover, look among all the people for men of valor, who fear God, men of truth and hate a bribe, and place them over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.
אנשי חיל (anshei chayil)
יראי אלהים אנשי אמת
י-א-א-א =
1 + 1 + 1 + 10 = 13 = אהבה = “love”
Exodus 19:13 “… With a long blast of the ram’s horn they shall come up to the mountain.” = במשך (b’moshech) – 3x in Tanach
Joshua 6:5 “And when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, when you hear the sound of the shofar, then all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people shall go up, everyone straight before him.”
Amos 9:13 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares Adonai, “when the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him the one sowing the seed; the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it.”
Exodus 20:2 “I am Adonai your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” = אנכי יהוה (anochi Adonai)
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. = בראשית (bareishit)
REFERENCES:
Exodus 18:2 Now Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, [brought] Zipporah, Moses’ wife…
Exodus 18:25 Moses chose men of valor out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.
Proverbs 31:10 A woman of valor [אשת חיל, eishet Chayil] who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.