• Torah (T): Shemot (Exodus) 4:1-31
• Prophets (P): Isaiah 55:12 – 56:7
• Apostolic (A): Acts 7:35-37; John 10:22
• Additional (ADD): Jubilees 48:1-4

RELATED SCRIPTURES

• Genesis 17:9-14 (T)
• Genesis 25:1-2; Jubilees 20:1-3 (T)
• Exodus 4:24-26 from the Septuagint, Jerusalem Targum, Revised Mechanical Translation (T)
• 2 Samuel 24:1; 1 Chronicles 21:1 (T)
• Job 1:6-7, 2:1-2; 1 Kings 22:19-23; 2 Chronicles 18:18-22 (T)
• Psalms 82:1-8; John 10:23-36 (T)
• Job 21:7-15 (T)
• Colossians 2:1 – 3:4 (H)
• Matthew 21:13; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46 (H)
• Deuteronomy 18:15-22 (A)
• Daniel 10:12-13, 12:1; Jude 1:8-10; Revelation 12:7-12 (ADD)

RELATED ADDITIONAL READINGS

• 2 Esdras 1:13-14 (T)
• Enoch 20:1-7; Enoch 40:1-9 (ADD)
• Exodus 4:14 – 6:1 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (T)
• Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus 2.13.1-4 (T)

Note: (T) means the verse relates to that week’s Torah portion. (H) means the verse relates to that week’s Haftarah portion. (A) means the verse relates to that week’s Apostolic portion. (ADD) means the verse relates to that week’s Additional portion.

Torah Portion (T)

4:1 Moses answered, “But, behold, they will not believe me, nor listen to my voice; for they will say, ‘[Elohim]^(LXX) has not appeared to you.’ ” 2 YHWH said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A rod.” 3 He said, “Throw it on the ground.” He threw it on the ground, and it became a snake; and Moses ran away from it. 4 YHWH said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand, and take it by the tail.” He stretched out his hand, and took hold of it, and it became a rod in his hand. 5 “This is so that they may believe that YHWH, the Elohim of their fathers, the Elohim of Abraham, [and]^(LXX) the Elohim of Isaac, and the Elohim of Jacob, has appeared to you.” 6 YHWH said furthermore to him, “Now put your hand inside your cloak.” He put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out [from his cloak],^{(DSS)(LXX)(SP)} behold, his hand was leprous, as white as snow. 7 He said, “Put your hand inside your cloak again.” He put his hand inside his cloak again, and when he took it out of his cloak, behold, it had turned again as his other flesh. 8 “It will happen, if they will not believe you or listen to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign. 9 It will happen, if they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, that you shall take of the water of the river, and pour it on the dry land. The water which you take out of the river will become blood on the dry land.” 10 Moses said to YHWH, “O Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before now, nor since you have spoken to your servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.” 11 YHWH said to him, “Who made man’s mouth? Or who makes one mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Isn’t it I, [Elohim]?^(LXX) 12 Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth, and teach you what you shall speak.” 13 Moses said, “Oh, Lord, please send someone else.” 14 The anger of YHWH burned against Moses, and he said, “What about Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Also, behold, he is coming out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. 15 You shall speak to him, and put the words in his mouth. I will be with your mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do. 16 He will be your spokesman to the people. It will happen that he will be to you a mouth, and you will be to him as Elohim. 17 You shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do the signs.” 18 Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, “Please let me go and return to my brothers who are in Egypt, and see whether they are still alive.” Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” 19 YHWH said to Moses in Midian, “Go, return into Egypt; for all the men who sought your life are dead.” 20 Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. Moses took Elohim's rod in his hand. 21 YHWH said to Moses, “When you go back into Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your hand, but I will strengthen his heart and he will not let the people go. 22 You shall tell Pharaoh, ‘YHWH says, Israel is my son, my firstborn, 23 and I have said to you, “Let my son go, that he may serve me;” and you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your firstborn son.' ” 24 On the way at a lodging place, [an angel of]^(LXX) YHWH met him and sought to kill him. 25 Then Zipporah took a flint, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet; and she said, “[This is the blood of my child's circumcision.]”^(LXX) 26 So [the angel]^(LXX) let him alone, [for she said it was the blood of my child's circumcision].^(LXX) 27 YHWH said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” He went, and met him on Elohim's mountain, and kissed him. 28 Moses told Aaron all the words of YHWH with which he had sent him, and all the signs with which he had instructed him. 29 Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the sons of Israel. 30 Aaron spoke all the words which [Elohim]^(LXX) had spoken to Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. 31 The people believed, and when they heard that [Elohim]^(LXX) had visited the sons of Israel, and that he had seen their affliction, then they bowed their heads and did bow down.

Prophets Portion (P)

56:1 YHWH says: “Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is near and my righteousness will soon be revealed. 2 Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast; who keeps the Sabbath without profaning it and keeps his hand from doing any evil.” 3 Let no foreigner who has joined himself to YHWH speak, saying, “YHWH will surely separate me from his people.” Do not let the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.” 4 For YHWH says, “To the eunuchs who guard my Sabbaths, choose the things that please me, and hold fast to my covenant, 5 I will give them in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name better than of sons and of daughters. I will give [them]^(DSS) an everlasting name that will not be cut off. 6 Also the foreigners who join themselves to YHWH to serve him, and to love YHWH’s name, to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath from profaning it, and holds fast my covenant, 7 I will bring these to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will [rise up and]^(DSS) be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”

Apostolic Portion (A)

Acts 7:35 “This Moses, whom they refused, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—Elohim has sent him as both a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 This man led them out, having worked wonders and signs in Egypt, in the Sea of Suf, and in the wilderness for forty years. 37 This is that Moses, who said to the sons of Israel, ‘YHWH our Elohim will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, like me.’

John 10:22 It was the Feast of Chanukkah at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Yeshua was walking in the temple, in Solomon’s porch. 24 The Judeans therefore came around him and said to him, “How long will you hold us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” 25 Yeshua answered them, “I told you, and you don’t believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name, these testify about me. 26 But you don’t believe, because you are not of my sheep, as I told you. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father who has given them to me is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.” 31 Therefore the Judeans took up stones again to stone him. 32 Yeshua answered them, “I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of those works do you stone me?” 33 The Judeans answered him, “We don’t stone you for a good work, but for blasphemy: because you, being a man, make yourself Elohim.” 34 Yeshua answered them, “Isn’t it written in your Torah, ‘I said, you are elohim?’ (cf. Psalms 82:1-8) 35 If he called them elohim, to whom the word of Elohim came, and the Scripture can’t be broken, 36 do you say of him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You blaspheme,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of Elohim?’

Additional Portion (ADD)

Jubilees 48:1-4

Between 1947 and 1956 approximately 15 Jubilees scrolls were found in five caves at Qumran, all written in Hebrew. The large number of manuscripts (more than for any biblical books except for Psalms, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Exodus, and Genesis, in descending order) indicates that Jubilees was widely used at Qumran. A comparison of the Qumran texts with the Ethiopic version, performed by James VanderKam, found that the Ethiopic was in most respects an accurate and literalistic translation. Scholars have dated Jubilees to have been written sometime around 160-150 B.C..

48:1 And in the sixth year of the third week of the forty-ninth jubilee [2372 A.M.] thou didst depart and dwell in the land of Midian five weeks and one year. And thou didst return into Egypt in the second week in the second year in the fiftieth jubilee. [2410 A.M.] 2. And thou thyself knowest what He spake unto thee on Mount Sinai, and what prince Mastema desired to do with thee when thou wast returning into Egypt on the way when thou didst meet him at the lodging-place. 3. Did he not with all his power seek to slay thee and deliver the Egyptians out of thy hand when he saw that thou wast sent to execute judgment and vengeance on the Egyptians? 4. And I delivered thee out of his hand, and thou didst perform the signs and wonders which thou wast sent to perform in Egypt against Pharaoh, and against all his house, and against his servants and his people.

Related Scriptures

17:9 Elohim said to Abraham, “As for you, you will guard my covenant, you and your seed after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you will keep, between me and you and your seed after you. Every male among you will be circumcised. 11 You will be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin. It will be a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 He who is eight days old will be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations, he who is born in the house, or bought with money from any foreigner who is not of your seed. 13 He who is born in your house, and he who is bought with your money, must be circumcised. My covenant will be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 14 The uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul will be cut off from his people. He has broken my covenant.”

Genesis 25:1 Abraham took another wife, and her name was Keturah. 2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.

Jubilees 20:1 And in the forty-second jubilee, in the first year of the seventh week, Abraham called Ishmael, and his twelve sons, and Isaac and his two sons, and the six sons of Keturah, and their sons. 2. And he commanded them that they should observe the way of the Lord; that they should work righteousness, and love each his neighbour, and act on this manner amongst all men; that they should each so walk with regard to them as to do judgment and righteousness on the land. 3. That they should circumcise their sons, according to the covenant which He had made with them, and not deviate to the right hand or the left of all the paths which the Lord had commanded us; and that we should keep ourselves from all fornication and uncleanness, [and renounce from amongst us all fornication and uncleanness].

Exodus 4:24-26 (Masoretic)

4:24 On the way at a lodging place, YHWH met him and wanted to kill him. 25 Then Zipporah took a flint, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet; and she said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me.” 26 So he let him alone. Then she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.

Exodus 4:24-26 (Septuagint)

4:24 And it came to pass that the angel of the Lord met him by the way in the inn, and sought to slay him. 25 and Sepphora having taken a stone cut off the foreskin of her son, and fell at his feet and said, The blood of the circumcision of my son is staunched: 26 and he departed from him, because she said, The blood of the circumcision of my son is staunched.

Exodus 4:24-26 (Jerusalem Targum)

But it was on the way, in the place of lodging that the angel of the Lord met him, and sought to kill him, because Gershom his son had not been circumcised, inasmuch as Jethro his father-in-law had not permitted him to circumcise him: but Eliezer had been circumcised, by an agreement between them two. And Zipporah took a stone, and circumcised the foreskin of Gershom her son, and brought the severed part to the feet of the angel, the Destroyer, and said, The husband sought to circumcise, but the father-in-law obstructed him; and now let this blood of the circumcision atone for my husband. And the destroying angel desisted from him, so that Zipporah gave thanks, and said, How lovely is the blood of this circumcision that hath delivered my husband from the angel of destruction!

Exodus 4:24-26 (Revised Mechanical Translation)

The Revised Mechanical Translation by Jeff Benner is a new and unique method of translation that brings you a literal and faithful word-for-word translation of the Hebrew text through the English language.

4:24 And it came to pass, in the road, in the place of lodging, and YHWH encountered him and he searched out to kill him, 25 and Tsiporah took a sharp stone and she cut the foreskin of her son, and she touched it to his feet, and she said, given that you are an in-law of bloodshed to me, 26 and he sunk down from him, at that time she said, an in-law of bloodshed for the circumcisions

2 Samuel 24:1 Again YHWH’s anger burned against Israel, and he moved David against them, saying, “Go, count Israel and Judah.”

1 Chronicles 21:1 The Adversary stood up against Israel, and moved David to take a census of Israel.

Job 1:6 Now on the day when the sons of Elohim came to present themselves before YHWH, the Adversary also came among them. 7 YHWH said to the Adversary, “Where have you come from?” Then the Adversary answered YHWH, and said, “From going back and forth in the land, and from walking up and down in it.”

Job 2:1 Again, on the day when the sons of Elohim came to present themselves before YHWH, the Adversary came also among them to present himself before YHWH. 2 YHWH said to the Adversary, “Where have you come from?” The Adversary answered YHWH, and said, “From going back and forth in the land, and from walking up and down in it.”

1 Kings 22:19 Micaiah said, “Therefore hear YHWH’s word. I saw YHWH sitting on his throne, and all the army of the heavens standing by him on his right hand and on his left. 20 YHWH said, ‘Who will entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead?’ One said one thing, and another said another. 21 A spirit came out and stood before YHWH, and said, ‘I will entice him.’ 22 YHWH said to him, ‘How?’ He said, ‘I will go out and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ He said, ‘You will entice him, and will also prevail. Go out and do so.’ 23 Now therefore, behold, YHWH has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and YHWH has spoken evil concerning you.”

2 Chronicles 18:18 Micaiah said, “Therefore hear YHWH’s word: I saw YHWH sitting on his throne, and all the army of the heavens standing on his right hand and on his left. 19 YHWH said, ‘Who will entice Ahab king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead?’ One spoke saying in this way, and another saying in that way. 20 A spirit came out, stood before YHWH, and said, ‘I will entice him.’ “YHWH said to him, ‘How?’ 21 “He said, ‘I will go, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ “He said, ‘You will entice him, and will prevail also. Go and do so.’ 22 “Now therefore, behold, YHWH has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these your prophets; and YHWH has spoken evil concerning you.”

82:1 A Psalm by Asaph Elohim presides in the great assembly. He judges among the elohim. 2 “How long will you judge unjustly, and show partiality to the wicked?” Selah. 3 “Judge for the helpless and the fatherless. Do righteousness to the afflicted and dispossessed. 4 Rescue the helpless and needy. Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.” 5 They don’t know, neither do they understand. They walk back and forth in darkness. All the foundations of the land are shaken. 6 I said, “You are elohim, all of you are sons of the Most High. 7 Nevertheless you will die like men, and fall like one of the rulers.” 8 Arise, Elohim, judge the land, for you inherit all of the nations.

21:7 “Why do the wicked live, become old, yes, and grow mighty in power? 8 Their child is established with them in their sight, their seed before their eyes. 9 Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of Elohim upon them. 10 Their bulls breed without fail. Their cows calve, and don’t miscarry. 11 They send out their little ones like a flock. Their children dance. 12 They sing to the tambourine and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the pipe. 13 They spend their days in prosperity. In an instant they go down to Sheol. 14 They tell Elohim, ‘Depart from us, for we don’t want to know about your ways. 15 What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What profit should we have, if we pray to him?’

2:1 For I desire to have you know how greatly I struggle for you, and for those at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh; 2 that their hearts may be comforted, they being knit together in love, and gaining all riches of the full assurance of understanding, that they may know the mystery of Elohim, both of the Father and of Messiah, 3 in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden. 4 Now I say this that no one may delude you with persuasiveness of speech. 5 For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in the spirit, rejoicing and seeing your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Messiah. 6 As therefore you received Messiah Yeshua, the Lord, walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, even as you were taught, abounding in it in thanksgiving. 8 Be careful that you don’t let anyone rob you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the elements of the world, and not after Messiah. 9 For in him all the fullness of the Deity dwells bodily, 10 and in him you are made full, who is the head of all principality and power. 11 In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh, in the circumcision of Messiah, 12 having been buried with him in immersion, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of Elohim, who raised him from the dead. 13 You were dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. He made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 wiping out the handwriting in ordinances which was against us. He has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross. 15 Having stripped the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. 16 Let no one therefore judge you in eating, or in drinking, or with respect to a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath day, 17 which are a shadow of the things to come, but the body of the Messiah. 18 Let no one rob you of your prize by self-abasement and worshiping of the angels, dwelling in the things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 19 and not holding firmly to the Head, from whom all the body, being supplied and knit together through the joints and ligaments, grows with Elohim’s growth. 20 If you died with Messiah from the elements of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to ordinances, 21 “Don’t handle, nor taste, nor touch,” 22 all of which perish with use, according to the precepts and doctrines of men? 23 These things indeed appear like wisdom in self-imposed worship, humility, and severity to the body; but aren’t of any value against the indulgence of the flesh. 3:1 If then you were raised together with Messiah, seek the things that are above, where Messiah is, seated on the right hand of Elohim. 2 Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the land. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Messiah in Elohim. 4 When Messiah, our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory.

Matthew 21:13 He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers!”

Mark 11:17 He taught, saying to them, “Isn’t it written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations?’ But you have made it a den of robbers!”

Luke 19:46 saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of robbers’!”

18:15 YHWH your Elohim will raise up to you a prophet from among you, of your brothers, like me. You will listen to him. 16 This is according to all that you desired of YHWH your Elohim in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, “Let me not hear again YHWH my Elohim’s voice, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I not die.” 17 YHWH said to me, “They have well said that which they have spoken. 18 I will raise them up a prophet from among their brothers, like you. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will speak to them all that I will command him. 19 It will happen, that whoever will not listen to my words which he will speak in my name, I will require it of him. 20 But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other elohim, that same prophet will die.” 21 You may say in your heart, “How will we know the word which YHWH has not spoken?” 22 When a prophet speaks in YHWH’s name, if the thing doesn’t follow, nor happen, that is the thing which YHWH has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You will not be afraid of him.

Daniel 10:12 Then he said to me, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel; for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your Elohim, your words were heard. I have come for your words’ sake. 13 But the prince of the reign of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; but, behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me because I remained there with the kings of Persia…”

Daniel 12:1; At that time Michael will stand up, the great prince who stands for the children of your people; and there will be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time. At that time your people will be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book.

Jude 1:8 Yet in the same way, these also in their dreaming defile the flesh, despise authority, and speak evil of glories. 9 But Michael, the archangel, when contending with the devil and arguing about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him an abusive condemnation, but said, “May the Lord rebuke you!” 10 But these speak evil of whatever things they don’t know. They are destroyed in these things that they understand naturally, like the creatures without reason.

Revelation 12:7 There was war in the heavens. Michael and his angels made war on the dragon. The dragon and his angels made war. 8 They didn’t prevail. No place was found for them any more in the heavens. 9 The great dragon was thrown down, the old nachash, he who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down to the land, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 I heard a loud voice in the heavens, saying, “Now the salvation, the power, and the Kingdom of our Elohim, and the authority of his Messiah has come; for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them before our Elohim day and night. 11 They overcame him because of the Lamb’s blood, and because of the word of their witness. They didn’t love their life, even to death. 12 Therefore rejoice, the heavens, and you who dwell in them. Woe to the land and to the sea, because the devil has gone down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has but a short time.”

Additional Readings​

2 Esdras, consisting of chapters 3-14, (also called 4 Esdras, Latin Esdras, or Latin Ezra) is the name of a book in many English versions of the Bible. Its authorship is ascribed to Ezra, a scribe and priest of the 5th century B.C., although modern scholarship places its composition between 70 and 218 A.D.. It is reckoned among the apocrypha by Roman Catholics, Protestants, and most Eastern Orthodox Christians. The Ethiopian Church considers 4 Ezra to be canonical, written during the Babylonian captivity, and calls it “Izra Sutuel” (ዕዝራ ሱቱኤል). It was also often cited by the Fathers of the Church. In the Eastern Armenian tradition it is called 3 Ezra.

1:13 The Lord says, of a truth I brought you through the sea, and where there was no path I made for you highways; I gave you Moses for a leader, and Aaron for a priest. 14 I gave you light in a pillar of fire, and great wonders have I done among you; yet have you forgotten me, says the Lord.

Enoch 20:1 And these are the names of the holy angels who watch. 2. Uriel, one of the holy angels, who is over the world and over Tartaros*. 3. Raphael, one of the holy angels, who is over the spirits of men. 4. Raguel, one of the holy angels who †takes vengeance on† the world of the luminaries. 5. Michael, one of the holy angels, to wit, he that is set over the best part of mankind ⌈⌈and⌉⌉ over chaos. 6. Saraqâêl, one of the holy angels, who is set over the spirits, who sin in the spirit. 7. Gabriel, one of the holy angels, who is over Paradise and the nachashim and the keruvim. 8. Remiel, one of the holy angels, whom Elohim set over those who rise.

*1 Kepha (Peter) 2:4 For if Elohim didn’t spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartaros, and committed them to pits of darkness to be reserved for judgment…

Enoch 40:1 And after that I saw thousands of thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand, I saw a multitude beyond number and reckoning, who stood before the Lord of Spirits. 2. And on the four sides of the Lord of Spirits I saw four faces, different from those that sleep not, and I learnt their names: for the angel that went with me made known to me their names, and showed me all the hidden things. 3. And I heard the voices of those four faces as they uttered praises before the Lord of glory. 4. The first voice blesses the Lord of Spirits for ever and ever. 5. And the second voice I heard blessing the Elect One and the elect ones who hang upon the Lord of Spirits. 6. And the third voice I heard pray and intercede for those who dwell on the land and supplicate in the name of the Lord of Spirits. 7. And I heard the fourth voice fending off the Satans and forbidding them to come before the Lord of Spirits to accuse them who dwell on the land. 8. After that I asked the angel of peace who went with me, who showed me everything that is hidden: ‘Who are these four faces which I have seen and whose words I have heard and written down?’ 9. And he said to me: ‘This first is Michael, the merciful and long-suffering: and the second, who is set over all the diseases and all the wounds of the children of men, is Raphael: and the third, who is set over all the powers, is Gabriel: and the fourth, who is set over the repentance unto hope of those who inherit eternal life, is named Phanuel.’ And these are the four angels of the Lord of Spirits and the four voices I heard in those days.

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Josephus was born Joseph ben Mattathias in 37 AD in Jerusalem of a priestly and royal family. He excelled in his studies of Jewish law and studied with the Sadducees, Pharisees, and the Essenes, eventually aligning himself with the Pharisees. In 62 AD he went to Rome to free some imprisoned priests. After accomplishing this mission through the intercession of Nero’s wife, Poppaea, he returned to Jerusalem in 65 AD to find the country in revolt against Rome. Josephus shrewdly reinterpreted the Messianic prophecies. He predicted that Vespasian would become the ruler of the ‘entire world’. His prophecy became true in 68 AD when Nero committed suicide and Vespasian became Ceasar. As a result, Josephus was freed; he moved to Rome and became a Roman citizen, taking the Vespasian family name Flavius. Vespasian commissioned Josephus to write a history of the war, which he finished in 78 AD, the Jewish War. His second major work, the Antiquities of the Jews, was completed in 93 AD. The extant manuscripts of the book Antiquities of the Jews contain two references to Yeshua of Nazareth (18.3.3. and 20.9.1.) and one reference to the imprisonment and death of John the Baptist (18.5.2.).

2.13.1. So Moses, when he understood that the Pharaoh, in whose reign he fled away, was dead, asked leave of Raguel to go to Egypt, for the benefit of his own people. And he took with him Zipporah, the daughter of Raguel, whom he had married, and the children he had by her, Gersom and Eleazer, and made haste into Egypt. Now the former of those names, Gersom, in the Hebrew tongue, signifies that he was in a strange land; and Eleazer, that, by the assistance of the Elohim of his fathers, he had escaped from the Egyptians. Now when they were near the borders, Aaron his brother, by the command of Elohim, met him, to whom he declared what had befallen him at the mountain, and the commands that Elohim had given him. But as they were going forward, the chief men among the Hebrews, having learned that they were coming, met them: to whom Moses declared the signs he had seen; and while they could not believe them, he made them see them, So they took courage at these surprising and unexpected sights, and hoped well of their entire deliverance, as believing now that Elohim took care of their preservation.

2.13.2. Since then Moses found that the Hebrews would be obedient to whatsoever he should direct, as they promised to be, and were in love with liberty, he came to the king, who had indeed but lately received the government, and told him how much he had done for the good of the Egyptians, when they were despised by the Ethiopians, and their country laid waste by them; and how he had been the commander of their forces, and had labored for them, as if they had been his own people and he informed him in what danger he had been during that expedition, without having any proper returns made him as he had deserved. He also informed him distinctly what things happened to him at Mount Sinai; and what Elohim said to him; and the signs that were done by Elohim, in order to assure him of the authority of those commands which he had given him. He also exhorted him not to disbelieve what he told him, nor to oppose the will of Elohim.

2.13.3. But when the king derided Moses; he made him in earnest see the signs that were done at Mount Sinai. Yet was the king very angry with him and called him an ill man, who had formerly run away from his Egyptian slavery, and came now back with deceitful tricks, and wonders, and magical arts, to astonish him. And when he had said this, he commanded the priests to let him see the same wonderful sights; as knowing that the Egyptians were skillful in this kind of learning, and that he was not the only person who knew them, and pretended them to be divine; as also he told him, that when he brought such wonderful sights before him, he would only be believed by the unlearned. Now when the priests threw down their rods, they became nachashim. But Moses was not daunted at it; and said, “O king, I do not myself despise the wisdom of the Egyptians, but I say that what I do is so much superior to what these do by magic arts and tricks, as Divine power exceeds the power of man: but I will demonstrate that what I do is not done by craft, or counterfeiting what is not really true, but that they appear by the providence and power of Elohim.” And when he had said this, he cast his rod down upon the ground, and commanded it to turn itself into a nachash. It obeyed him, and went all round, and devoured the rods of the Egyptians, which seemed to be dragons, until it had consumed them all. It then returned to its own form, and Moses took it into his hand again.

2.13.4. However, the king was no more moved when was done than before; and being very angry, he said that he should gain nothing by this his cunning and shrewdness against the Egyptians;—and he commanded him that was the chief taskmaster over the Hebrews, to give them no relaxation from their labors, but to compel them to submit to greater oppressions than before; and though he allowed them chaff before for making their bricks, he would allow it them no longer, but he made them to work hard at brick-making in the day-time, and to gather chaff in the night. Now when their labor was thus doubled upon them, they laid the blame upon Moses, because their labor and their misery were on his account become more severe to them. But Moses did not let his courage sink for the king’s threatenings; nor did he abate of his zeal on account of the Hebrews’ complaints; but he supported himself, and set his soul resolutely against them both, and used his own utmost diligence to procure liberty to his countrymen. So he went to the king, and persuaded him to let the Hebrews go to Mount Sinai, and there to sacrifice to Elohim, because Elohim had enjoined them so to do. He persuaded him also not to counterwork the designs of Elohim, but to esteem his favor above all things, and to permit them to depart, lest, before he be aware, he lay an obstruction in the way of the Divine commands, and so occasion his own suffering such punishments as it was probable any one that counterworked the Divine commands should undergo, since the severest afflictions arise from every object to those that provoke the Divine wrath against them; for such as these have neither the land nor the air for their friends; nor are the fruits of the womb according to nature, but every thing is unfriendly and adverse towards them. He said further, that the Egyptians should know this by sad experience; and that besides, the Hebrew people should go out of their country without their consent.