Exodus 14:14 The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent."
The Hebrew language contains numerous words that have the same root yet vast differences in meaning. On deeper examination however, these words can be related in illuminating ways. For example, the three Hebrew letters --"Lamed", "Chet", and "Mem"-- which spell, "lechem", or "bread" in English, are also the root letters for "fight" (lehilachem) and "war" (milchama). For centuries Rabbis have discussed and debated the connection between these three words.
Some Rabbis wrote that ancient wars were primarily fought over bread (economic/sustenance). Others wrote that in order to make bread, you have to beat or kneed the dough. Still others suggested that man first has to sweat and struggle for his daily bread from the ground [Genesis 3:19], and then again, struggle with his fellow man to keep it. These explanations begin to establish a possible connection...
Interestingly, the book of Exodus contains these root-related words within a span of three chapters. As the children of Israel were leaving Egypt they found themselves surrounded, with the Red Sea before them and the army of Egypt behind. At this critical point Exodus 14:14 declares, "YHVH will fight for you (yilachem lachem); and you will be silent."
Then, Moses and Miriam's victory song in chapter 15 exults, "YHVH is a man of war", "YHVH Milchama."
Further on in Exodus 16, we read that God provided bread (lechem) from heaven!
We can begin to observe that the root letters of words in the Hebrew language are not haphazard or accidental. And while it may seem obscure, what we find in these chapters in Exodus, words derived from the the same root, ("lamed", "chet", "mem") actually foreshadow a New Testament reality in the life, identity and work of Yeshua the Messiah, who is the perfect image and expression of YHVH. John 6:48 reveals Yeshua's (Jesus') identity as our bread ("lechem") of life; then, Revelation 19:11 reveals a "rider... called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war (milchama").
Know that the Lord has you covered in every way! He is the one who FIGHTS for you, and the one who PROVIDES for your every need. The "root connection" between these two words can be no accident when we realize that the Living Word Himself gave them as a testimony to these essential aspects of His love and care for us.
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]Our little Elianna is not a baby anymore, someone reminded us recently as we were saying something in passing about “our baby”. Boy do they grow fast.
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For those of you who’ve been following our travels, we’ve been on the West Coast for a couple of weeks now. Yesterday, we took some visiting family to the Grand Canyon for a little day trip -- and words can hardly express the beauty of this marvelous sight.
Some of you know the miraculous story of our daughter Elianna. She was born blind, with a rare eye condition called bilateral vitreous hemorrhage. We didn't even realize it until she was three months old. When we went to the doctors in Israel, they advised an immediate risky surgery. We quickly went to the Lord in prayer and fasting for her healing. Low and behold, the Lord began to heal our little one!! Today, three years later, we're overjoyed to say that despite the fact that her vision is not yet perfect, she is a thriving and beautifully developing child!
Ever since the Garden of Eden where the story began and our first parents sinned, fear has permeated humankind. The fracturing of relationships, God to man, man to man, man to woman, engendered a universal pandemic of fear and alienation. Fear supplied the Adversary, Satan ("satan" means adversary in Hebrew) with a powerful means for control, manipulation, and deception of fallen humanity, with nearly infinite varieties of expression.
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