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Monday, 20 April 2020
God sees and knows

Question of the day: What is the fuller meaning of the last verse of Exodus 2?

Answer: Exodus 2:25 "God saw Bnei-Yisrael, and He was concerned about them." First "God saw ..." This is one of God's names, Yehovah Yireh. We translate that "God is my provider." But it really means "God sees" or "God will see to it." God saw the affliction of the children of Israel.

Then the TLV says God was "concerned." Not such a great translation. The Hebrew root is Yada meaning God "knew." What did God know? Everything! God always knows everything. There is nothing He doesn't know.

God has no learning curve. When we pray, we are not informing God of anything. We are informing ourselves in God's presence. God knew the bondage and suffering of the children of Israel. He used that suffering to form them into a distinct people.

Meanwhile, Moses was on the back side of the desert in a way in his own bondage. Then in chapter 3 God appears to Moses from a bush that burned but was not burned up. Moses is called by God to return to Egypt and set the captives free. The rest (as the saying goes) is history.

Posted By Rabbi Michael Weiner, 10:04am Comment Comments: 0