Illustration: "Moses Breaking the Tablets of the Law"By Gustave Dor'e
Throughout this series of articles in the Jerusalem Post we have tried to focus on themes which appear, not only in the Book of Exodus, but throughout the Torah. One of these themes had to do with wetness (i.e. water) and dryness. We noted that water was a metaphor for explanations about God, while dryness was associated with heaven, the way to the Promised Land and higher levels of understanding. So, in the very first chapter of Exodus we see that Pharaoh wants to kill the new born males of the Israelites by throwing them into the Nile River and, of course, in the Book of Genesis, God used water to cleanse the earth.
Thus, it should be no surprise that God did not want to provide the Israelites with water on their journey thru Sinai. We explained that the reason Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land was because he provided the Israelites with water and not, as the rabbis teach, that he struck the rock with his staff. In fact, we saw that the text says Moses was instructed to strike the rock with his staff. We also discussed that when Moses struck the rock, he cried out in Hebrew: “you fallen ones” and not “you rebels” as most English versions incorrectly claim. Thus the water of explanations brought the Israelites to a lower level of understanding than they would have attained if they had remained dry.
In addition, we noted that Moses, although his name means: "drawn from the water", does not actually touch the water (i.e. Moses should always be associated with: “dryness”). We also commented on the fact that if the words of Moses were like a heavy rain, then Moses himself, as the source of that rain, must be associated with a cloud (clouds, of course, should be associated with the sky).
Another theme we dealt with was the use of blood to remove sin. Even in modern times, death and darkness are associated with ignorance, while life and light are associated intelligence. So, when in the Book of Genesis says that Eve was the mother of all life, this clearly is a metaphor because Eve was certainly not the mother of the animals and she wasn’t even the mother of Adam. Thus, what we are actually being told is that women are to be associated with spiritual mediums and that Eve was not the mother of all life, but rather the mother of all understanding. Hence it was not “good” that Adam be alone. Eve, as a spiritual medium made from Adam’s bone put him into closer contact with God the source of good. Accordingly, the Hebrew word for: “bone” has the same root as the Hebrew words for: “tree” and “advisor” and we explained in several articles that a tree is a metaphor for a teacher. Furthermore, we talked about the Bible saying that the soul is in the blood and, of course, the bone is the part of the body which produces blood.
We then also discussed that the wife of Moses was also a spiritual medium because she is described as the daughter of a priest and her name was “Zipporah” which means: “female bird”. Therefore she was an intermediary with the levels of understanding called: earth and sky. Thus even in Modern times we say: “the earth is a school” and the Hebrew words for “sky” and for “heaven” are the same.
Furthermore, we talked about the connection between a first born son, first fruits and the word of God in connection to the Holy Day of “Shavout”. In addition, we discussed the story of David and Bathsheba and noted the connection between lambs and messages from God. Thus Joseph was the son of Rachel, who was compared to an Ewe, and thus had the ability to interpret dreams sent by God.
http://www.jpost.com/Blogs/Torah-Commentaries/Metaphors-in-the-Torah-Bathsheba-and-the-Lamb-389885
Hence, since the Hebrew word for both: "angel" and for: "messenger" have the same root, this suggests that by placing the blood of a lamb on the door posts of the homes of the Israelites this prevented the angel of death from entering the home and killing the first born son. In other word: the angel of death is a metaphor for ignorance and the first born sons are a metaphor for the words of God. Thus, the spirit of God, represented by the blood of the lamb, prevents ignorance from contaminating the beliefs of the Israelites.By the way, I would just like to mention here that it is my personal opinion that the name: "Hebrews" means: "the Pregnant Ones" because they carry within them the seed of God's word....
Naturally, we also spoke a great deal about food and demonstrated that in the Book of Exodus, and throughout the Torah, each food represents a specific type of knowledge. So, for example: “milk” represented: “easy to understand spiritual teachings”; “honey” represented: “easy to accept spiritual teachings” and “meat” represented: “sermons based on the teachings of men”.
Finally, we spoke about the relevance of the Torah in the 21st century and tried to demonstrate that the materials, dimensions, colors etc., etc. discussed in the Book of Exodus are designed to reinforce the theme that “God is a teacher” since the Hebrew word “Moriah” is derived from the same root as the Hebrew word for “teacher” and Mount Moriah is also referred to as: “God’s Mountain”.
According, gold, silver and bronze each represent different types of teachings and that the numbers in the dimensions should be compared to the names and order of birth of Jacob’s sons based upon the marital status of their respective mothers.
http://www.jpost.com/Blogs/Torah-Commentaries/-393307
Thus, it is my personal opinion, that the major theme of, not only the Book of Exodus, but all the books of the Torah is: "The teachings of God versus the teachings of men". So, we see Joseph’s brothers rising up against him when he claims to have received messages from God, we see the Children of Israel creating their own God when Moses fails to return from Mount Horeb (which in Hebrew means “dry”). And in the future, we shall see the Children of Israel following the ten dishonest spies instead of entering the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.