A Higher Power
Nowadays we generally use the term “God” to refer to the Judeo Christian God. For us it is not a general term but rather a specific noun.
In ancient times, however, it was more common to have multiple Gods; in which case the word “God” did not refer to any specific entity but rather it was used as a more general term.
So what exactly did the word “God” mean?
“God” meant a higher power that influenced your life.
Thus Pharaoh considered himself a God because he essentially was one.
He was a man-made God created by his subjects.
A God created by those who worshipped him.
For in essence Pharaoh had no power over the You that is truly you.
He had no power in the objective reality - in the world to come.
Rather, like any other king or ruler, he had power because the people gave it to him.
He had power because the people believed in him.
Moshe came to Pharaoh and said that יהוה had sent him. יהוה is the term for Hashem that relates Him to היה הוה ויהיה - was, is, and will be. It is the name of God that is transcendent above subjectivity. It says that our God is above the subjective viewpoint, above a point in time.
In fact our God transcends time itself.
יהוה is even higher than objective reality although objective truth is one of His highest manifestations as we are taught ״חותמו של הקב״ה אמת״.
Pharaoh was not familiar with the idea of an objective reality and didn’t think it was possible for us to tap into such a thing.
He therefore told Moshe and Ahron ״לא ידעתי את יהוה״.
To which they replied that they’d been sent by ״אלהי העברים״.
Chazal teach us the meaning of the word עברי:
כתוב "ויגד לאברם העברי", רבי יהודה אומר: כל העולם כולו מעבר אחד והוא מעבר אחד
It is written, "And he told Abram the Ivri,” (What is the meaning of the word Ivri?) Rabbi Yehuda says: The whole world is on one side and he is on the other.
Essentially they told Pharaoh that they knew the rest of the world did not agree with them, but they would still stand firm on their beliefs.
We shall continue on no matter what everyone else thinks, and the water shall split before us.
Chag Sameach!!
