Chavurat Derekh HaMashiach

The Road to Freedom: Harriet Tubman, Moses, Yeshua, and the Courage to Walk People Home”

I had just finished watching the film Harriet — a stunning, emotionally charged portrayal of Harriet Tubman’s life — when I realized something remarkable. Without planning it, I watched the movie during the very week we read Parashah B’shallach, the Torah portion where Moses leads Israel out of Egypt and toward the Red Sea.

The timing wasn’t coincidence. It felt like an invitation.Harriet Tubman’s story, Moses’ journey in B’shallach, and the mission of Yeshua all converge around one theme: God raises deliverers in every generation — people who walk into danger so others can walk into freedom.

Moses: The Reluctant LiberatorIn B’shallach, Moses stands at the threshold of the impossible. Pharaoh’s army behind him, the sea in front of him, and a terrified nation looking to him for answers. Moses didn’t choose this role; he grew into it through obedience, humility, and trust.Harriet Tubman’s path mirrors that same reluctant courage. After escaping slavery, she could have stayed safe in the North. Instead, like Moses returning to Egypt, she went back — again and again — to lead others out. She didn’t see herself as a hero. She simply followed the voice of God as she understood it.

Both Moses and Harriet teach us that freedom is not complete until everyone can walk out with you.

Yeshua: The Deliverer Who Enters the DarknessWhere Moses and Harriet show us courage, Yeshua shows us the heart behind it. He didn’t liberate from a distance. He stepped into human suffering, confronted injustice, and lifted the oppressed. His deliverance wasn’t just escape from bondage — it was transformation of the human heart.

Harriet’s faith reflected this same intimacy. She spoke to God as if He were walking beside her in the woods. She trusted His guidance with a simplicity that confounded those around her. Her mission wasn’t political strategy; it was spiritual obedience.Modern Echoes: Contemporary “Moses Figures”

The spirit of deliverance didn’t end in the 19th century. It rises wherever people refuse to let fear dictate their obedience.-

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who led a nation toward justice knowing he might not see the promised land. – Malala Yousafzai, who risked her life so girls could learn freely. –

Bryan Stevenson, who fights for the dignity of the incarcerated and forgotten. –

Humanitarian workers in conflict zones who evacuate civilians under fire.These figures don’t replace Moses, Yeshua, or Harriet. They reveal that the call to deliverance is still alive — still costly — and still necessary.

A Thread Woven Through TimeWhat binds these stories together isn’t heroism. It’s obedience.Moses obeyed a voice from a burning bush. Yeshua obeyed the Father even unto death. Harriet obeyed the quiet whisper she called “the Lord’s voice,” even when it led her down paths she didn’t understand.

Deliverance always begins with a trembling yes.

Why This Matters During B’shallach

B’shallach is the portion where the sea splits, but it’s also the portion where fear nearly sends Israel back into slavery. Freedom is never just a physical journey — it’s an emotional and spiritual one.

Watching Harriet during this week made that truth feel sharper, more alive. The Exodus isn’t ancient history. It’s a pattern God repeats through people who are willing to step into darkness carrying light.

A Call to Us

You don’t need a staff, a railroad, or a global platform to be a deliverer. You need willingness. You need compassion. You need the courage to take one step toward someone who can’t take it alone.

Harriet Tubman once said, “I never ran my train off the track, and I never lost a passenger.” That wasn’t pride — it was trust. The same God who guided Moses through the sea and Yeshua through the grave guided her through the night.

And He still guides those who dare to follow Him into the work of freedom.