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The parasha
for this Shabbat is entitled Bo meaning
“Go!” and takes us through Exodus chapters 10
through most of 13. We have already seen the depths
of cruelty to which this pharaoh was capable of
sinking. His efforts at forced population control
through infanticide failed. The ongoing enslavement
of the sons of Israel was made yet more cruel
when Pharaoh increased their work load by requiring
them to gather their own straw, yet without any
reduction in the quota of bricks they must daily
produce. God was not unaware of these things.
He heard the cries of our people. He also remembered
the covenant He had made with Abraham. Four centuries
earlier, God said to Abraham: Know for certain
that your descendants will be strangers in a land
that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved
and oppressed four hundred years. But I will also
judge the nation whom they will serve; and afterward
they will come out with many possessions... in
the fourth generation they shall return here,
for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete
(Gen. 15:13-14, 16).
The time
was at hand. God intended to make good His word.
But Pharaoh was not about to accede to demands
that he free all his slaves. He would not willingly
let Israel go. His heart was hardened. For refusing
to heed God’s warning, horrific plagues came upon
the land of Egypt. We have learned of seven of
them thus far: blood, frogs, lice or gnats, swarms
of insects, the death of almost all of Egypt’s
livestock, painful boils on the bodies of the
Egyptians, deadly hail destroying the few surviving
animals and all of Egypt’s crops.
We find
two constants throughout this narrative. The first
is Pharaoh’s stubbornness and deceit. At first
he simply refuses to let Israel go. Later, when
the cumulative effect of the plagues takes its
toll, he pleads with Moses and Aaron to intercede
with God, promising to let Israel go if the plague
will just cease. And repeatedly, as soon as the
plague is over, he goes back on his word. The
second constant throughout this narrative is that
Goshen, the city where the Jews all lived, is
shielded repeatedly from these plagues. It had
become pretty obvious to the Egyptians that the
God of the Israelites was protecting them while
pouring out judgment on the rest of the land.
Chapter
ten chronicles the 8th and 9th plagues. Swarms
of locusts cover the surface of the entire country,
like nothing that had ever been seen before. What
few crops remained from the hail were now being
completely devoured. Pharaoh, in a panic, hurriedly
summons Moses and Aaron and confesses his sin,
asking them to pray to the Lord. They do so, and
again, the plague ceases almost instantaneously,
and yet again Pharaoh reneges on his word. God
then tells Moses to stretch out his hand toward
the sky, and suddenly darkness settles over the
entire country - a darkness so thick it could
be felt! No one went anywhere. For three days
no one could see a thing! Only in Goshen, where
the sons of Israel dwelt, was there light. Pharaoh
summons Moses again, and tries to negotiate his
way out of this, but Moses is firm: all the Israelites
must be allowed to go, as well as all their cattle.
Pharaoh becomes furious and sends Moses out, warning
him that if he shows his face again he will die.
Moses confirms that Pharaoh will never again see
his face. God has one last plague in store, and
it will be the most painful of all.
In chapters
11 and 12 God gives very specific instructions
to Moses and Israel. They must be followed “to
the letter”, for this tenth plague will mean the
death of every first-born throughout the land
of Egypt. The Lord said, About midnight I am
going out into the midst of Egypt, and all the
first-born in the land of Egypt shall die, from
the first-born of the Pharaoh who sits on his
throne, even to the first-born of the slave girl
who is behind the millstones; all the first-born
of the cattle as well. Moreover, there shall be
a great cry in all the land of Egypt, such as
there has not been before and such a shall never
be again. But against any of the sons of Israel
a dog shall not even bark... that you may understand
how the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt
and Israel (11:4-7a).
However,
Israel’s first-born would only be spared if they
followed God’s instructions. Each family was to
take a year old male lamb - one without any blemish
at all. The lamb was to be brought into the house
on the 10th of Nisan. At twilight on the 14th
of Nisan that lamb was to be killed. The blood
of that perfect year-old male lamb was to be put
on the outside lintel and doorposts of the house.
The lamb was to be roasted, not boiled, it was
to be eaten in haste with unleavened bread and
bitter herbs. We were to eat it with sandals fastened,
staff in hand, dressed and ready to go, and not
a single bone of the lamb was to be broken. It
was the Lord’s Passover. It was to be a perpetual
statute. Every generation will observe it and
teach it to their children.
And that
is precisely what happened. 430 years to the day
from the time our people came into Egypt, we went
out. That night God went through the land and
all the first-born of Egypt died - all who did
not have the blood of a spotless lamb applied
to their doors. According to God’s instructions,
we also requested articles of silver and gold
from the Egyptians and they were more than happy
to give them - if we would just leave and leave
quickly (12:33-36). Israel left Egypt a mixed
multitude (12:38) and I believe it is, in part,
because the Egyptians witnessed the power of God
over all the Egyptians gods, and at the same time
the protection of God over His people. It is possible
that some Egyptians were warned about the coming
tenth plague, and came under the protection of
those blood-protected Israeli homes.
About
1,475 years later it required the death of another
spotless male Lamb, in the prime of His life to
bring about salvation, this time not only for
Israel, but also for the nations. Like those first
lambs, He was flawless. Just as those lambs were
observed in the home for three or four days before
Passover, so this Lamb would be on public display
for three or four years before the Passover on
which He was put to death. Just as none of the
bones of those lambs were to be broken, so not
one of His bones was broken. And just as the terms
for our salvation out of Egypt were not open for
negotiation, so this Lamb is the only means by
which we may be saved. This Lamb has a name: Yeshua.
He died on Passover in complete fulfillment of
the symbolism of Passover. His blood, applied
to our lives, promises that God will pass over
our sins, and we ourselves will pass over from
death to eternal life. That’s what we commemorate
this morning.
The parasha
is called Bo, meaning “Go!”. There are three “goings”
to consider this morning. God told Moses to GO
to Pharaoh. After God’s signs and wonders, Pharaoh
at last told our people to GO. We, like Israel
of old, have the blood covering, and are thus
shielded from God’s judgment. But what of those
still outside? If we do not want to see our neighbors
perish, we need to GO and tell them about Yeshua,
and urge them to come under His covering. Will
you?
Shalom,
Rabbi Glenn
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