Parashat Bo (Come)

Shemot (Exodus) 10:1–13:16

The Hebrew Scriptures (Tanakh) are full of references that connect to Messiah, and point to His fulfillment of the perfect, unblemished Lamb. In this week's scripture portion, we find many of these connections, but I want to focus on verses 5 and 6 in Exodus 12:

Your lamb shall be an unblemished (perfect) male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight. (between the evening or afternoon)

Exodus 12:5-6

There are three main points that I would like to highlight from these verses, because they directly point to Messiah Yeshua, and how He fulfilled the prophetic image of the Lamb:

1. The “Unblemished Lamb” here in Hebrew is translated as “Seh Tamim.” The Hebrew word "tamim" refers to honesty, simplicity, innocence, completeness, integrity, and without any flaw or defect. You can find a similar description also in Deuteronomy 15:21,

   But if it has any defect, such as lameness or blindness, or any serious defect, you shall not sacrifice it to the LORD your God.

   Isaiah 53 speaks of a person, which we know is the Messiah, that the LORD would use as a "lamb that is led to the slaughter” and would pay the penalty of sin for all of us:

   All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth.

   Isaiah 53:6–7

   The disciples also referred to Yeshua in a similar way:

   The next day he saw Yeshua coming to him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

   John 1:29

   and…

   …knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Messiah.

   1 Peter 1:18–19

2. Specific instructions on how to keep and slaughter the lamb:

   The instruction here was to take the lamb on the 10th of the month, and then keep it (or watch over it) until the 14th of the month. For what reason? I believe that it was in order to check or observe it and make sure that there was nothing wrong with it. In Matthew 22:15–33, just a few days before Yeshua gave Himself as the Sacrificed Lamb, the Pharisees and the Sadducees were questioning Yeshua on different issues so as to "check" Him and observe Him.

3. The command to slaughter the lamb at twilight (between the evenings):

   The command here was to “kill it between the evenings” or in other words, in the afternoon. It makes sense then that Matthew recorded the time that Yeshua was on the tree (Cross) in these words,

   Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour.

   Matthew 27:45

My dear friends, the more we read and learn of the amazing work of our Messiah, the more we will see the perfect fulfillment of every detail!

I leave you with two questions: Do you know Him? Have you received His perfect sacrifice as an atonement for your sin?

Shabbat Shalom,
Moran