בס”ד
Parashat Bo (Come) Exodus 10:1-13:16
Haftarah: Jeremiah 46:13-28
In this week’s Torah portion one learns about the festival of Passover. One of the most important parts of the first observance of Passover was placing the blood of the sacrificed lamb upon the doorposts (mezuzot),
“And you shall take a bunch of hyssop and you shall dip it in the blood which is in the basin and you shall touch (apply the blood) to the lintel and the two doorposts (mezuzot) with the blood which is in the basin and you shall not go out from, anyone, from the door of the house until morning.” Exodus 12:22
Blood is of course necessary for redemption. Hence placing the blood on the doorposts (mezuzot) was to be a sign to the death angel not to strike the house with death (the plague of the firstborn). Later on in the Torah, one learns about an additional commandment concerning the doorposts. In speaking about the commandments Hashem instructs the children of Israel,
“And you shall write them upon the doorposts (mezuzot) of your house and upon your gates.”
Deuteronomy 6:9
Why were the children of Israel commanded to place the blood of redemption in the same place as they were commanded to write the commandments of G-d? The answer is, to show that there is an important relationship between redemption and the commandments. All too often believers in Messiah Yeshua think that because they were redeemed by the blood of Yeshua (Our Passover Lamb, 1 Cor. 5:7) that the Torah commandments now are not relevant to them. Even though one is not saved / redeemed by the observance of the commandments they are still the word of G-d. The task of every believer is to study each of the 613 Torah commandments under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, for the purpose of glorifying HaShem, and learn how to apply these commandments to one’s life.
In other words, it is learning what Paul says in Romans chapter 7 and verse 6,
“But now we are delivered from the Torah that being dead by what enslaved us that we should serve in the newness of the spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.”
The Torah commandments brought death to man, because each person violated them; but by means of redemption which Messiah Yeshua earned for the believer, there is the forgiveness of sin. It is only through the Holy Spirit Who writes the Torah upon the believer’s heart and empowers the believer to walk with G-d, can one now fulfill the RIGHTEOUS OF THE LAW (See Roman 8:4). This is why Paul also writes in Romans chapter 7 and verse 14,
“For we know that the Torah is spiritual, but (the unredeemed) man is carnal and in bondage to sin.”
Hence, by means of redemption, one finds a relevance to the Torah that the unredeemed man cannot know.
Shabbat Shalom
3 Comments on “Parashat Bo (Come) Exodus 10:1-13:16”
Hello Baruch;
I have found your blog a great resource. However, I am wondering who hath “bewitched you” in writing this weeks Blog? Receiving Yashua gets us “past the curse of the law”. Galatians clearly points this out. Also, if one teaches the law today, he ministers “death”. See 2 Cor chapter 3. In truth, we receive back to what “first Adam” had. There was no law. G-d gave “the Law” because of the sin. Now, certainly, if one observes the Law, he will have peace on earth, but it has nothing to do with walking “in Him” today, except to show that we need salvation. The Law is for the carnal mind. And in one’s carnality they can look “good”, but they aren’t unless they have received the new birth. Paul, the Apostle writes, “And I brethren, If I yet preach circumcision (the Law), Why do I suffer persecution? then is the offense of the cross ceased. Be Free Brother. Free to Love G-d and Love your neighbor out of a new heart.
Blessings! “Whom the Son sets free is free indeed”
Shalom Brian; The mistake many people make in efforting to understanding Scripture is a lack of proper translation of words upon which sometimes hinge the very meaning of entire chapters. For example the Greek word PLERUE=transliteration, when Yeshua says “Do not think that I have come to distroy the Torah and the Prophets, (and by the way the term Torah is always translated wrong as LAW when it does not mean law.) for I have come to give them their full meaning”. The word Plerue is correctly translated full meaning, or to put it as it appears in the original Aramaic “I came to fill full it’s meaning.” So you see Brian, Yeshua gave Himself to take the curse of breaking the Torah (which includes the law) upon Himself so that we who put our trust in Him are free to obey Torah in the complete liberty His sacrifice affords us. Forgivness of sin is through His shed blood, oh by the way the blood thing is a commandment of Yah, ” There is no forgivness of sin without the shedding of blood”. So we do not have to die because we fall short, our curse was put on Him and the living word shows us himself throughout the written word. He Yeshua is the very word you say He did away with on the cross. If we “Live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of G-D”. Research it, think about it, reexamine what you hold to be the meaning of some of the mistranslated words in the Scriptures. Shalom
Shalom Brian,
I hope that I have not been “bewitched” as you state, as I take to heart the issue of Galatians chapter three when Paul uses the same term in speaking to those who were in error in believing that observance of the Torah had a part in one being redeemed. I fully believe that it is only by means of Messiah’s blood, to which the Cross testifies that salvation becomes available to man. Of course one must respond to Messiah Yeshua as Paul states in Romans 10:9-10.
I also fully agree that it is by receiving Yeshua that one is set free from the curse of the Law. In your response you state that those who teach the Law today are ministers of death. If one teaches that observance of the Law brings about salvation, I totally agree with you that such a one is a minister of death. However, this is not what I suggested in the most recent blog. I simply pointed out in the same place that the blood of the Passover lamb was placed, so too does the Torah command one to write the commandments.
The point I attempted to make was simply that redemption must come before obedience. You write the Law is for the carnal mind, when in fact the verse I quoted from Romans chapter 7 states the opposite. Paul says many positive things about the Law; for example in Romans 7:12 he uses the words holy, just/righteous, and good. The key is to understand the proper purposes of the Law. You state one such purpose, to show us our sin, but there are other uses for the Torah.
In my opinion, your error is assuming that I, in some way, am advocating the Law as a means of justification. For this is the context for your comment concerning circumcision—that those who said unless one is circumcised according to the Law that one cannot be saved. IN NO WAY WHATSOEVER do I believe this or could one conclude that I believe that through the performance of the commandments one could be saved. What I do believe is that believer in Yeshua should study the entire Bible and wrestle with how one can apply the word of G-d to one’s life, obviously under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Most Christians have never heard of the Mezuzah and have not considered the significance of this commandment in walking with Messiah. Every time I see a Mezuzah on a door post I remember things such as hospitality and teaching my children the things of G-d. It is a beautiful commandment, and although one is not obligated to affix one to the door post of one’s home, to do so can be a great reminder of some of the very things that Messiah taught. You mention to love your neighbor; this is also one of the teachings of the Mezuzah. Only a redeemed person can truly fulfill this in a way that will be glorifying to our G-d.
In conclusion, I feel you rushed to conclusions about what you thought I was saying, simply because I dealt with the Law in a positive way. Once again, never did I place the Law in a context of being a means to salvation. Your tendency to be somewhat over sensitive to the Law is a common characteristic of Christianity. May I speculate that this tendency is based on what many Christian leaders teach concerning Paul’s writings. I feel that such Christian leaders take Paul’s writings out of context and place a negative view on the Law, instead of realizing that such negative comments are aimed for what I have previous stated several times, a false view that the commandments are a means to redemption. May I humbly suggest that you read Romans and Galatians and ask yourself when Paul makes a statement in regard to the Law, what is the context? I think you will find that when it is in regard to this false teaching, i.e. the Law as a means of salvation, Paul is most negative. What you will also find are positive comments concerning the Law as an aid in helping the believer to discern what is right and what is wrong.
Thank you for your comment.