Life Or Death. The Choice Is Yours

20220108 Parsha Bo – Life or Death The choice is yours

Blessing

Torah Portion Exodus 10:1-9

Haftarah Jeremiah 46:13-20

Brit Chadashah John 1:29-34

The fifteenth reading from the Torah is named Bo (??), which means "Come or in context can mean Go." The title comes from the first words of the first verse of the reading, which say, "Then the LORD said to Moses, '[Come or Go] to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart" (Exodus 10:1). The portion begins by concluding the narrative of the ten plagues, the tenth of which is the slaying of the firstborn. To avoid the plague, the Israelites are given the instructions for the Passover sacrifice and the laws of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Pharaoh finally consents to let Israel go, and they leave Egypt.

This particular Parsha has several very well known incidents within it that are foundational to our belief system as Jews, Messianic Believers and Christians. One’s understanding of the events surrounding Passover, or Pesach depends entirely on your perspective regarding the Messiah.

The Jewish person will look at this and see only the idea of Passover in the Passover lamb whereas the Messianic would look at this as being the Passover, of course, and also the Passover Lamb being Yeshua. Generally, the Christian would look at this and agree that the Passover Lamb is Jesus, but they don't really internalize the story of Passover as being personal for themselves. To most Christians, it is a Jewish holiday. The Jewish people look at Passover as extremely personal, and we put ourselves in the place of the early Israelites as if we were actually there too.

Today I would like to put these views together into a cohesive story that would include the Jewish view of things, the Messianic view of things, and the Christian view of things.

For the Jew, the story of the Passover is a historical observation that is remembered every year. It tells the story of Moses being called by God to lead the Israelites to freedom. A perfect livestock lamb was slain to provide blood that was to be splashed on the door posts and lintel of their dwellings. If the people did what Hashem commanded, then the angel of death would pass over their homes and no harm would come to their first born.

Most Egyptians chose not to follow God’s commandment. They suffered the consequences of losing their first born. The edict was carried out from the lowest hovel to the palace of Pharaoh.

Did the relief from death apply to others outside the Israelites? We can’t know for sure, but scripture tells us that there was a large amount of people called the “mixed multitude” that were also with the Israelites when they left Egypt the next day. It seems most likely that anyone who went with B’nei Israel would have also had faith enough to cover their doorpost with the markings prescribed by the Israelite God. So I think it is possible that the population as a whole could have avoided the tenth plague if they put the blood on the door posts. They had a choice.

The sages tell us that only 20% of the population of Israel chose to leave Egypt. Why would that be? Did only 20% of the Israelites follow God’s commandments? Did the other 80% fail to heed Hashem’s warning and as a result decided not to follow Hashem into the desert because they too had lost their first born? We don’t know, but it is an interesting question. The Egyptians, the mixed multitudes and all of Israel had a choice to make. They could follow God’s commandment and have life or disregard His commandment and suffer the consequences of death.

When the sun rose over Egypt on the 15th of Nisan, there were two emotions present in the land. In all of Egypt there was wailing and crying over the loss of their first born children. But in Goshen there was a different sound. It was the sound of preparation and excitement. For you see, when the Israelites killed the lambs and splashed blood on their doorposts, they were slaves in a foreign land. But when light dawned on Goshen, the people of Israel were no longer slaves. They were a nation of free men and women. The blood made the difference. It was their choice. They chose life.

Today we hear much about choice. A woman’s right to choose.

In the coming weeks, the US Supreme Court will be looking at some cases involving. abortion. I think it's incumbent upon each and every one of us who are Believers to be in prayer about this, because this is very, very important to our nation. Since the landmark decision of Roe V. Wade in 1973 over 63 million babies have been killed in the United States in abortion clinics. The most evil organization that I can think of in the United States right now is Planned Parenthood. These guys make the Holocaust, Stalin, Genghis Khan and Molech look like choir boys when compared to how many babies have been murdered in Planned Parenthood clinics. In Israel, one must get a 3-panel committee’s approval for abortion, but once it is approved, it is covered by government funding until the age of 33. Out of a population of over 8 million, over 20,000 abortions are performed in Israel annually. I cannot help but wonder if troubles in the US, as well as Israel, are somehow connected to our utter disregard for the most innocent among us. Clearly, the abortion industry and their supporters in government chose to put the wrong blood on the door posts.