Prophetic Parallels (pdf)
Threshold Covenants (pdf)
Bo Slides (pdf)
Bo Notes (pdf)
Overview of Bo (“Come”) (Exodus 10:1 – 13:16)
When Moses met Yehovah at the burning bush, He told Moses that his forefathers knew Him as the Covenant Maker, but now Moses would know Him as the Covenant Keeper. Moses would see Him do things that had never been done before! And the Egyptian Plagues that started last week were the just beginning of these miraculous events.
This week’s Portion concludes those Plagues and records the beginning of the departure of Israel from Egypt. As stated last week, these two Portions are the most prophetically significant in all of Torah; they give us the clearest picture of the End Time events described in the Book of Revelation.
Last week ended with the 7th Plague – hail mixed with fire. Pharaoh “hardened” his own heart – stubbornly resisted God – through the first seven Plagues. But after he saw that Yehovah could command Pharaoh’s gods of ice and fire to work together against him, he (literally) had a change of heart. From last week’s chart of the Hardening of Pharaoh’s Heart we saw that God took over control and “strengthened” Pharaoh to resist Him through the final three Plagues. Pharaoh’s lesson would not be complete until that last Plague was concluded, and God didn’t want him to give up before then.
Chapter 10 – The 8th & 9th Plagues
At this point, even Pharaoh’s closest advisors were telling him: “How long shall this man [Moses] be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not yet know that Egypt is destroyed?” This was something that you just did not say to Pharaoh, but Yehovah had strengthened Pharaoh to continue to resist Him. Remember that Plague #5 killed the livestock and Plague #7 had destroyed the standing crops with hail; and now God sent locusts to consume everything that was left of the vegetation that the hail hadn’t destroyed. Pharaoh’s advisors were absolutely correct that Egypt was already doomed.
The Ninth Plague brought darkness. This wasn’t just the absence of Light; it was a darkness that was completely engulfing and could actually be felt. The Hebrew word translated as darkness is choshech; that same darkness that was covering the Earth in Genesis 1:2. We will see it in next week’s Portion as the darkness that separated Israel from Pharaoh’s advancing armies; and we will see it at Mt Sinai, and in Isaiah’s Messianic prophecy of Isa 9:2.
Pharaoh conceded to Moses that he could take the men and children to worship Yehovah, but he stipulated that they must leave their livestock behind. Moses answered: “I’m glad you mentioned livestock; we will be taking our livestock…and yours also!” Did Moses have chutzpah or what?! And Pharaoh’s heart was once again strengthened to resist Yehovah.
Chapter11 The Instructions for Passover
Here God showed Moses the events that would take place during this final Plague – the one that would force Pharaoh to release Israel from their captivity; Pharaoh would, in fact, drive them out to rid Egypt of the Plagues that their God Yehovah had brought. This final Plague – the Death of the Firstborn – would show that Yehovah makes a difference between the Egyptians (unbelieving Pagans) and Israel. God told Moses that He would strengthen Pharaoh’s heart one more time and that they would not only be released, but that they would leave with all the riches of Egypt.
Chapter 12 The Logistics of the Passover
The chapter starts with Yehovah adding a new calendar. Up to this point in time, the beginning of the year was in the fall, on Tishri 1. All of the Flood events were dated from the fall month of Tishri. Now God has established His calendar that starts in the spring month of Nisan. So, from chapter 12 forward, all events will date from the spring month of Nisan.
This chapter is the only place in Scripture where we are given instructions concerning Passover, the first of the Feasts of the LORD. We see here the requirements for the selection of the Passover lamb (please study the Power Point slides to see that Yeshua (at His First Coming) fulfilled all of these requirements).
The lamb is to be killed and its blood applied to the doorpost of every (believing) Israelite, thus identifying them so their firstborn would be spared. Notice how this would be accomplished:
“For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you.” (Exo 12:23).
There were two Persons involved: Yehovah, who passed over the threshold of the door to enter each house with blood on the doorposts; and the Destroyer, who passed by the blood-stained doors and entered the rest of the houses to kill the firstborn. When Yehovah crossed the threshold of the blood-stained doors, He entered into covenant with the occupants; they were all joined together in common belief and under a common protection. (That’s why Lot offered his daughters in place of the two Angels; they had crossed his threshold and were under his guarantee of protection.). With Yehovah inside, the Destroyer could not enter that house and into that covenant; so he made a “covenant of death” with those who had no blood upon their doors. There are many examples of the Threshold Covenant throughout Scripture (see the handout).
So God carried out the Passover exactly as He had told Moses He would do.
A note to those of us who enjoy celebrating the Passover Seder each year:
“And when a stranger dwells with you and wants to keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as a native of the land. For no uncircumcised person shall eat it. One law shall be for the native-born and for the stranger who dwells among you.” (Exo 12:48-49)
We must not enter into this observance in a casual way; we must prepare ourselves …by circumcising our hearts.
The death of the firstborn destroyed that entire generation of Egyptians. Even though the non-firstborn remained, that generation was doomed to failure. From the time that the firstborn could hear, his father would be training him to take on the duties of the firstborn (the king and priest of the family). And with the firstborn removed, that generation was ill prepared to lead Egypt and, as a result, Egypt fell from being the world power.
Chapter 13 The Firstborn Set Apart
When Yehovah gave the Passover “secret” to Moses, He redeemed all (believing) Israel, and He saved the lives of all the believing firstborn; therefore, He “owned” them. They belonged to Yehovah and were set apart as His. When the Aaronic Priesthood was established (after the Sin of the Golden Calf) the sons of Aaron were Yehovah’s set apart people, and there was a provision to redeem the non-Aaronic firstborn…they could “buy” a Priest to serve in his place (we’ll look at this later in Torah).
In next week’s Portion we will see the beginning of the actual exodus from Egypt.
Haftarah: Jeremiah 46:13-28
The Ten Plagues have totally devastated Egypt’s economy: the fish in the Nile River all died; the hail killed the animals & the crops in the field; and those crops that remained were eaten by the locusts. The Destroyer killed the next generation of Egyptians; and next week we will see that Pharaoh and his armies were drowned in the Reed Sea. Egypt was finished as a world power – but, over time, rebuilt in order to try to regain that world power status. In this week’s Haftarah reading we see Jeremiah’s prophecy of Babylon’s final destruction of Egypt. God would use Nebuchadnezzar to invade and defeat Egypt just as He did centuries earlier with the Ten Plagues. We read of Egypt’s defeat, and also of Israel’s redemption at the End of the Age from Jeremiah 46:3-17 & 25-28:
“The word that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, how Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon would come and strike the land of Egypt. “Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in Migdol; proclaim in Noph and in Tahpanhes; say, ‘Stand fast and prepare yourselves, for the sword devours all around you.’ Why are your valiant men swept away? They did not stand because the LORD drove them away. He made many fall; yes, one fell upon another. And they said, ‘Arise! Let us go back to our own people and to the land of our nativity from the oppressing sword.’ They cried there, ‘Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is but a noise. He has passed by the appointed time!’ …….The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will bring punishment on Amon of No, and Pharaoh and Egypt, with their gods and their kings—Pharaoh and those who trust in him. And I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the hand of his servants. Afterward it shall be inhabited as in the days of old,” says the LORD. “But do not fear, O My servant Jacob, and do not be dismayed, O Israel! For behold, I will save you from afar, and your offspring from the land of their captivity; Jacob shall return, have rest and be at ease; no one shall make him afraid. Do not fear, O Jacob My servant,” says the LORD , “For I am with you; for I will make a complete end of all the nations to which I have driven you, but I will not make a complete end of you. I will rightly correct you, for I will not leave you wholly unpunished.”
Brit Chadashah: Romans 8:14-22
What was God’s purpose in sending the Ten Plagues upon Egypt? ….so that Pharaoh, the Egyptians, the Israelites and the entire world would know that Yehovah is greater than all the gods of Egypt. And in the process of doing that, He separated those who believed that from those who did not. Those who were obedient (both Israelites & Egyptians), those who applied the blood to their door posts were saved from the Destroyer. This Passover event was actually a “graduation ceremony” for Israel! God was transitioning them from slavery to freedom; and 40 years later He would again transition them from childhood (where He provided everything for them in the Wilderness) to adulthood (once Joshua crossed the Jordan River, the manna stopped and they had to provide everything for themselves)….let’s call it Israel’s Bar Mitzvah!! In fact, the entire Bible is a series of events where God is transitioning His People.
In the Brit Chadashah we read of a future event where God will once again call out His Firstborn; He will put His Name upon them; and The Curse will be reversed. This may be the final “Bar Mitzvah” – where God transitions His Righteous People into the Kingdom of Heaven. We read from Romans 8:14-22:
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Messiah Yeshua, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.”