Joy in the Messiah

בֹּא
Bo / Come
Exodus 10:1-13:16
HafTorah Portion Jeremiah 46:13-28
Brit Chadasha 1Corinthians 11:20-34

     This parsha begins with another episode of Pharaoh’s hardened heart. In chapter 10 there is the beginning of the eighth plague, locusts. Exodus 10:21 begins the ninth plague - darkness. Exodus 10:21-23 ‘Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, darkness which may even be felt.” ²² So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. ²³ They did not see one another; nor did anyone rise from his place for three days. But all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.’
     Bo continues with the tenth and final plague, the death of the firstborn. In Exodus 11 Moshe receives the instructions for the death of the firstborn, and in chapter 12 the Passover is instituted.  Bo ends with the consecration of the first born in chapter 13. 
     Exodus 12:26-28, 13:8, 13:14 and Exodus 10:2 contain the questions that are read during the Passover Seder, ‘So it shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ that you shall say to him, ‘By strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. ¹⁵ And it came to pass, when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all males that open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ ¹⁶ It shall be as a sign on your hand and as frontlets between your eyes, for by strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.”    
     In Exodus 10:21-22 the darkness that follows is so thick that one could touch it. And the killing of the firstborn occurs in the depth of the night. Darkness forebodes devastation, even for the descendants of Jacob.  This was not the darkness that we might experience on the streets at midnight, even if there are no street lights you can still see somewhat to get around.  Rather, this darkness was thick, not just metaphorically, it actually could be touched. It was felt. With such a concrete form of darkness, people literally could not move. Even if they eventually found their way to a chair they needed to stay there. For three days, this suffocating darkness overwhelmed the Egyptians. 
     That was a form judgment. And it is, perhaps, one of the most frightening things possible, in part, because it isn’t known when it will become light again.  The Egyptians are only aware of, even the Israelites for that matter, is that it might be dark forever. 
     A darkness preluding death.
     Mark 15:33-34 ‘Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.  And at the ninth hour Yeshua cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
       Was such thick and spiritual darkness felt for those three days before Yeshua rose? ‘For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.’ Matthew 12:40. There must have been great anxiousness and confusion at that time concerning the events of Yeshua’s death. 
     Today the darkness that engulfs us is an influence, a chaos of a spiritual realm.  It is the light and dark, created by God as stated by Isaiah 45:7 ‘The One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these.’
     Our spirit longs for the light, the dark is chaos, hoshek. Yeshua is the light we seek, the Living Torah. 
     Psalm 18:28 ‘For You light my lamp; the Lord my God illumines my darkness.’ 
     1 Thessalonians 5:5 ‘For you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness…’ 
     2 Corinthians 6:14 ‘Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?’ 
      Ephesians 5:8 ‘for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light.’ 
       It is taught that that this form of darkness in parsha Bo was one that “no man could see his brother nor could anyone rise from his place.” Why could the Egyptians not move just because it was dark?  The darkness was tangible and physical.  
    It wasn’t darkness as in the night; it wasn’t void of light as in the nighttime, which a light could still penetrate. It was “thick darkness” meaning that a very thick midst came down from the sky. This is why God said to Moses: “Stretch forth your hand to the heavens” - Moses had to bring down this darkness.  It actually removed the normal darkness called “night”. The reason this was necessary was that the night consists of air ready and capable to absorb light in the morning. The darkness that would occur at that moment was something unable to interact with light at all. The reason for this inability to interact with light was the density of the texture of this darkness. As a result of this totally different kind of darkness even a flare would not be able to make a “dent” in the darkness.  
    And yet, Exodus 10:23 reads: ‘But all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.’ This is also translated, ‘Light from the dweller…’ 
     What would be light from the dweller?  We cannot make our own light, it must be lit from somewhere, as a match must be struck, or a candle lit from the match that was struck. We are struck with the illuminating light of the Word, Yeshua.  This intangible light offers us the opportunity to share His glory and be in obedience through faith to His Word.   The Israelites had the Light of Life. The light that shone upon them that night cut through the looming thick darkness that engulfed the Egyptians. 
     The Light in our dwellings brings the faith that circumcises our heart to obey the Word of God which causes our faith in His faithfulness to increase. Faith brings the birthright, obedience brings the blessing.
      Yeshua declares more than once that He is the Light of men, of the world and life; John 8:12, John 9:4-5, and Matthew 4:14-16.   
         Isaiah 60:1-3 ‘Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.
² For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. ³ The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.’
     The Light of Yeshua is the only light that can erase the darkness, John 1:5 ‘The Light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it.’     

Bo / Come
Exodus 10:1-13:16
HafTorah Portion Jeremiah 46:13-28
Brit Chadasha 1 Corinthians 11:20-34

     The name of this parsha is often translated as ‘Come’, however in the first sentence it reads as ‘go in to Pharaoh.’ ‘Now the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his servants, that I may show these signs of Mine before him, 2 and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and your son’s son the mighty things I have done in Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them, that you may know that I am the Lord.’ Exodus 10:1-2.
     Comprehending the Hebrew word, “Bo,” the title word of this parsha, we can get a better understanding.  Some translators use ‘come’, others ‘go’, but the command to Moses is not the same as “Lech l’cha”, “Go forth,” the command given to his ancestor, Abraham. Lech Lecha was more of a command to ‘go for yourself’. Since this word, ‘bo’ can represent either come or go, it signifies that it would be a joint effort between God and Moshe, that God will not abandon Moshe in this conquest. 
     Another interesting concept is the word ‘hardened’. The Hebrew root word of ‘hardened’ is k-v-d, which can also be translated as “weighted,” as in ‘Weighting the Heart’.  God weighted the callous Pharaoh’s heart, making him heavy hearted.    
     Parsha Bo contains the last three plagues, the Passover instituted, the Exodus, the law and consecration of the first born and the feast of unleavened bread. What is so interesting is that prior to these main events there is the plague of the darkness and then finally the death of the firstborn males.  
     The Egyptians worshiped the sun not only as the source of their life but as the regenerator of creation on a daily basis. From the Middle Kingdom on, the king was venerated as the son of Rah, the living incarnation of the sun.  It is not a coincidence that darkness unites the final three plagues that God brings against Egypt. In Exodus 10:5 the locusts darken the face of the earth, if not the sky itself. In Exodus 10:21-22 the darkness that follows is so thick that one could touch it. And the killing of the firstborn occurs in the depth of the night. Darkness forebodes devastation, even for the descendants of Jacob.  This was not the darkness that we might experience on the streets at midnight, when it might be dark but you can still kind of see enough to avoid bumping into cars, even if there is no streetlight in front of you. Rather, this darkness was thick,  not just in a metaphor state, but so that it actually could be touched. With such a concrete form of darkness, people literally could not move. Even if they eventually found their way to a chair they needed to stay there. It was a suffocating darkness for three days.   This is a form judgment. And it is, perhaps, one of the most frightening things possible, in part, because they don’t know when it will become light again in three days. For all the Egyptians know, even the Israelites for that matter, it will be dark forever. For three days it was dark. A darkness preluding death.
     Mark 15:33-34 ‘Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.  And at the ninth hour Yeshua cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
       Was a spiritual darkness be felt for those three days before Yeshua rose? ‘For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.’ Matthew 12:40. There must have been great concern and confusion at that time concerning the events. 
    Today the darkness that engulfs us is an influence, a chaos, and a spiritual realm.  It is the light and dark, created by God as stated by Isaiah 45:7 ‘The One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these.’
     Our spirit longs for the light, the dark is our chaos, our night. Yeshua is the light we seek, the Living Torah. 
     Psalm 18:28 ‘For You light my lamp; the Lord my God illumines my darkness.’ 
     1 Thessalonians 5:5 ‘For you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness…’ 
     2 Corinthians 6:14 ‘Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?’ 
      Ephesians 5:8 ‘for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light.’ 
     John 1:5 ‘The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.’