Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Have you ever gone to an appointment only to be disappointed because the other person didn't show up? Somehow they got their wires crossed and thought it was at a different time or maybe even on a different day. But what if you said, let's meet on Tuesday, and when Tuesday arrived, they never showed up for the appointment. And when you called a check on them, they said they were looking forward to seeing you in a few days. For some reason, they were adamant that Tuesday wasn't for another few days. And to make things is even more confusing, they said, although that today might be Tuesday on your calendar, it was Sunday on their calendar. How confusing would that be? But in many ways, that's how we, as followers of Yeshua, live our lives in relationship to God. Not sure what I'm talking about. Then let's take a look at the scriptures together in this week's five minute Torah.
[00:00:52] This week we are studying the portion of Bo, Exodus ten one through 1316, and here are the three things that you need to know about it. Number one, final plagues. The ultimate blow. This week's Torah portion begins with the last three of the ten plagues God inflicted against Egypt. Locust, darkness, and death of the firstborn. With a locust and darkness, Pharaoh refuses to let the children of Israel go yet again. Finally, the Lord has to bring about his final judgment by taking the lives of the firstborn of every house of Egypt. God tells Moses, about midnight, I will go out in the midst of Egypt, and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die. From the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl, who is behind the handmill and all the firstborn of the cattle. There should be a great cry throughout the land of Egypt, such as there has never been nor ever will be again. Exodus twelve four through six. It came about exactly as the Lord has spoken, we read, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead. Exodus twelve three. It was the ultimate blow against the ultimate enemy of Israel. Number two, the Passover, a yearly reminder before the Lord cast his final judgment on Egypt. However, he gave the children of Israel instructions for how they could avoid the death of their firstborns. They were to take a lamb, and after slaughtering it, use its blood to mark the doorposts of their homes in order to avoid the Lord's judgment. God said, for I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments. I am the Lord. The blood shall be assigned for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. Exodus 1212 through 13 God spared the lives of all the firstborn of Israel, and that night marked the very first Passover. This night would forever be memorialized in a yearly celebration at the onset of the 15th day of the hebrew month of Nissan with the Passover Seder, according to the Lord's instructions. And number three, the Exodus, leaving Egypt in haste. Once the final blow was struck against Egypt and Pharaoh finally relented to release the children of Israel, we read the Egyptians were urgent with the people to send them out of the land in haste. Exodus 1233 a great multitude went up from Egypt that night, about 600,000 men on foot besides women and children. Exodus 1237 they left in haste, not even allowing their dough to rise before the journey. It was a night of watching by the Lord to bring them out of the land of Egypt. So this same night is a night of watching by all the people of Israel throughout their generations. Exodus 1242 it was a night of deliverance, a night of salvation that would ultimately lead them to Sinai, where they would receive God's covenant, and to Canaan, the land of promise have you started preparations for Passover? It may seem like a long way away, but it will be here before you realize it. Well, if you're looking for Passover resources, I've got a few things that could help. First, I've got a bundle of helpful tips and articles you can download for free to help you with your Passover preparations. You can get all of these great resources absolutely free by simply signing up for my mailing list using the link in the description box below. Just fill in your info, hit subscribe and you'll be given a link to download my Passover resource kit. No spam, no double mailings. Just enjoy the resources included in this bundle. Next, I have an original song for Passover that you and your family can learn and sing together at the Passover table. It's called the Mageed Song and it gives the basics of the Passover story with a catchy melody that you'll be humming for weeks after your seder. Just use the link below or at the end of this video to check it out. Last, you can pick up a copy of cup of Redemption, my messianic Passover Hagada, to evaluate for your seder. It has a 4.6 star rating and over 70 reviews on Amazon, so grab your copy and see if it's a fit for your family and your Passover table the link is in the description box below. This week's Torah commentary is called radical new beginnings and comes from a book, five minute Torah, volume two.
[00:05:25] When the God of the universe gives someone a new beginning, it's a radical one. A prime example is the children of Israel. In our current Torah portion, he dramatically redeems them from pharaoh and from the house of bondage and transforms them from a horde of slaves into a holy nation of purpose. And to seal this transformation, he gave the people he redeemed a new calendar to organize their lives by the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron in the land of Egypt, this month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. Exodus twelve one and two their redemption was so radical that he wanted them to think of the days of their lives, not according to the seasons, the harvest, or the festivals of the nations around them, but in terms of their transformation. Unlike our secular calendar, every day on this new calendar would point them to a juncture in time where they would re encounter their redeemer. The children of Israel were redeemed in the hebrew month of Nissan, also called Aviv CXis 13 four Nissan is in the spring, corresponding to the March April time. In the time of the Israelites redemption. Nissan was the 7th month of their year. The new year began with the fall harvest around September or October with the redemption from Egypt. However, all religious events were determined by establishing Nissan as the beginning of the religious year. Nissan became the first of the months. Their perspective of time was reoriented to correspond to the redemption. Calendars have always been problematic because an exact year is not broken down into an exact number of full days. The astronomical year is 365.25 days, and there's no easy way to mark time consistently without the use of complex calculations and the insertion of leap years. The biblical calendar is unlike the roman or gregorian calendar, which most of the modern world adheres to today. Whereas our secular calendar is almost completely a solar one, the calendar God gave to his people is primarily a lunar one. One thing that all calendar systems have in common, however, is that they all depend on the heavenly bodies to mark time. And God said, let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and for years. Genesis 114 in this passage most translations tell us that the luminaries were created to mark seasons, days and years. However, the word for seasons in this passage is the hebrew word moadim. It literally means appointed times. It is the same word used throughout the hebrew scriptures for festivals or feasts. The Lord spoke to Moses saying, speak to the people of Israel and say to them, these are the appointed feasts, moadim of the Lord, that you shall proclaim as holy convocations. They are my appointed feasts, moadim. These are the appointed feasts. Once again, moedim of the Lord, the holy convocations which you shall proclaim at the time appointed for them. This is Leviticus 23, one through two, and then verse four. As we can see here, from the very beginning of creation, God established the sun, the moon, and the stars for a purpose. They were to be more than just source of our daylight and daily warmth, more than our nightlight and a manager of our ocean tides, more than beautiful ornaments in the heavens. They were established to be a magnificent timekeeping mechanism by which the story of redemption would unfold, be established, and then relived. They would be used to know when to keep God's appointed times. When the God of the universe transforms us and gives us a new beginning, our lives start over. From that point, God took the children of Israel out of the clutches of Egypt so that the days, weeks, and the years of their lives would no longer be submitted to pharaoh and his oppression. He brought them out to give them a radical new beginning and a life that would reflect their new status as those delivered from the hand of slavery. Once they were redeemed, they traded in their old calendar for a new one. Do you commemorate the biblical events, such as the festivals and fast days? On the surface, swapping out one calendar system for another seems so trivial and unspiritual. But from a jewish perspective, every event on the calendar commemorates something God has done for his people. And there's so much we can learn by living out the biblical cycle, because they're not a one and done type event. They are annual reminders of God's faithfulness that echoes the story of redemption and purpose. God wants to meet with us every sabbath, every festival, and every holy day on the biblical calendar is an appointment he has set to meet with us. Are you showing up for those appointments? Do you schedule your time with God around your calendar, or do you schedule your life around God's calendar? I would love to hear about your struggles and victories for how you've managed to align your days, weeks, and years with God's calendar. Leave me a message in the comments below. Well, that's all for this week. Don't forget, hit the like and subscribe buttons. And feel free to hit the super thanks button to make a contribution using one of the links below to support this channel. I'll see you again soon with another messianic insight into the eternal Torah of God. Blessings from Ahmed Tatorah.
