Redemption For Blessing (Bo)
Bo, 5764
'Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance. 'Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses; for whoever eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. (Exod 12:14-15)
Each year, in our celebration of Pesach, our liturgy commemorates the redemption of our people from Egypt. This day, the day of our deliverance is to be “l’zikaron”, a remembrance. Stated another way, we are to remember not only the one who delivered us, but what we are being delivered to. But as we observe in this parashah, more is involved than merely the rescue of a few souls from the wretchedness of slavery.
It certainly begins there, with God’s compassion for His people. God’s enduring love for Israel compels Him to action on their part. His love drives Him to effect a great deliverance from their sufferings. But He is also compelled by His promises which He made to the Fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For He tells us in Ex. 3:6 that He is their Fathers’ God, and as such lives in perpetual covenant relationship with them and their descendants.
God therefore, with a mighty hand and with great judgements rescues the Children of Israel from the hands of their enemies. He has seen their sufferings, and He rushes to comfort them. He has seen their back breaking labor, and He speeds to relieve the burden. He has seen the wounds made by the taskmasters whip and He hurries to heal them. He has seen the tears of terrible woe, and He tenderly dries their eyes.
But it is not just for the purpose of relieving pain that God delivers Israel from Egypt. For He is also bringing them into something “to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey...” God’s intention is to bless Israel. To have them enjoy all the benefits of eternal covenant relationship with their God. The LORD will bring them to a new land, and there establish them as His special people, who are blessed and will be a blessing to the nations. A people who will enjoy the privilege of abundant life as they live in obedience to their God.
Just as it was then so it is now. When our God redeemed us through the faithfulness of our Passover lamb, Yeshua, He was not only rescuing us from something, but to something. We too have the privilege of living in a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey. When He redeemed us it was and is for the purpose of eternal covenant relationship. God has removed our sins so that we can walk with Him in mutual love and blessing, and so that we can be a blessing to others.
However, this means that we too must learn to live in obedience to God. For He knows that when we live in accordance with His teaching, and will, the blessings of God will be ours. He did not save us just to forgive us from sins, but to the abundant life that Yeshua promised us. This we receive as we learn to live in covenant with our God.
But we are forgetful people. So God commands that we observe (keep) these things regarding the redemption from Egypt. Be careful to do them as we are instructed, and teach them to our children. "And you shall tell your son on that day, saying, 'It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.' (Exod 13:8) It is a command to remember who we are. Given this command we don’t have the luxury of Jewish forgetfulness. This redemption is the down payment of a redemption to come, when all the world will be set free from the bondage of sin, hate, and violence. The regular commemoration of this event instills in us the hope of that final redemption we will enjoy when the Messiah returns to complete His work. Until that day, each of us can observe and remember, and rejoice. …“and the people bowed low and worshiped”
(Ex. 12:27b)