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The
theme of this parashah, is "going from the individual
to community" which develops from the idea of the
first Passover sacrifice. This is a very important passage.
Every household was to take in one lamb to be sacrificed;
if the household was too small, they were to share it
with the neighbor. According to Talmudic Midrashim this
was a very unique Passover after which certain ingredients
would never be repeated. They were only to be remembered
from generation to generation. We were still slaves at
that time but not afterwards. This sacrifice would be
the way for us to be set free and the community of Israel
to be developed.
Continuing
this theme, there were two types of offerings at Passover:
one at the personal level and the other public or general
offerings which would continue until the destruction of
the Temple; personal sacrifices were made for thanksgiving
and sin offerings for the individual while the public
sacrifices which would be to cover the sins of the community.
Personal sacrifices could be offered at any time where
the laws of purity were to be strictly observed. When
Yeshua healed the lepers, he told them to go to the Temple
to make their offerings because now they were clean. Meanwhile
public offerings, done only at fixed times (the Appointed
Times….Shabbats and the Festivals, every day, three
times a day) according to halachah did not have to deal
with the laws of purity for each person. Rabbi Maimonides
said that Passover was considered a personal or private
sacrifice where each household had to slaughter the lamb
but it was still part of the public offering. Thus Israel
was become a unity.
The
Mishna states that the different elements from that first
Passover in Egypt and the succeeding ones were the taking
in of a lamb on the 10th of Nisan, the smearing of the
blood on the doorposts with hyssop on the 14th of Nisan,
and also the people having to leave in haste. These were
onetime events only on one given day. The future Passovers
would not included and would last for 7 days after that.
Here we add the seven days of unleavened bread.
There
are so many pictures of Messiah in that first Passover
culminating in the Passover of Yeshua and prophetically
pointing to the Passover of the olam ha bah. I have covered
in past messages, the obvious ones of Yeshua being the
Passover lamb. The covering of the blood of the sacrificial
lamb on the doorposts portrays the blood of Messiah Yeshua
covering the sin of the world. The last plague which is
the killing of the first born, setting us free from Egypt
points to the entire world being redeemed from the slavery
to sin. "Behold the Lamb of God who takes the sin
of the world"…was thus fulfilled at the first
Passover.
In comparing Moses to Messiah Yeshua we see that both
had a clear objective- the deliverance of Israel. Moshe
takes the people out from the slavery of Egypt and Yeshua
brings his people out of the slavery of sin. Moshe leads
the people to the Promised Land and Yeshua leads our people
into freedom forever into the presence of G-d.
The
sad thing is that both Judaism and Christianity have missed
the true meaning of Passover. The Jews for the most part
have missed its fulfillment in Yeshua, the mediator to
whom Moses pointed. Yeshua became the korban, the sacrifice
needed to free us from our sin.
Christianity
on the other hand, understands that Yeshua is the savior
of the world but in changing his very nature into a gentile
Jesus, they have eliminated Passover from their rituals
and now celebrate what they call the "Lord's Supper."
Their communion no longer has anything to do with Passover
but instead has become almost like an icon in certain
groups with an idea of it taking on magical qualities…the
wine turns to blood and the bread or wafer becomes his
body.
Whenever
the Scriptures are removed from its Hebrew background
and context, there emerge rituals which have nothing to
do with those which G-d gave to His people. The Passover
festival in every element demonstrates the importance
of community. The sin of the person affects the entire
body. Yeshua wanted us to understand that our individualism
was not welcome, that we are related and depend upon each
other. 1 Corinthians 11: 17-34 can only be understood
when taken in the context of Rav Shaul (Paul) teaching
about how to behave at a Seder at Passover. He was not
developing a new ritual called the Lord's Supper.
Why
is it is so important for us to keep G-d's Word as He
gave it and not to create a syncretistic religion which
serves its own creator? There are many examples in the
Scriptures of what has happened to those who did that.
In Leviticus 10, the sons of Aharon, Nadab and Abihu offered
"unauthorized fire" and they were burnt up by
G-d's wrath. King David did not obey G-d's regulations
when he was bringing the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem
and his best friend was killed in an instant after touching
it, by accident. G-d is serious about His Word and we
as a community suffer when one person sins. As Paul said:
"a little leaven ruins the entire dough" our
lives are really each other's business.
Another
interesting element about the Passover are the last three
plagues spoken of in this parashah; locusts, thick darkness
and death of the first born. All have one thing in common:
darkness. While Egypt was thrown into darkness, in Goshen
it was light. G-d is showing us that Israel would bring
light to the world just as Messiah Yeshua was the Light
of the world. When G-d is in us, our light can be seen
and is not to be hidden.
After that first Passover, there was only one more Passover
celebrated in the desert one year later. It was only after
Joshua ordered all the males to be circumcised that we
were able to celebrate Passover again. Circumcision and
Passover go hand in hand. According to Exodus 12: 43-49
no one could celebrate Passover without being circumcised:
"The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "These are
the regulations for the Passover: "No foreigner is
to eat of it. Any slave you have bought may eat of it
after you have circumcised him, but a temporary resident
and a hired worker may not eat of it. It must be eaten
inside one house; take none of the meat outside the house.
Do not break any of the bones. The whole community of
Israel must celebrate it. An alien living among you who
wants to celebrate the LORD's Passover must have all the
males in his household circumcised; then he may take part
like one born in the land. No uncircumcised male may eat
of it. The same law applies to the native-born and to
the alien living among you."
Did
Paul change this ordinance in Corinthians and Galatians?
Absolutely not… He was speaking against enforced
circumcision upon gentiles coming to believe in Yeshua
by Jews who didn't believe in him. Circumcision has nothing
to do with salvation; it is a covenantal requirement to
be part of Israel but it cannot save anyone. Also circumcision
of the heart does not replace the physical circumcision.
The true fulfillment of Passover through the blood atonement
of Yeshua, brings with it circumcision of the heart for
Jew or gentile.
Religious
rituals created by man may come from the good intentions
but it does not replace obedience to the G-d of Israel.
Wishful thinking will get us nowhere and let us not abuse
the grace of G-d by being libertine in our behavior. Salvation
comes through him and him alone and we are not free to
do whatever we want. We are called to be obedient to His
Word; to understand that what we do affects the entire
body of believers. May we take this time before Passover
comes to begin to search our hearts and ask for forgiveness
both at the personal and public level!
May
G-d add blessings to His Word!
Rabbi
Percy Johnson
Netanel
ben Yochanan
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©
2008 Use by Permission
Kehilat
She’ar Yashuv
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