Parashat Bo 5765/2005
EJD
The weekly reading for the week of 5 Shevat, 5765 - January 15, 2005 Parashah: Bo Exodus 10:1 to 13:16; Haftarah: Jeremiah 46:13-28; Mei Kituvim: Psalm 135:1-21; Brit Chadashah: Revelation 19:6-21
The Bagel: Four chambers of the Tefillin. Inside the Tefillin are four compartments or chambers where each of four Tefillin texts are kept. Those texts are: Exodus 13:1-10; 13:11-16; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; 11:12-21. This week's readings include two of those chambers or half the readings found in a Tefillin. The Tefillin was meant to be a reminder of the hand of G-d that redeemed Israel with might. If we may use the chambers of the Tefillin as an allegory of this week's readings, then four emphases emerge.
The chambers inside the Tefillin are like the four chambers of the physical heart. In each chamber of the Tefillin is a portion from the Word of G-d, so the Word needs to be in the four affections of the human heart. The four affections of the spiritual heart are security, love, destiny, and freedom. In the physical heart, the two chambers on the left side of the heart bring the carbon-dioxide filled blood to the lungs for transformation into oxygenated blood. The two chambers on the right side of the heart move out the oxygenated blood into the body.
The analogy of the physical heart is like that of the spiritual heart. The spiritual heart seeks to rid an impure life of daily sins and failures by coming to Adonay and His Word for moment-by-moment cleansing. When this happens, then the cleansed life emanates outward to bless others. The readings for this week develop how each of the four affections are either controlled by sin or by a life of faith that is informed by the Word of G-d.
Torah: Exodus 10:1 to 13:16 In Parashat Bo Israel wanted to be delivered from the oppression of Egypt. The first affection of the heart is self-preservation. Israel was seeking security. G-d provided the preservation of Israel by the last three plagues, especially in the death of Egypt's first born through the Passover. The chamber of the human heart that needs informing by the Word of G-d is in the area of self-interest, a function of security. The redemption of Israel by the Passover miracle meant that Israel was to a people dedicated to G-d. The way of true security is found in a life that is committed to serving Adonay.
In the Tefillin text of Exodus 13:1-10, the fathers were to inform their children of the great miracle of G-d in the Passover story. The Tefillin was to be a reminder of that fact. The greater Tefillin is the spiritual one that is donned in the inner chambers of the human heart. The old ways of Egypt, like blood that needs re-oxygenation, needs to be purged out. It took forty years in the desert to purge Egypt out of Israel. The danger was to seek for security apart from G-d. This was revealed by the complaints, many of them, in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the desert. The majority didn't trust Adonay to bring them safely home. It was the faithful remnant that found true security in the secret chambers of their heart.
Haftarah: Jeremiah 46:13-28 In the Haftarah reading, Judah needed to be delivered from the bondage of idolatry. Judah had misplaced its love. The second affection of the human heart is the capacity to love G-d. This affection was built-in when G-d created Adam and Eve in the Garden. But their sin and the consequent propensity for sin in their descendants changed all that. According to the Tefillin text of Deuteronomy 11, Israel was supposed to love G-d with the total being. But what happened? The normal human condition since the Fall took over and Israel, and later Judah misplaced their love by serving idols rather than the True G-d. To top that off, Judah's first affection, that of security, was also misplaced. It should have been in G-d and then through His agent of deliverance - Nebuchadnezzar. G-d had to do radical surgery to save Judah. The plan was to be an exodus out of the Land, which was corrupted by the cancer of idolatrous worship, and captivity to the land of Babylon rather than Egypt. When the second affection, love of G-d is right, then the first affection will be right.
Mei Kituvim: Psalm 135:1-21 In the reading of the Kituvim, is the praise of Him who controls the future. It shows how G-d controlled the destiny of many nations to bring Israel out of the bondage of Egypt and into the freedom in the Land. Just as G-d ran the affairs of humanity in the past, so will He do in the future. The third affection of the human heart is to control the future. If you have a backache, you go to the doctor to find a remedy that will remove the pain. You want to control the future - a pain-free future if possible. The third chamber of the human heart needs to be informed by the Word of G-d. The Tefillin text of the Shema does just that. The simple statement: "Hear O Israel" should be a reminder that the Eternal, Self-Existent One controls the future. He should be the first cause in our decision-making process. But so often, we want to control the future as though G-d didn't exist.
There is a bit of irony here. For the believer must often use human methods and means to control the future, but the dynamic of faith and trust in Adonay tempers that activity. The believer may not look different from a non-believer in similar circumstances and doing similar things to get a good outcome. It is in the inner chambers of the heart where the difference is. Like the dark chambers of the Tefillin, the Word in the secret chambers of the heart enables the believer to surrender their destiny to the One controls the future.
Brit Chadashah: Revelation 19:6-21 When we get to the Brit Chadashah, a redemption is at work similar, but greater than, the redemption in Egypt. The Messiah returns to end unrighteousness in the earth. This will be the end of sin in a public way. The rule of Yeshua, the Messiah for a thousand years will be the ultimate in Torah enforcement. Sin will have to hide in the secret chambers of the heart. The fourth affection of the human heart is to be free. This is what the reading is all about: Yeshua will free the nations from the terrible political bondage of sin. He is the locus of true freedom.
The Tefillin text of Exodus 13:11-16 speaks of the reminder, after the entrance into Canaan, of the Mighty Hand of Adonay in bringing freedom to Israel. They were free to serve G-d in the Land. But the danger of the fourth affection is thinking that self-freedom is same as true-freedom. But true freedom is bound up in a slave-like relationship with Adonay. Someone illustrated this by the analogy of a locomotive. When is the locomotive free? When it is spinning its wheels in the unrestrained sands of the beach? Or when it is being directed by the tracks? So often, freedom is defined as "doing my own thing." But this is no freedom at all. It is only when we are on the tracks that we are free to do want we were made to do. G-d has the right to tell us what to do because He made us.
Only when all four affections are in harmony with the will of G-d can their be true inner harmony. The four affections of security, love, destiny, and freedom can only be properly maintained in the secret chambers of the heart when it is informed by the Word of G-d through the power of the redemption and permanent atonement found in Yeshua, the Messiah.
Cream Cheese The music of faith comes from a chamber orchestra.
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