Parashat BO Exodus 10:1 – 13:16 – Haftarah Jeremiah 46:13 -28
‘Redemption’ features as the Main Theme of all of Holy Scripture.
The context of all Scripture determines the vital necessity for the reconciliation and re-unification of all 12 Tribes of Israel, gathered back to the Land from exile, in order for the Shechinah of G-d (His direct visible Presence) to return to His People. In this way G-d intends to dwell amongst His People in His Universal Kingdom which will serve as a Light unto the Nations. Jewish Sages throughout the Ages interpreted this Divine Process of Redemption to take place in a series of four stages – of which we now seem to have reached the final 3rd and 4th.
This entire Process is defined in:
Ezek. 39:29, “Therefore Adonai Elohim says this: ‘Now I will restore the fortunes of Ya‘akov and have compassion on the entire House of Isra’el [12 Tribes], and I will be jealous for My Holy Name. 26 They will bear their shame and all their [guilt from] breaking faith with Me, once they are living securely in their land, with no one to make them afraid. 27 This will be after I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, thereby being consecrated through them in the sight of many nations. 28 Then they will know that I am Adonai their God, since it was I who caused them to go into exile among the nations, and it was I who regathered them to their own land. I will leave none of them there anymore, 29 and I will no longer hide My Face from them, for I have poured out My Spirit on the House of Isra’el,’ says Adonai Elohim.” Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)
While there is much talk and expectation these days among even the strongest divergent interpreters of the Bible, of an ‘imminent End Time Scenario’, there remains a great oversight by all sectors, of the Scriptural requirement for Reconciliation and acceptance of each other by the House of Judah (Judaism) and the yet unidentified ‘Lost’ 10 –Tribed ‘House of Israel’
Scripture is emphatic with its recording of the disastrous break-up of the Kingdom of G-d after it had been united for the first time by King David (around 1000 BCE). This occurred following the rule of King Solomon, David’s Son. This break came from the G-d of Israel Himself for the great failure by Solomon in building altars for his hundreds of wives, dedicated to their idols. Rather than grabbing the opportunity of having received the Kingdom taken from Solomon, the 10-Tribed House of Israel also failed His expectations. This earned them the total rejection of G-d (described as a Divorce in Scripture) and exile into obscurity amongst the nations. Only the ‘House of Judah’ (2 main Tribes) remained identified, even to this day, and even through their 2000 year exile following the destruction of the 2nd Temple.
Two factors caused a total non-recognition today (at this Time of approaching Final Redemption) of that part of the Kingdom (10 Tribes of the ‘House of Israel’) that lost their identity as Torah covenanted Israelites altogether:
1 – Non recognition of 10-Israel by Judah because of 2730 years of separation from the House of 10-Israel since their exile to date. All this time Judah was persecuted as the ‘Nation of the Living G-d’ for their persistence of sticking to their Covenant as Torah believers. First there was bitter warfare between the two Houses over the 2 – 3 centuries before the final exile of the 10 Tribes from the Land. Judah had also been rejected by 10-Israel as the Divinely mandated Torah teachers of G-d. The last 2000 years, during the exile of Judah and the birth of Christianity amongst whom the 10 Tribes had assimilated, brought death and persecution to Jews in the ‘Name of Jesus’ for their refusal to reject their Torah faith.
Can Judah be blamed for having totally forgotten 10-Israel in Exile? For 2000 years they had to fend for survival, shielding themselves against this onslaught by a ‘brother’ whom they did not even recognize.
2. On the opposite side of this Family Feud in the Family of G-d, the House of 10-Israel which had totally lost its Israelite, Hebrew, Torah identity, did not recognize their Family link with Judah either. This goes even deeper: For 2000 years the Church has black-washed Judaism and its Rabbinic ordination.
If this is not sufficient to block Reconciliation, there is the additional issue of a ‘Messiah’ whom Judah does not acknowledge and 10-Israel will not reject.
Fatal deadlock opposing Final Redemption
Scripture records the Departure of the Shechinah (the Presence) of G-d at the Time of the destruction of the 1st Temple, after the Exile of the 10 Tribes and before the exile of Judah to Babylon (Ezekiel 10). There was no motivation for the G-d of Israel to remain amongst His People – because of their failure to observe His Covenant. The destruction of the Temple, abode of His Shechinah amongst His People, was the last straw. Now, standing as a insurmountable obstacle in the way of Final Redemption, preventing the vital Reconciliation of the 12 Tribes as a condition for His Shechinah to return, this non-recognition and animosity coming from both sides, hold back the Final Redemption.
Yet, the Divine Promise stands immovable, abounding in the Scriptures and underwritten by Divine Oath – as confirmed once more in this week’s Parashat Bo: Redemption SHALL take place. It stands as a Divine Challenge before all Nations and earthlings, today, yesterday and future!
It also forms the main Message of this week’s Haftarah:
Jeremiah 46:27 “But fear not thou, O Jacob My servant, neither be dismayed, O Israel; for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob [12 Tribes] shall again be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.
28 Fear not thou, O Jacob [12 Tribes] My servant, saith HaShem, for I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee, but I will not make a full end of thee; and I will correct thee in measure, but will not utterly destroy thee.”
NOTE – Be sure to follow the Link to ‘Servant’ above. Several other articles on ‘The Servant’ can also be found doing a Web Site Search for ‘Servant’. For this purpose use the Web Site Search Engine, top right on most Pages or the ‘Q’ sign above the Menu.
The 4 Stages of Redemption
As the Parashat Commentary by Rabbi Yehonasan Gefen will confirm here below, we are now between Stage 3 & 4. It is a Process of extricating from Egypt. HaShem opens the Way and provides the means, including the Sacrificial Pesach Blood Sign. All that His People has to do is to COME OUT!
Once OUT of Egypt, HaShem will re-covenant the House of 10-Israel after which all 12 Tribes simply have to observe – NOT as our forefathers – but this Time with great dedication. Once Regathered IN the Land (Stage 4), when we have come OUT and followed, at the Final Stages, He will enter into a New Covenant with His People who are found worthy. They will be imbued with His Spirit to make them 100% compliant – to serve as a Temple for Him to dwell in to be WITH His People, His Servant that He is now preparing to become a LIGHT unto the Nations – His Light, for they will be FULLY imbued with His Spirit, making them ‘Walking Torahs’. Jer. 31; Jer. 3:16; Ezek. 37:26; Ezek. 11:19; Ezek. 36:27; Ezek. 34:24; Ezek. 39:29
The Third Stage of Redemption
Parashat BO Exodus 10:1 – 13:16
DISCLAIMER – the authors and promoters of the articles and videos that we place here are mostly not connected in any way to KOL HATOR and may well not share our views and interpretations. We do however thank them for their insight and pointers that confirm our understanding and often broaden our insight.
“The Torah Portion describes the final three Plagues and the events that led up to the Jewish people [12 Tribes] finally leaving Egypt. The Midrash tells us that there were four stages of the Redemption from Egypt.(1) This is based on the verse in Va’eira, where G-d tells Moses, “I will take you out (hotzeisi) from the suffering of Egypt; and I will save you (hitzalti) from your slavery; and I will redeem you (goalti) with a strong arm and with great judgments. And I will take you to Me (lakachti) as a nation and I will be a G-d to you…” (2) The commentaries explain that the first two stages represented the stages of freedom from the actual slavery, whereas the third signified the actual leaving Egypt. It was at the fourth stage, that of lakachti, that the Jewish people [12 Tribes] became the nation of G-d.(3) The fourth stage culminated in the Giving of the Torah,(4) however it seems that the process of becoming the Godly Nation began whilst the Jewish people [12 Tribes] were still in Egypt. We see this from the fact that the first mitzvot commanded to the people as a nation were given in this week’s Torah portion. Furthermore, the mitzvah of the Korban Pesach (pascal lamb) that is found in this week’s portion symbolized the Jewish people’s [12 Tribes’] acceptance of the Covenant between them as a Nation with G-d.(5)”
“There is a very interesting aspect of the transition between the third and fourth stages of Redemption. This is brought out by a law that is found with regard to the Four Cups of Wine that we have on Seder night, which correspond the four stages of Redemption. The Shulchan Aruch (6) rules that one may not drink between the third and fourth cups of wine.(7) This implies that there is a necessity for these two cups to be connected to each other, without having anything separating between them. There are halachic (legal) reasons given for this law, however, perhaps one can suggest a philosophical explanation.(8)
It is possible to say that it was essential that the fourth stage of the Redemption take place immediately after the third stage, without any hefsek (interruption) in between. Why is this the case? The third stage of goalti, saw the Jewish people [12 Tribes]completely freeing themselves from being slaves to Pharaoh. However, once they were free of this servitude, there was the risk that they would be left in a vacuum without having anyone to serve. This would have been a very dangerous situation, because it seems to be inherent in human nature that man needs to serve and look up to some kind of being or entity. Therefore, it was essential that the Jewish people [12 Tribes] immediately replace Pharaoh as their focus of service, with, lehavdil, G-d. That is why G-d gave them mitzvot that initiated their relationship with Him even before they left Egypt. As soon as they physically left, they had already begun the process of becoming G-d’s nation. Accordingly, the law that there can be no gap between the third and fourth cups of wine is symbolic of the fact that there could be no gap between the third and fourth stages of Redemption which they correspond to. The stage of leaving the service of Pharaoh had to be immediately followed by the beginning of the service of G-d.” (End of quote – truncated from original).
KHT Commentary – applying the Process of Redemption also to Ephraim (those re-identifying, Torah restoring 10 Tribers in exile amongst all nations).
In this Final Redemption Process it is important to distinguish between:
– The Regathering of Judah from exile amongst the Nations though never de-covenanted by HaShem. They have to comply with Covenant, contrary to their forefathers whose neglect of the Covenant caused the destruction by G-d of two Temples, followed by two subsequent exiles. In addition, they have to reconcile and receive back their Captive brothers from the House of 10-Israel and prepare them for Re-Covenanting through restorative Torah education. This is depicted by the metaphor of ‘Yoseph’ (so commonly and eruditely interpreted by Rabbinical commentaries on the last 4 Parashot of Bereisheet – Genesis).
It is this consideration for the “Lost Children of Judah and Israel” which will secure and ignite the Final Redemption and hence, the establishment of the Universal Kingdom of the G-d of Israel.
– The Regathering of 10-Israel from exile. They have to find their ancient Israelite Roots and return to and restore Torah observation. For this reason they have to “bow to Judah” for their superior Torah guidance according to the Divine Mandate of being the Mechoqeck (the Law Arm) of the G-d of Israel.
In the light of the above Parashat commentary, they are past stage 1 and 2 of the Redemption Process. HaShem has called them out of ‘Egyptian’ (pagan) slavery under the erroneous teachings of the Church. Even further: they have been released from Pharoah’s captivity through the Paschal Lamb Blood Sign (as have the House of Judah). “The slaughtering of the Paschal lamb … was a statement that the people inside those houses worshiped God alone. The blood on their doorposts was a brave protest against the prevailing beliefs [of Egypt] …” (quoted from https://jewsforjudaism.ca/ }. A True Messiah would call his followers BACK to the Torah Covenant of the G-d of Israel and OUT of and away from ‘Egyptian’ teachings. Re-awakening Ephraim amongst the Nations who are returning to and restoring Torah yet resist ‘Bowing to’ and integrating with Judah to become properly re-covenanted with G-d, should therefore reconsider the Calling that they are exposed to and following, to consider whether they are correctly interpreting it, resisting it or rebelling against it.
Re-identifying 10-Israel are in exodus OUT of Egypt, already in the Promised Land and on the Way to Sinai to re-covenant – but, like the ancient Israelites, there are still many complaints and ‘holding on to the flesh pots of Egypt’, looking back and resistance to Moses’ leading. ONLY subjection to his leading (as maintained by the House of Judah for this Time of the 2nd Exodus) can bring them back fully into proper Covenantal relationship with G-d. Like a Marriage – they are still in ‘engagement’ mode with their Bridegroom (HaShem). Without acceptance of, honouring of and abiding by the terms of the Marriage Contract (Torah Covenant = His Will) there can be NO Marriage, NO participating in a Final Redemption. They will disqualify themselves by their resistance to the Terms of this Eternal Marriage, thus prevented from becoming ‘Walking Torahs’ under a New Covenant to be concluded at the Final Redemption – after the Final Regathering and at the Return of the Shechinah of G-d , to become part with Judah of HaShem’s LIGHT unto the Nations.
It is this ‘switch over’, a Final Decision, that will complete the Final Redemption and secure the Eternal Marriage.
Finally, it will serve as a Testimony to all the Nations amongst whom they were exiled, of the Glory and Honour of HaShem as the Only True G-d (Read Ch. 20 of Ezekiel).
What a Glorious and exalted opportunity!
Independent research scholar. He works tirelessly as an activist promoting Israel and settlement of the Land of Israel, and as Webmaster and co-ordinator of Kol HaTor. Read More.
