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Shabbat Shalom, this week’s Parasha is Bo, which means “go” and covers Exodus 10:1- 13:16. In chapter 10, we find that God has hardened the heart of Pharaoh and his servants so that God can again show His miraculous signs to the people. This is so the Jewish people will know and remember the awesome power of how God dealt with the Egyptians so that they may know that He is God. Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh to tell him that if he doesn’t let the Jewish people go, then locusts will eat whatever is left from the hail that fell with the previous plague. Pharaoh refuses to let the Jewish people go, despite his servants pleading with him. We read that there were so many locusts that it darkened the land! Everything was gone. Not a single tree or plant was left. Then Pharaoh calls Moses and Aaron in and confesses that he has sinned against God and Moses. He asks Moses to go to the Lord to remove this from him. Moses pleads with God and a wind drives all the locust into the Red Sea. But Pharaoh goes back on his promise and won’t let the people of Israel go.

Then God tells Moses to stretch his hand toward heaven and a darkness falls. This is a darkness that can be felt. For 3 days it was pitch black! No one could see another person. No one moved from their homes. But where the people of Israel were, there was light. Pharaoh then calls to Moses and tells him that the children can go, but the livestock must remain behind. Moses tells Pharaoh that the livestock need to go too because sacrifices need to be offered to God. Pharaoh’s heart is hardened and this time he threatens Moses; if he sees his face again, Pharaoh will kill him.

In chapter 11, the Lord tells Moses that after this, Pharaoh will let the people go. Moses then tells Pharaoh the final plague: That around midnight, every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die. This will extend from the firstborn of Pharaoh, to the firstborn of a slave, and even the firstborn of the cattle. Their status in Egypt didn’t matter. There was going to be a great cry throughout the whole land that has never been, nor ever will be again. God also says that not a single thing will cause the people of Israel harm, so Pharaoh will know that God has made a distinction between Egypt and Israel. Later, there are further commands from Adonai regarding this.  Moses tells Pharaoh that after this all of Pharaoh’s servants will tell Moses to get out of Egypt.

In chapter 12, God gives the Israelis a command to prepare them for the final plague. They are to take a spotless lamb and kill it at twilight. Then they were to put the blood on the doorposts and lintel, the top of the door, of the house. God will pass through the land that night and execute His judgement on man, animals, and all the gods of Egypt. When God sees the blood on the houses He will pass over that house and no plague will destroy them.

At midnight, God struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, just as He said He would. There wasn’t a house where someone wasn’t dead. Imagine the wailing of the people in Egypt. Pharaoh summons Moses and Aaron and tells them to go and serve the Lord and the Jewish people are sent away in haste.

Chapter 13 begins with Moses telling the Jewish people that this is the day God brought them out of slavery. They are to consecrate all the firstborn to the Lord. He reminds them of the promise that God gave their fathers; that they would be given a land flowing with milk and honey.

When I look at the events that take place in this parasha, I am reminded how great God is. Each plague is worse than the previous one until the crescendo of the last plague. The 8th plague destroyed the remainder of the items used for trade in Egypt. Then, the 9th plague was not just a turning off of the lights, but pitch-black darkness that could be felt. The Egyptians were so fearful of this that they didn’t move for 3 days. Imagine, one moment you can see clearly and the next, you can see nothing. I would imagine that panic would set in and you would feel paralyzed and be unable to do anything.

Then, the final plague, death of the firstborn. Yet with this plague, and for the first time, the people of Israel have to take action on their own. Simply being a part of the people of Israel is not enough. God’s judgement is for everyone in the land of Egypt, Jew and Gentile. In order for the judgement to pass over them, God gives them the answer. They have to sacrifice a spotless lamb and place its blood on the doorposts of their houses. Their belief in God causes them to take action and follow the commands that God has given them. When they put the blood on the doorposts, God passes over them and death doesn’t come upon their homes.

We, like the people in Egypt, have been given the answer to the judgement of God:  Life through the sacrifice of the Lamb: the greater Lamb, Messiah, and His death on the cross. He saves us from the judgement of God. His sacrifice and blood doesn’t just cover us from the judgement of our sins, but wipes them away. His blood is put on the doorposts of our hearts. And I pray that everyone here today will know the truth provided through Yeshua and be covered by the saving grace of His blood.