Haftarah Bo
“God Rules”
Jeremiah 46:13-28
excerpted from TorahScope Haftarah Exhortations
As the continuing saga of Israel’s departure from Egypt proceeds, this week’s parashah (Exodus 10:1-13:16), entitled Bo or “Go,” describes God’s final three judgments upon Egypt, and the first description of the Passover instructions. Freeing the Israelites from the clutches of Pharaoh is so difficult, that extreme measures are taken, so that future generations would know of God’s exploits against those who did not recognize His sovereignty. The explanation of the plague of locusts,[1] the three days of darkness so heavy that one could feel it,[2] and the death of the firstborn,[3] are described in detail. The Sages noted parallels in the words of Jeremiah, who described another time of judgment upon Egypt, as Nebuchadnezzar expanded the influence of Babylon. There is a contrast between punishments meted upon Egypt, and the ultimate deliverance of the Jews, who were to be taken into Babylonian captivity for only a limited time:
“‘I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants. Afterwards it will be inhabited, as in the days of old,’ says the LORD. ‘But don’t you be afraid, Jacob my servant. Don’t be dismayed, Israel; for, behold, I will save you from afar, and your offspring from the land of their captivity. Jacob will return, and will be quiet and at ease. No one will make him afraid. Don’t be afraid, O Jacob my servant,’ says the LORD, ‘for I am with you; for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have driven you, but I will not make a full end of you, but I will correct you in measure, and will in no way leave you unpunished’” (Jeremiah 46:26-28, WMB).
The Exodus account, and the ten judgments which provided the Israelites release from Egyptian servitude, can be contrasted with those who follow human leaders versus those who know the Creator God. Jeremiah understood these two options, having described the Pharaoh of Egypt as a big noise, compared to the Lord of Hosts who loomed like a prominent mountain:
“They cried there, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise; he has let the appointed time pass by.’ ‘As I live,’ says the King, whose name is the LORD of Hosts, ‘surely like Tabor among the mountains, and like Carmel by the sea, so he will come’” (Jeremiah 46:17-18, WMB).
Let’s face it: the immutable Master of the Universe is not impressed by mere mortals, pretender gods, or some part of the created order which human beings elevate to godlike status. If people choose to worship the Sun or the Moon or elements like the Nile River or various creatures—or anything other than the Holy One of Israel—they are deceived and are following after false gods. In our Torah reading, as the Lord described the procedure for avoiding the death of the firstborn, He stated how a major part of what He was doing was judging the gods of Egypt:
“For I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and animal. I will execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD” (Exodus 12:12, WMB).
The jealous God of Creation (Exodus 34:14) will not share His glory with anything He has made, or anything which humanity misconstrues to be worthy of worship. The Egyptians discovered this in a very graphic way during the period of the Exodus, and later when they were enticed into an alliance with Judah prior to the Babylonian invasion. What is interesting, is that even with these historical precedents duly recorded for us in Scripture, there is a coming time when these lessons are going to have to be repeated—as the world will once again turn to leaders or other created things for so-called deliverance.
As seen in the Book of Revelation, there are similarities between the judgments upon Egypt in Exodus, and what will transpire against the entire world, when the Time of Jacob’s Trouble (Jeremiah 30:7) occurs at the End of this Age. Note some of the parallels between the ten judgments upon Egypt, and the seven bowls of wrath seen in Revelation 16:
“I heard a loud voice out of the temple, saying to the seven angels, ‘Go and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God on the earth!’ The first went, and poured out his bowl into the earth, and it became a harmful and painful sore on the people who had the mark of the beast, and who worshiped his image. The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became blood as of a dead man. Every living thing in the sea died. The third poured out his bowl into the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. I heard the angel of the waters saying, ‘You are righteous, who are and who were, O Holy One, because you have judged these things. For they poured out the blood of holy ones and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. They deserve this.’ I heard the altar saying, ‘Yes, Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are your judgments.’ The fourth poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was given to him to scorch men with fire. People were scorched with great heat, and people blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues. They didn’t repent and give him glory. The fifth poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was darkened. They gnawed their tongues because of the pain, and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores. They still didn’t repent of their works. The sixth poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates. Its water was dried up, that the way might be prepared for the kings that come from the sunrise. I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits, something like frogs; for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole inhabited earth, to gather them together for the war of that great day of God the Almighty. ‘Behold, I come like a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his clothes, so that he doesn’t walk naked, and they see his shame.’ He gathered them together into the place which is called in Hebrew, ‘Harmagedon’. The seventh poured out his bowl into the air. A loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, ‘It is done!’ There were lightnings, sounds, and thunders; and there was a great earthquake such as has not happened since there were men on the earth—so great an earthquake and so mighty. The great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered in the sight of God, to give to her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. Every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. Great hailstones, about the weight of a talent, came down out of the sky on people. People blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, for this plague was exceedingly severe” (Revelation 16:1-21, WMB).
The similarities between the original Exodus judgments, and those at the End of the Age, include: sores from the pestilence, bloody seas and rivers, a judgment upon the Nile and Euphrates Rivers, darkness and Sun changes, earthquakes and hailstones. God, in essence, will use the created order, to execute His punishment at some future time, just like He has done in the past. This pattern of punishment described in Revelation, while not necessarily exact, does warn how these events will eventually take place. It is imperative for those of us who know the Holy One of Israel and who are studying His Word, that as we review passages from Exodus and Jeremiah, and consider prophecies from the Book of Revelation, we are mindful of our task to point people to the only solution to the problems to come.
In this week’s parashah, the physical acts of slaughtering a lamb at the designated time, and taking some of the blood and wiping it on the doorposts and doorframe of the house, were the instruction to avoid the death angel (Exodus 12:7, 22-23). By faithfully obeying this command, the Israelite homes, and all of the livestock, were protected from the death of the firstborn, which God used as His final judgment to get Pharaoh’s attention.
Similar to the Exodus, those of us living today have another event, which took place two millennia ago, which requires our faithful heartfelt acceptance, in order to avoid eternal separation from our Creator. This is, of course, trust in the atoning work of the Messiah Yeshua, our Passover Lamb, who paid the penalty for not only our iniquities, but our fallen nature in Adam. There in Jerusalem, hung on a tree (Deuteronomy 21:23; Galatians 3:13), pierced for our transgressions (Zechariah 12:10), He bled and died for us. He was buried and received the punishment which our transgressions merited. He was resurrected and ascended to the right hand of the Father in Heaven.
Now if we believe in the Messiah Yeshua as our Savior and Redeemer, we do not have to turn to human leaders or nations for our deliverance and salvation. Instead, we turn wholly to Him and to Him alone for what is required for eternal life! He rules from Heaven above! If you want to spend eternity with Him, then you must believe in Him with all your heart, in order for God’s Spirit to take up residence in your new heart of flesh. Eventually in His timing alone, just like the Ancient Israelites in Egypt or the Jews who were exiled to Babylon, His greater plan of salvation and deliverance will be realized. The Prophet Ezekiel decreed,
“For I will take you from among the nations and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes. You will keep my ordinances and do them. You will dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers. You will be my people, and I will be your God” (Ezekiel 36:24-28, WMB).
How this all will take place, is something only to be considered in the Lord’s timing. We each often have to remember how the Ruler not only rules, but He makes the rules—including the time of the final ingathering. In the meantime, our responsibility is to witness to a lost and searching world. Living a life pleasing to Him, and proclaiming the good news pointing to Him, are required of each of us. Looking at passages of Scripture like the above on a consistent basis, so that we are reminded of our duties and responsibilities, helps immeasurably. Pretending these truths do not exist, or are only to be considered by those in full time ministry, is not an excuse.
Pharaoh and the Egyptians, and a multitude of others down through the centuries, discovered how the Creator God rules regardless of whether human beings recognize it or not. Denying truth does not change or alter truth. Ignoring the rules of salvation according to the Scriptures, has devastating consequences. One might think that if those in unbelief could only ask someone who has died in unbelief what happens, things would be different, but not even a man having come back from the dead could have convinced another’s brothers to change their ways—if the Scriptures had not been able to convict them:
“He said, ‘I ask you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house—for I have five brothers—that he may testify to them, so they won’t also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets. Let them listen to them.’ He said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent’” (Luke 16:27-31, WMB).
We have a Savior who raised from the dead! Believe in Him and His work! He is seated at the right hand of the Father (Acts 2:32-34) and He rules (Matthew 28:18)!
NOTES
[1] Exodus 10:1-20.
[2] Exodus 10:21-29.
[3] Exodus 11:1-10.
