Torah Portion: Exodus 6:2-9:35

Coincidentally, as we enter a new year on the Roman calendar, when we traditionally look forward with resolution, our Torah portion for this week contains a key reminder of God's promises. 

On the biblical calendar, according to the three main Feasts of the Lord, Sukkot (Tabernacles) is behind us and Pesach (Passover) lies before us. Exodus 6:6-7 gives God's fourfold promise to the Children of Israel:

• To bring them out from under the burden of their oppressors;
• To rescue them from bondage;
• To redeem them with an outstretched arm and great judgments;
• To take them as His people and be their God.

The four promises are recalled by the drinking of four cups of wine during the Passover Seder. These four cups were shared by Yeshua with His disciples at what we call ‘The Last Supper’. Two of the cups are specifically mentioned in Luke 22:15-22, when Yeshua reinterpreted the Passover as a remembrance of Him. What was accomplished in the deliverance of Israel from bondage to Egyptian slavery became a foreshadow of Yeshua’s deliverance of His people from this world of bondage to sin.

The recent celebrations of the birth of Yeshua are now behind us, so it is fitting to focus on the more important remembrance of our Lord. The Bible contains the account of the birth of Yeshua, so it is fitting to remember His coming as a man, but more important is it to remember Him as our Saviour who gave His life for us. As the Apostle Paul said, when we remember the Lord's sacrifice through the sharing of bread and wine, especially at Passover, we proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.

The promises of God in Exodus 6 preceded the ten great plagues of which we begin to read this week. That is what it took to free the Israelites from Egypt. Likewise, such immense earth-shaking events will take place prior to Yeshua's return to complete our redemption: the great woes recorded in the Book of Revelation.

As we enter this new year, the signs of His coming are all around, so let us go forward to Passover in remembrance of Him. Let us not be so preoccupied with the things of this world to miss out on these days of preparation. Yeshua Himself said:

Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near. (Luke 21:28)

Author: Dr Clifford Denton