Beshalach: When he sent — בשלח

Thoughts on Torah for Last Week:

See our page on Spiritual Coaching:
 
Exodus 10-13
The climax of this portion is the Passover and Exodus of Israel out of Egypt. Essentially what God is doing is re-establishing Israel as His covenant people.  He does this by recognizing the father of the home as a king and priest.  God sees the father of the home as an earthly sovereign whom He enters into covenant at the door threshold which represented the earthly boundary of the fathers domain or kingdom; and, since animal sacrifice was considered a priestly function, the father of the home was also recognized as a priest to his family.

---

In the New Testament, this concept as the father being a king and a priest to the family is expressed at 1 Corinthians 11:3 -"But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Messiah; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Messiah is God."  So graphically these relationships can be expressed as follows:

​
​PASSOVER AND GOD'S EARTHLY SOVEREIGNS​

Some may think that spreading lamb’s blood on the lintel and doorposts of the front entrance of a home at Passover is a pretty odd thing to do, but anciently this had significant meaning. This practice constituted the initial step in establishing a relationship with a deity and the residents of a particular home – in the case of the Israelites, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. During the first Passover, the Israelites were instructed to sacrifice an unblemished male lamb, apply its blood to the doorposts and consume the roasted flesh of the lamb at a meal. Here , the sacrificed lamb represented Israel's savior-god.  Integral to this first Passover are three key elements – the home threshold, the sacrifice/shedding of blood, and the consuming of a meal.

As we shall see in the following discussion, these elements portrayed in the first Passover are indicative of establishing a contract or treaty between two sovereign powers – the father as the king of his home and with Israel’s God as king over all of the earth.


KEY ELEMENTS
The Home Threshold: Location of Treaty Making
The threshold of a home, anciently, was considered the most sacred part of the home and was used as the home altar. It provided entry into the husband/father’s domain and “kingdom” who presided as a king and a priest. The threshold to his home was considered the boundary of the husband/father’s dominion and rule. Invited guests who “crossed-over” the threshold were admitted and adopted into the household as family members and receive the father’s protection. The threshold is where covenants were made between husband and wife, between the father of the household and non-household persons, and with the deity that the father of the household recognized as his god. We see the threshold used in the Torah as a place of covenant making (Ex. 12:22; Ex. 21:6; Deu. 6:9). Moreover, Yeshua/Jesus refers to himself as the “door” to God’s kingdom (John 10:1-10). Marrying persons crossed-over the threshold together thereby forming a binding union. Moreover, Israel’s Tabernacle was the “threshold” covenanting location for collective or national covenants. We also see these concepts applied to the God of Israel’s marriage to Israel and the Church as bride and groom.

The importance of the threshold of the home comes together in the biblical context as the place where two sovereigns join together to enter into a covenant compact – the one as king over his home and family and the other as king over all the earth and over life itself. Clay Trumball writes in his book, The Threshold Covenant, “Man’s first dwelling-place was the cave, or the tent, or the hut, in which he made a home with his family. The threshold and hearth of that dwelling-place was the boundary of his earthly possessions. It was the sacred border or limit of the portion of the earth’s surface over which he claimed control, and where he and his were under the special protection of the deity with whom he was in covenant. Therefore the threshold hearth was hallowed as a place of covenant worship.” (p. 151)


The Shedding of Blood: Nature of the Treaty
Another primitive biblical rite demonstrated in the Passover scene is the rite of blood-covenanting – a form of mutual covenanting, by which two persons enter into the closest, the most enduring, and the most sacred of compacts, as friends and brothers. Of the blood covenant, Clay Trumball writes, “A covenant of blood … has been recognized as the closest, the holiest, and the most indissoluble, compact conceivable. Such a covenant clearly involves an absolute surrender of one’s separate self, and an irrevocable merging of one’s individual nature [with God].... Man’s highest and noblest outreachings of soul have, therefore, been for such a union with the divine nature as is typified in this … covenant of blood.” (The Blood Covenant, p.204)


The Terms of the Treaty
Later we will see at Sinai this treaty formalized into more detailed language.  According to Dr. Meredith Kline, PhD, the Ten Commandments received by Moses on Mount Sinai follow classic Near East treaty style and structure, wrote Dr. Kline, “Attention has been frequently directed in recent years to the remarkable resemblance between God’s covenant with Israel and the suzerainty type of international treaty found in the ancient Near East.” “Of most interest for the subject of this article is the fact that the pattern of the suzerainty treaty can be traced in miniature in the revelation written on the two tables by the finger of God.” (The Two Tablets of the Covenant, Westminster Theological Journal, Vol. 22, pg. 133-134) Dr. Kline further points out that Exodus 20:2-17 comprises a complete treaty agreement between God and man. Indeed, Exodus 20:2-17 can be viewed as the initial terms of an agreement between sovereigns.


The Passover Meal: Sealing the Treaty
Anciently, the eating of a meal between two parties to a covenant sealed the covenant with a promise to defend the covenant with one’s life. Dr. John Rushdoony in lecture on Exodus 24:9-18 said, “After the [Sinai] covenant was ratified in blood with all the people …. A further ceremony took place. A covenant establishes a community of law between its participants, and to witness to that covenant community, a covenant is followed by a meal together of the parties involved.” “It testifies to a community in which the participants are ready to live and die for one another in terms of the covenant law. The covenant dinner is thus, basic to the making of a covenant.” (The Meal Covenant, Lecture #87)

In the Passover feast or meal and Christian sacrament, we see this sealing of a covenant and three emblems representing the Messiah who is a party to the covenant and to the sealing of the covenant – the meat of the sacrificial lamb, the bread, and wine. Not only do these emblems represent the body and blood of the Messiah, but by taking these emblems within oneself, one takes into one the very attributes of His life, His virtues and His energies. Of the blood covenant, Trumball writes, “… the taking in of another’s blood was the acquiring of another’s life, with all that was best in that other’s nature. It was not merely that the taking away of blood was the taking away of life; but that the taking in of blood was the taking in of life, and of all that life represented.” (The Blood Covenant, p.126) Yeshua affirms this symbolism at John 6:53-58.


FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD - Lev. 23:6.
At the Passover meal, the Israelites were commanded to prepare and consume unleavened bread. The Israelites were then instructed to eat unleavened bread for seven days. (Ex. 12)

Unleavened bread here represents a life in bondage without God’s law, covenants and blessings – a lack of His abundance and fullness in one’s lives. The practice of eating unleavened bread for seven days is to impress upon the mind that without God and His law one is completely and wholly without a guarantee of life, liberty and sovereign authority. Leaven in bread is a living and growing characteristic of bread. Yeast, a living organism, has been used as a leavening agent since about the beginning of time and gives bread volume, and a fullness of aroma and flavor.  So then literally, bread without leaven is bread without life. It is life without Yeshua who is the way, the truth and the life. It is life without the promise of temporal and spiritual salvation. The Lord called unleavened bread at Deu. 16:3 the “bread of affliction” and represents conditions that are opposite to the blessings of God – no guarantee of an inheritance, no guarantee of posterity, no guarantee of freedom and liberty, and no guarantee to life itself. From a sovereignty and kingship stand point and an Israelite point of view, without God’s law, husbands and fathers become serfs and slaves to institutions outside of the family that rob them of their authority and resources.

We will see later during Shavuot/Pentecost, when we commemorate Israel being under God’s full covenant, a restoration of a father’s sovereign authority as God places limits on the power of institutions outside of the family – limits on the power of governments, churches, employers, creditors, etc. Commenting on the limits placed on institutions under God’s law John Rushdoony wrote, “According to the rabbinic reckoning, the Torah has 613 laws.” “If, as Scripture makes clear, we are to live by what at most can be called 613 laws, then we cannot have a power-state nor a power-church, because their sphere of relevance is limited to a very few of those 613 laws. It means also that those laws of 613 which are not reserved by God to His own enforcements, or are given to state and church, are placed in the hands of individuals and families.” (Institutes, Vol. III, p.1,3) We will also observe Shavuot/Pentecost with leavened bread (Lev. 23:17). Leavening in bread here represents life under God’s law and through His Son which result in the full blessings of God.


FIRSTFRUITS - Lev. 23:10-14
The children of Israel were commanded when they entered the promised land to offer up the firstfruits of the harvest and not to eat until the offering was made.

Giving God the first of everything is a token of one’s honor and dedication to God who supplies us with all that we have including one’s life, His material abundance, His physical protection and freedom. Furthermore, those who dedicate their life to building His kingdom, become His firstfruits as was the Messiah who is the quintessential firstfruit of the Father. In the treaty-making context, a payment of “tribute” to God is an expression of gratitude, respect, admiration, an acknowledgment of submission, and as the price of protection or security (Deu. 16:10). Black’s Law Dictionary defines a tribute as “A sum of money paid by an inferior sovereign or state to a superior potentate, to secure the friendship or protection of the latter” (6th Edition, pg. 1506).

NAME OF GOD PLACED AT THE THRESHOLD

Fathers of families can establish their sovereignty with the God of Israel by placing the Name of God over or on the front door of their homes.  The Hebrew name Yehovah or Yeshua are acceptable.

In Jewish practice, a mezuzah is placed on the door frame with the Hebrew letters Shin, Dalet and Yod, which is a form for the name of God- Shaddai.  Consider:

Isaiah Chapter 14
The king of Assyria/Babylon (Anti-Christ) conquers the world and ascends the heavens but his soul descends to Hell.

Isaiah Prophecy Highlights 6 — The King of Assyria/Babylon — Avraham Gileadi from Color My Media on Vimeo.

---

Resource Links for this Week's Portion

TORAH: Exodus 13:17-17:16
GOSPELS: Matthew 14:22-33

Listen and Read the Portion
First Fruits of Zion

​​Commentary with Nehemia Gordon
​

HAFTARAH: Isaiah Chapter 15

Commentary with Avraham Gileadi, PhD