2.2.25 ~ Guarding Your Spiritual Matzah
Good Morning!
In yesterday’s Torah portion, Bo/come, we learned about the final three plagues with the culmination being the death of the first born (Ex. 10:1-13:19). This is the final act of God that releases the children of Israel from the grip of Egyptian slavery. But right before this final plague was poured out. The children of Israel were given instructions for the Passover Lamb and all that went with it (Ex. 12:3-11).
They were to take a male lamb without blemish on the 10th day of the month and keep it until the 14th day when they would slaughter it. Then they would smear some of its blood upon the door post of their houses so the first born of the Israelites would not face the same fate as that of the first born Egyptians.
That night they were to eat roasted on the fire with lemon bread and bitter herbs
(Ex. 12:8)
And whatever was not eaten, was to be burned in fire. They were to eat it with their belts, fastened their sandals on their feet and their staff in their hand, and they were to eat it in haste (Ex. 12:11). They were to observe all these instructions meticulously so that the first born of the children of Israel would be spared when the Lord struck the first born among the Egyptians (Ex. 12:12,13).
Commercial: Shabbat morning's zoom call: Bo/come! What was God hiding from the Egyptians with the 6 days of darkness? And what's up with the locusts covering the 'eye' of the earth so no man could see the earth or "can my hardened heart ever be restored"?
Back to our regularly scheduled program... After the Passover instructions, we read about how this event should be memorized and re-lived year after year (Ex. 12:14; 1 Cor. 5:7,8). Aside from the offering of the passover lamb most of the instructions focused on the unleavened bread/matza; which is followed by a fascinating instruction that most of us miss because of our English translations. Most English translations tell us:
“and you shall observe the feast of unleavened bread...“ (Ex. 12:17)
The original text says: "and you shall guard the unleavened bread..." shemartem et-hamatzot (Ex. 12:17)
Many of you would recognize the word guard/shemartem from guarding the tree of life (Gen. 3:24), guarding my brother (Gen. 4:9), guarding the covenant (Gen. 17:9,10; Ex 19:5), guarding the way of the Lord (Gen. 18:19), guard the sabbath (Ex. 31:14)... From this direct commandment, we learned that the matzah/unleavened bread used for Passover needs to be at a higher standard than that which has been eaten for daily consumption and is completely concerned with the stringency of matzah made specifically for Passover.
For Passover there’s a special type of matzah that has additional measures that ensure the grain is free from moisture, beginning from the time it is harvested.
A practical and spiritual lesson can be learned here if these extra precautions identify the difference between regular matzah and matzah that is specially prepared for Passover. One lesson that we must learn is from the effort involved in each. What is the difference between a piece of matzah and a piece of leavened bread/sourdough? One is flat having been quickly baked before it can rise and the other is puffed up having risen before baking. They’re both made from the same basic ingredients: flour, and Water. The difference between the two is that someone had to pay attention to the unleavened bread to ensure that it did not rise and the other was left alone to do what it does naturally.
Before we go any further to examine one more thing if we look closely, the same passage contains plain words instructing us to guard the matzah...and since the Torah was written without vowels the same phrase can also be read to guard the hamitzvot/ the Commandments. In this reading, we learn an even deeper lesson. When we guard the matzah we also guard the Commandments. How so?
As many connect leaven to the delayed response to obedience, we identify leaven as the quintessential representation of sin; it represents that which is impure, corrupt, infected, and arrogant. Unfortunately, as most of us can testify, we humans don’t automatically do what is right. We make excuses for why we don’t need to go out of our way to do something. We know we should, but oftentimes don't! In the case of observing the details of the Passover lamb it was critical to obey every detail of the Lord‘s instructions in order that the firstborn of the children of Israel would be spared the judgment against the firstborn.
What would’ve happened if they decided to skip some of the details the Lord instructed them to carry out? Let's just say the next day wouldn't have been very liberating. It’s easy to allow the leaven of sin to naturally creep into our lives. You know what I mean? Yeppers. When we don’t do much of anything: don’t put up our guard. Don’t do regular self examinations. Don’t spend regular time in prayer and study each day. Don’t do anything that would enhance our lives spiritually and especially don’t go out of your way to observe a commandment with any kind of detail. Too often, as we spoke about last week, when we go about life getting by with the least amount of effort possible, the leaven will work its way into us without us having to do a single thing. The matzah will have been spoiled.
Remaining pure and unblemished by sin and the world, however, requires much effort. It requires us to be proactively aware of our spiritual condition and to guard against the influences of the world rather than sit back and allow the world and its influences to slowly permeate into our lives. This is the difference between a loaf of bread and a piece of passover matzah. It’s the difference between regular matzah and shamartem hamatzah.
As we move through the winter months, anticipating the springtime, how can you step up your game to guard the command to ensure your spiritual matzah doesn’t become leavened? Have you let things come in and spoil the matzah in your life? Do you want to go from living an ordinary life to an extraordinary life? Good questions to ask ourselves in preparation for the week and upcoming Passover-Unleavened Bread celebration (Ex. 12; Lev. 23; 1 Cor. 5:7-9).
Passover is just around the corner.
Happy 1st day of the week!
Shalom
Here's a site for back studies, blogs and videos
They were to take a male lamb without blemish on the 10th day of the month and keep it until the 14th day when they would slaughter it. Then they would smear some of its blood upon the door post of their houses so the first born of the Israelites would not face the same fate as that of the first born Egyptians.
That night they were to eat roasted on the fire with lemon bread and bitter herbs
(Ex. 12:8)
And whatever was not eaten, was to be burned in fire. They were to eat it with their belts, fastened their sandals on their feet and their staff in their hand, and they were to eat it in haste (Ex. 12:11). They were to observe all these instructions meticulously so that the first born of the children of Israel would be spared when the Lord struck the first born among the Egyptians (Ex. 12:12,13).
Commercial: Shabbat morning's zoom call: Bo/come! What was God hiding from the Egyptians with the 6 days of darkness? And what's up with the locusts covering the 'eye' of the earth so no man could see the earth or "can my hardened heart ever be restored"?
Back to our regularly scheduled program... After the Passover instructions, we read about how this event should be memorized and re-lived year after year (Ex. 12:14; 1 Cor. 5:7,8). Aside from the offering of the passover lamb most of the instructions focused on the unleavened bread/matza; which is followed by a fascinating instruction that most of us miss because of our English translations. Most English translations tell us:
“and you shall observe the feast of unleavened bread...“ (Ex. 12:17)
The original text says: "and you shall guard the unleavened bread..." shemartem et-hamatzot (Ex. 12:17)
Many of you would recognize the word guard/shemartem from guarding the tree of life (Gen. 3:24), guarding my brother (Gen. 4:9), guarding the covenant (Gen. 17:9,10; Ex 19:5), guarding the way of the Lord (Gen. 18:19), guard the sabbath (Ex. 31:14)... From this direct commandment, we learned that the matzah/unleavened bread used for Passover needs to be at a higher standard than that which has been eaten for daily consumption and is completely concerned with the stringency of matzah made specifically for Passover.
For Passover there’s a special type of matzah that has additional measures that ensure the grain is free from moisture, beginning from the time it is harvested.
A practical and spiritual lesson can be learned here if these extra precautions identify the difference between regular matzah and matzah that is specially prepared for Passover. One lesson that we must learn is from the effort involved in each. What is the difference between a piece of matzah and a piece of leavened bread/sourdough? One is flat having been quickly baked before it can rise and the other is puffed up having risen before baking. They’re both made from the same basic ingredients: flour, and Water. The difference between the two is that someone had to pay attention to the unleavened bread to ensure that it did not rise and the other was left alone to do what it does naturally.
Before we go any further to examine one more thing if we look closely, the same passage contains plain words instructing us to guard the matzah...and since the Torah was written without vowels the same phrase can also be read to guard the hamitzvot/ the Commandments. In this reading, we learn an even deeper lesson. When we guard the matzah we also guard the Commandments. How so?
As many connect leaven to the delayed response to obedience, we identify leaven as the quintessential representation of sin; it represents that which is impure, corrupt, infected, and arrogant. Unfortunately, as most of us can testify, we humans don’t automatically do what is right. We make excuses for why we don’t need to go out of our way to do something. We know we should, but oftentimes don't! In the case of observing the details of the Passover lamb it was critical to obey every detail of the Lord‘s instructions in order that the firstborn of the children of Israel would be spared the judgment against the firstborn.
What would’ve happened if they decided to skip some of the details the Lord instructed them to carry out? Let's just say the next day wouldn't have been very liberating. It’s easy to allow the leaven of sin to naturally creep into our lives. You know what I mean? Yeppers. When we don’t do much of anything: don’t put up our guard. Don’t do regular self examinations. Don’t spend regular time in prayer and study each day. Don’t do anything that would enhance our lives spiritually and especially don’t go out of your way to observe a commandment with any kind of detail. Too often, as we spoke about last week, when we go about life getting by with the least amount of effort possible, the leaven will work its way into us without us having to do a single thing. The matzah will have been spoiled.
Remaining pure and unblemished by sin and the world, however, requires much effort. It requires us to be proactively aware of our spiritual condition and to guard against the influences of the world rather than sit back and allow the world and its influences to slowly permeate into our lives. This is the difference between a loaf of bread and a piece of passover matzah. It’s the difference between regular matzah and shamartem hamatzah.
As we move through the winter months, anticipating the springtime, how can you step up your game to guard the command to ensure your spiritual matzah doesn’t become leavened? Have you let things come in and spoil the matzah in your life? Do you want to go from living an ordinary life to an extraordinary life? Good questions to ask ourselves in preparation for the week and upcoming Passover-Unleavened Bread celebration (Ex. 12; Lev. 23; 1 Cor. 5:7-9).
Passover is just around the corner.
Happy 1st day of the week!
Shalom
Here's a site for back studies, blogs and videos
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