The final part of what might be called “Act I” of ‘the Exodus’ (parsha Bo, Exodus/Shemot 10:1 – 13:16) concludes with the final set of the ‘3 sets of 3, plus one’ plagues, and the ‘death of the firstborn. But there is much more, because it also lays out the first of what are the Moedim, or Appointed Times, of YHVH, and what is not only the most dramatic, but so fundamental to all of Scripture, even if much of ‘the church’ may have become disconnected from the ‘why’.

It again bgins with what Mark Call of Shabbat Shalom Mesa fellowship contends is THE key understanding in the Book, and of the Creator Himself, “ki ani YHVH,” (no, not “I am the LORD,” but His real Name, and just how he makes very clear what that means.)

It is also clear that this final plague is very different from the others that precede it, as the Erev Shabbat reading outlines:

This is the story of the first Pesach, or Passover. Our fathers’ fathers were supposed to “teach your children.” It was YHVH’s first demonstrated ‘moed,’ or of His ‘Appointed Times.’ And He gave Instruction about it — to remember it, to set it apart, “forever,” and “throughout your generations.” So what happened?

The Sabbath Day midrash begins with a question, and it’s one that may even be overlooked today:

The answer will help a Whole Lot of the pieces to fall into place.

The combined two-part reading and Sabbath midrash: