Shalom. The prophetic passages selected by our sages to read on the intermediate Sabbath for Passover and the eight day Passover are some of the most important to text in the Bible. First the intermediate Sabbath of Passover, now there is not want to 2008 because the Sabbath Passover is on the Yantut day, but this is read in most years. It is the first 14 verses of the 37th chapter of Ezekiel, the famous Valley of Dry Bones. And basically, Ezekiel, reports of God came upon me and He took me by the Spirit of the Lord and took me to a Valley for the Bones and He say, do you see this bones and He says to Ezekiel, can these bones live, and Ezekiel gets in a you know and God said, I will allow of course breathe to come upon them and will lay sins upon them and prophesize. So Ezekiel prophesize then somebody hears his rattling and the bones came together and there was flesh on them and God said, see they say that they can’t come to life and here they come to life. And then in verse 11 God said to him, Oh, mortal these bones to the whole house in Israel.
And so what is this about? Well, there is a debate in the Talmud as to whether or not this is real. Judah judged the content of the vision to be a parable and Eliezer in, some had in 92 B, the trapping says no, with regards of that event effected to be literary true. So if it is in parable what is in the parable of, well obviously it is a parable if the House of Israel because on the second half of the chapter they hold up two sticks.
They say this is Joseph, I mean in Israel, that is Judah we will come together into national regeneration or rebirth. And so the bones are literal, then if it is a parable according the Rabbi Judah then it is really representing the House of Israel, that woman is again will be reborn. Now in support of that view, Ezekiel prophesying probably in 5 97 when the first contingent of Juddians including Ezekiel were deported to Babylonia after the Babylonian destruction of the Temple.
This is right before the Babylonian destruction of the Temple and then the Temple gets destroyed in 586 B.C. And now, if it is on a parable then what is it? And why is this read on the Passover intermediate Sabbath. Well, there are many different reason given, Orashi just says that they came out of Egypt before the exact time.
This would be resurrected bones of those Israelites from the time Exodus. That is one tradition and since we are dealing with the Passover in the Exodus, will it make sense to read this prophetic portion. Another reason focuses on the idea of resurrection itself. There is a in Jewish tradition that Isaac was bound on a festival of Passover to the alter. A third view would be that connecting spring time set official offerings and resurrection as an ancient theme I the history of religions. And so this all comes together at this time. So we are dealing with resurrection the outside of spring because the world feels like he is being resurrected again. So precisely the time when, it does not make sense and fourth, the intermediate’s passage, set a Passover is determined when the Songs of Songs, they will never the video in this is recited and so our presentation of the promise of resurrection during Passover perjures a timeless tradition.
And so either way if Judah is right, this is a parable then we are talking about the resurrection or redemption of the past cover resurrection of the Jewish people from slavery and sovereign and Passover, pointing towards the resurrection of the future. Because remember the Jewish people then are exiled, the temples are destroyed from Babylonia, the Jews are in Iraq, Babylonia one of their way to come back and God is saying, they will come.
In the second half of the chapter which is not read on the Sabbath points about to, Ezekiel chapter 37, let us talk about them and as I said about the two sticks coming together. And if it is literal, then are you surprised a God can resurrect. I mean we believe, we pray everyday three, times a day the [foreign language], God revives the dead. And if we can call Him, so God could probably do it too I am sure, no problem. God could do whatever God wants. And so either way we have this Kayantoni to the festival on Passover.
Now the eighth day, Haftorah is even more dramatic if you can possibly say that. It is the very famous Isaiah’s chapter 10 starting with verse 32 to chapter 12 verses 6 and it is really one of the central Messianic passages. For example in chapter 11, but a shoe shall grow out of the stamp of Jessie, as King David. A twig shall sprout from a stock. The spirit of the lord shall light upon him. The spirit of wisdom and insight of counsel and valor, the spirit of Lord’s in reverends. You could slay the wicked, justice shall the girdle of his loins and faithfulness, the girdle about his waist. And then listen to this, a wolf shall lie down with the lamb, a leopard lie down with a kid, the calf that used to pray in the family together and a little boy had heard them. A lion, like an ox shall eat straw.
We talking here about the Messianic time in that day [foreign language] the stalk of Jessie that has remained standing shall became a standard of people. This is from the lineage of King David. Nations shall seek his counsel, his abode to be honored. In that day my Lord will apply His hand again to redeeming other parts of His people. In that day you shall say, I give thanks to the Lord. Joyfully should you draw water from the fountains of strength. That is where we get the song n Hebrew [foreign language] will it be known in the world or shout of joy who is well anxient for your great and new minces, the Holy one of Israel.
This is a very powerful passage or a messianism again why is it red hen, the holiday of Passover, the very conclusion. Because we talk about the past redemption, we talk about the future redemption. Isaiah is writing now during the last third of the 8 century B.C.E with annoying oppression of Assyria which destroys the northern part of Israel in 722 B.C. and exiles having their lost forever . But it also a Utopian invasion of national justice and in gathering and said they mention God universal dominion depicted and projected at each point in this passage.
God obviously has the power to redeem the people of Israel from the nations of their dispersion. We think about the messianic era here marked by justice and kingship in national restoration in a vision of social and natural transformation lies at the center of this passage. It is an identic bliss again and it even talks about animals changing their nature. Now you can watch my video on messianism to discuss the debate between some great Rabbi’s and to whether they believe and examine this literally or it actually in the messianic era that that is just a metaphor for peace reigning among human beings that I hope will never change. Its a basic tendency in desire to eat lambs.
And this anticipates in the final in gathering of the exile and why is it ready this time, well Matthew says because on of the Kings depicted the beginning of this finally defeated on the leavened Passover. but most think it is because, Passover deals with the grave redemption of the past in the Bible and we are talking here about the ultimate final redemption of humanity. Two of last three half terrorism.
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