From Darkness to Light
-- T O R A H P O R T I O N --
Introduction:
How does it feel when you are trapped in darkness because of a power interruption or blackout?
Last week, God sent locusts, darkness, and a warning about the death of the firstborn in all the land of Egypt to humble Pharaoh and his people before Him. Just like the previous plagues, Pharaoh refused to listen in spite of the rebuke of his servants that Moshe was causing a snare to them, and Egypt was already destroyed. It came to a point where Pharaoh insulted Moshe and Aaron, saying that God should be with them when he let them go because evil was ahead of them. Then locusts and darkness came over the land of Egypt, which caused Pharaoh and Moshe to exchange words. In the end, the death of the firstborn was announced, together with the beginning of the first month of the year for Israel.
This Shabbat, our Torah portion starts with the continuation of the instruction that God gave to His people Israel on how to observe the Pesach and Unleavened Bread. Why do these two spring feasts suddenly interrupt the giving of the final plague? Egypt is not only a picture of slavery and oppression but also of darkness, and that’s the reason why God wanted to deliver Israel and bring them into the light.
Pesach – Since the final plague was about to be unleashed, God told Moshe and Aaron to instruct the Israelites to put the blood of the lamb on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they ate it (vv.7, 22).
The blood of the lamb means two things:
First, PROTECTION.
It would protect Israel from the plague of the death of the firstborn. It was a sign that the one living inside the house had genuine emunah (faith), believing and obeying God’s instruction. James 2:18, 20 says, “You have faith, and I have works. Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?”
Second, REDEMPTION.
According to Oxford Languages, redemption is the action of regaining or gaining possession of something in exchange for payment, or clearing a debt. Since God considered Israel His son and firstborn (Exo. 4:22), He wanted to save and regain them from slavery and darkness.
I was hooked on drugs for twelve years. My life was ruined, along with my basketball career. But when I surrendered my life to Yeshua, He changed, redeemed, and restored me. Now He is using me to testify of His faithfulness—that He alone can change and restore a broken life.
From Pesach, we can see the Messiah Yeshua as the Lamb who died and shed His blood to protect us from the judgment of death and redeem us from the slavery of sin.
1 Cor. 5:7b says, “For indeed, Yeshua, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.”
Also, the instruction to smear blood on the doorposts involved hyssop. John 19 states that hyssop was used when Yeshua was thirsty. When He had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” The Pesach of Egypt anticipated our greater Passover from sin. Baruch Hashem Adonai YHVH for His only begotten Son Yeshua, our true and eternal purifier from all unrighteousness.
Chag HaMatzot – Following Pesach is the Feast of Unleavened Bread, where God instructed the Israelites to eat this bread for seven days. If Pesach is about God’s protection of Israel from judgment and redemption from darkness, then the Feast of Unleavened Bread is about the SEPARATION of Israel from the Egyptians as the chosen people and nation of God.
That’s why in verse 17, God says, “So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this same day I will have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt.”
Another instruction of God to the Israelites was to remove leaven from their houses, for whoever ate leavened bread from the first to the last day would be cut off from Israel. Here, God wanted to separate Israel also from sin.
Apostle Paul described leaven as sin in 1 Cor. 5:8:
“Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”
This feast also foreshadows Yeshua, the Unleavened Bread from heaven, blameless and worthy to be called the Messiah. He is the only One who can cleanse and take away all the leaven inside our houses.
These two spring feasts should be a memorial to the Israelites from generation to generation, for this is how God protected, saved, and separated them from darkness into light, to be a light to all nations. However, God also asks us to be a light to others and testify of His goodness.
Even today, when disasters strike, wars, pandemics, or economic crises, many people seek refuge in their own “Egypt,” trusting systems instead of God. But God still marks His people through faith and obedience, protecting those who walk under the blood of the Lamb.
Exodus 12:13
“The blood shall be a sign for you… and when I see the blood, I will pass over you.”
Are you living under the covering of Yeshua’s blood, separated from the world’s leaven of sin?
As a community of believers, let us live as those redeemed from Egypt, demonstrating the sincerity and truth of our Passover Lamb to the world.
-- H A F T A R A H P O R T I O N --
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In the Haftarah, the word of God came to the prophet Jeremiah regarding the judgment of God against Egypt. Jeremiah’s prophecy reveals not only God’s judgment against Egypt’s pride but also His preservation of Israel. Egypt, which once seemed mighty and self-sufficient, trusted in false gods, military power, and Pharaoh’s arrogance. Adonai mocked their pride, declaring that their strength, wealth, and idols would crumble. The Lord used Babylon as His instrument of judgment to expose Egypt’s futility and show that only He is sovereign. Remember the time when Israel relied on Egypt for salvation (Isa. 31)? But this time, God would judge this nation, and the Israelites became fearful, thinking that destruction would come upon them too.
What else can we see here?
- Egypt’s fall shows how God turns the words of the proud against them (Jer. 46:13–17). Pharaoh, once hailed as a “god-king,” is reduced to “a loud noise”—full of talk but powerless to save.
- The Lord confronts Egypt’s false gods (Amon of Thebes, Apis the bull, and others), proving that idols and worldly power cannot stand before Adonai Tzva’ot, the Lord of Hosts.
- Despite judgment, God’s love is evident even in discipline, His goal was repentance and the revelation that true safety is found only in Him.
- Judah, though chastised, is promised restoration (Jer. 46:27–28): “Do not fear, O Jacob My servant, for I am with you.”
Despite of the judgment coming, God assured them of the following from verses 27–28:
He will save them from afar. God is an omnipresent God of Israel. Even though they were scattered and became captives of other nations, those nations would receive their punishment from God, and He would restore His chosen nation from the diaspora to its own land.
He will correct them. God loves Israel, His firstborn son, and part of His love is to correct them. Proverbs 3:12 says, “For the LORD corrects those He loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights.”
Our Haftarah portion reminds us that fear can be removed. Remember the name Yeshua, which means “to save,” for whoever believes and calls upon His name will be saved (Rom. 10:13).
Today, nations still boast of military power, wealth, and technology, thinking they can control destiny. Yet, as in ancient Egypt, pride and self-reliance are being exposed—through wars, instability, and moral decay. God still shakes nations so that people will know that He alone is Adonai. On the other hand, Israel faces threats from every direction, wars, antisemitism, and political division yet the Jewish people remain, a living testimony that God preserves His covenant promises.
Jeremiah 46:28
“Do not fear, O Jacob My servant, for I am with you,” says Adonai.
Personally, when fear surrounds you, do you still trust that God’s correction is His mercy?
As a community, let us intercede for Israel and for believers in exile—that they may be preserved, corrected, and restored by Adonai’s faithful hand.
-- APOSTOLIC P O R T I O N --
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In Apostolic, Paul wrote to Timothy and the
brethren in Yeshua who are in Colosse to encourage and strengthen their faith in God by: First, he prayed for them (vv.9-11). He prayed that they may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will and spiritual understanding. Paul also prayed that they may walk worthy of God and bear fruit in every good work. Second, Paul thanked God (vv.12-14), he gave thanks because of the beauty of their salvation that we can also learn something:
They were qualified - The Greek for this is hikanoo which means “to make sufficient”. We can be qualified only by the grace of God through His Son Yeshua.
They were delivered - The Greek word is ruomai which means “to rescue from danger”. The Israelites were delivered from the judgement of the firstborn in Egypt through the blood of the lamb. Same as the blood of Yeshua who delivered us from darkness to light.
They were redeemed and forgiven - The Greek word for redeemed is apolytrosis which means “to make free” and the Greek word for forgiven is aphesis which means “to release from bondage”. Again, through the blood of Yeshua, we were set free and released from the bondage of sin.
Paul describes this transformation as a transfer of kingdoms, from the dominion of darkness into the Kingdom of the Son of His love. This is not just a change in behavior, but a complete change of citizenship. We once lived under the oppressive rule of sin, deception, and death, a kingdom that promised pleasure but produced bondage. Yet through Yeshua, we have been rescued, redeemed, and brought into a realm of light, love, and life.
Many who live in darkness do not even realize their captivity, for that is all they have ever known. It takes the light of Yeshua to expose the chains and reveal the way of escape. And once someone tastes true freedom in Messiah, the old life no longer satisfies. The joy, peace, and purpose found in the Kingdom of Light cannot be compared to the emptiness of sin’s dominion.
As believers, we must remember what we have been saved from and what we have been called into. Redemption is not only about being forgiven; it’s about living as citizens of a new Kingdom, walking in the authority, righteousness, and love of our King.
Therefore, do not go back to the old ways of bondage. The enemy will always try to lure us back into the shadows, but those who have been redeemed must continue to walk in the light. Each day, we are called to live as reflections of that Kingdom, representing Yeshua in how we speak, act, and love others.
Just as Israel was brought out of Egypt to serve Adonai in freedom, so we have been brought out of darkness to serve the living God. We are His ambassadors, carrying His light into a dark world until the day His eternal Kingdom is fully revealed.
In our time, many live under unseen oppression, not by Pharaoh or empire, but by fear, addiction, pride, and false identities. Yet Yeshua still rescues people today. Each time someone turns from sin and embraces the light, another soul is transferred from the kingdom of darkness into His Kingdom of love.
Colossians 1:13
“For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves.”
Have you fully embraced your identity as a citizen of Yeshua’s Kingdom, or do you still allow parts of your life to dwell in the old dominion?
As the Body of Messiah, let us walk boldly as children of light and reflect His Kingdom to a world still trapped in darkness, and invite others to taste true freedom through Yeshua’s redemption.
The connection of our Parasha 53 is about how God removes His people from darkness to light. In the Torah, God protected, saved, and separated Israel from darkness (Egypt) to light (freedom) through the blood of the Pesach lamb that foreshadows the death and sacrifice of Yeshua as unleavened (without sin). In the Haftarah, God told His people Israel not to fear, for He will save them from afar and return them to their own land, and He will judge the nation of Egypt by using Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. In the Apostolic portion, Paul encouraged Timothy, the brethren in Colosse, and even us Gentiles that through the blood of Messiah Yeshua, we were qualified to be part of the inheritance, redeemed and forgiven, and delivered from darkness to light.
Back to my introduction… Darkness is a place where you feel helpless and afraid. When you experience darkness, it’s important to have hope because darkness can never overcome the light or hide it for long, and there is Someone who can help you. He is Yeshua, the Light of the world (John 8:12), and through His blood, He can remove you from your darkness and bring you into the light.
The same God who brought light out of Egypt’s night still shines through the blood of the Lamb, calling every heart from bondage to freedom, from darkness to light.
Isaiah 60:1
“Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of Adonai has risen upon you.”
Just as God brought Israel out of Egypt and into His marvelous light, He calls us to live as people of light in a dark world. Do not hide the light of Yeshua within you. Let it shine through your words, actions, and faith so that others trapped in darkness may find hope, freedom, and redemption through Him.
Shabbat Shalom,
Topher
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Sources:
The MacArthur Study Bible
Blue Bible Letter
thebiblesays.com
jewsforjesus.org
allenbrowne.blog
abideinchrist.com
etzion.org.il
jhm.org
jesuswalk.com
myjewishlearning.com
scenichillsblvd.wordpress.com
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