Unveiling God's Love in the Midst of Impurity: A Midrashic Exploration of Exodus 12:1
We read, “Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt…” (Exodus 12:1, NKJV).[i]
This chapter details the Exodus from Egypt, the Passover laws, and the plague of the firstborn. But it opens with an intriguing phrase, “in the land of Egypt.” Since we know the story is unfolding in Egypt, why must God reiterate an obvious fact?
The Passover is one of the most significant events in Jewish history, and on a cursory level, we understand the meaning of this feast. God fulfilled His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to bring the Israelites out of Egypt, to free us from the bondage of slavery, and to bring us into the land of Canaan that He promised to our forefathers.
Messianic Jews and increasingly more Christians are seeing the spiritual correlation in the Passover to giving the new covenant in Yeshua, His death, burial, and resurrection, and our freedom from the bondage of sin akin to spiritual slavery.
But how can we connect Yeshua to the Passover and our Exodus from Egypt? And do we fully comprehend the depth of God’s incredible work and the full measure of His cost to redeem us physically and spiritually? For a more in-depth view, let us turn to Midrash Exodus Rabba 15:5:[ii]
R. Shimon’s introductory statement:
R. Shimon said: Great is [God’s] love of Israel,
that the Holy One blessed be He revealed Himself in a place of idol worship, a place of filth, and a place of impurity to redeem them.
The Mashal:
It may be compared to a Kohen (a priest of the lineage of Aaron),
whose Terumah (a portion of the offering set aside for the sons of Aaron) fell into a graveyard.
He said, “What shall I do?
To render myself impure is impossible,
and to abandon my Terumah is impossible.
It is better to render myself impure one time,
and return and purify myself,
rather than lose my Terumah.”
The first part of the Nimshal:
Thus, our fathers were the Terumah of the Holy One, blessed be He,
as it says, “Israel is holy to God, the first of His grain…” (Jeremiah 2:3),
they were among the graves,
as it says, “because there was no house that had no dead” (Exodus 12:30),
and it says, “and Egypt were burying those whom God has smote among them, all the firstborn” (Numbers 33:4)
The Holy One, Blessed be He said, “How will I redeem them?
To abandon them is impossible.
It is better to go down and to save them,”
as it says, “And I will go down to save him from the hand of Egypt” (Exodus 3:8).
The second part of the Nimshal:
When He took [them] out,
He called to Aaron (high priest of Israel),
and he purified Him,
as it says, “And he will atone for the Holy of Holies” (Leviticus 16:33),
“and he will atone for the Sanctuary” (Leviticus 16:16).
There is much to unpack in this rather complex Midrash. First and foremost, we are told that the entirety of the Exodus is a demonstration of God’s immeasurable love for Israel. However, at least two specific themes need to be expanded.
The first correlates to Aaron and his foreshadowed role in the purification of God’s sanctuary through atonement for the nation of Israel, or the idea of Aaron purifying God as it says, “and he purified Him.” The second expansion correlates to the Terumah, for it is much greater than just a tithe or a charitable offering.[iii]
Let us match the Mashal and the Nimshal within the Midrash. It will reveal the symbolic elements related to our biblical understanding of the narrative “in the land of Egypt.”
The prooftexts (Petihta), i.e., the scriptural references in the Midrash, help us match the elements by clearly showing that Israel is the Terumah and that she is holy to God. In the wake of the firstborn plague, the graveyard is Egypt. God intentionally defiled Himself by going down and entering a cemetery to rescue Israel. God is subsequently purified by Aaron, a man born of the flesh.
The prooftext addressing the sanctuary's purification ritual, including the holy of holies, is commanded for the Day of Atonement. Its purpose was to atone for human impurity, not for God’s. However, it appears that God must undergo some form of purification after descending into Egypt and that purification He receives from a human being, namely Aaron.
But why not simply leave us with the introduction, “God loves us?” And why not send someone else, a non-Kohen, to retrieve Israel? We know that God’s commandment forbade a Kohen, a priest, from entering a graveyard since this would render him impure. After contemplation, Kohen decides to enter the cemetery and retrieve His Terumah rather than abandon it. It is no small matter since deliberate violation of this command carried the penalty of lashes and disqualified the Kohen from fulfilling his priestly function for the duration of his impurity.
There is more to understand, including several missing elements in the Nimshal. With the knowledge of both Hebrew and New Testament scripture, let us expand and fill in the absent narrative [shown in brackets]:
We can now draw our conclusions from the Midrash. Let us first address Aaron and his foreshadowed role in the purification of God’s sanctuary through atonement for the nation of Israel or the idea of Aaron purifying God. “Then the Lord said to Aaron: You and your sons and your father’s house with you shall bear the iniquity related to the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity [impurity] associated with your priesthood” (Numbers 18:1).
Aaron and his sons are at the very core of the Levitical priesthood. Descendent from Levi through Kohath, Aaron and his brother Moses were given a mantel and calling that can only have belonged to God Himself. As such, they would sit in place of Yeshua until He would rightfully come to the earth and take for Himself His priesthood according to His divine order of Melchizedek. The rest of the Levites (the sons of Kohath, Gershon, and Merari) outside Aaron's lineage were given to Aaron as a gift to assist in the Tabernacle's labor and services.
And the Lord said, “You shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel” (Exodus 19:6). This promise to be a kingdom was given to Israel. The church (the Kahal or Ecclesia) fulfills this foreshadowing and receives God’s promises through Israel. Not to replace Israel, but to join her, as it is written, “for salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22). “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1Peter 2:9).
Jew and Gentile together as “one new man” are given to Yeshua as a gift, a Terumah to assist in His labor and service of the Tabernacle of God—a building not made of stone, but flesh, and the place that God has chosen for His Holy habitation. As it is written, “Clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart” (2Corinthians 3:3).
For, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people” (Revelation 21:3). And the sages tell us: “This is the whole [purpose] of man and the purpose for which he, and all the worlds, both upper and lower, were created: that God should have such a dwelling-place here below—how this earthly abode for God is the purpose of all creation.”[iv]
Let us now explore the Terumah. The Terumah was an offering and portion of the tithe set aside by the Israelites for the Kohanim, the sons of Aaron. However, the translation fails to convey the original Hebrew language's subtleties and multiple layers of meaning. The word does not mean a “gift” or an “offering” at all. It is derived from two separate roots, meaning “to separate and to elevate.” It is more than just an ordinary gift or a charitable donation of expendable funds.
God used the word Terumah to request that the Israelites bring an heirloom, something of immeasurable value, to help build the Tabernacle. How many people will take an expensive and irreplaceable heirloom and give it away to a friend or, much less, a stranger? As such, this word also describes Yeshua, the Christ, for “the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field” (Matthew 13:44). Yeshua is of the blessed lineage, and covenant promise made to King David, as it says: “The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren” (Deuteronomy 18:15).
Yeshua died on the cross to purify and build the true Tabernacle of God, the church. He was separated from the Father and elevated to a place of glory. The sages tell us that when one takes material possessions and sets them apart for God, he uplifts those possessions and himself. So, too, with Yeshua. “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up” (John 3:14). For this, we see that God, the Father, and the Son are both glorified in His Sacrifice. This portion becomes an inheritance to the one receiving the Terumah, so we, the church, are Christ’s inheritance. We are Christ’s Terumah. Like Him, we also are separated and lifted as an heirloom, an offering of immeasurable value.
Continuing our exploration of the Midrashic narrative, we see that Kohen is God; blessed be He. Moses and Aaron were only a foreshadow. God is so enamored and so in love with Israel that He cannot fathom abandoning us in a graveyard, even though God Himself will become defiled if He comes down to retrieve us. Egypt was a graveyard in the wake of the plague, but also, the whole world is a graveyard, for it is defiled with death.
Further, the Lord had exiled Israel to all the nations. God’s intoxicating love brings Him to a place where He does not consider sending anyone but Himself to redeem us. So, He, Yeshua, God’s Terumah, came in the flesh and was dropped into a graveyard so that we might be swept up together with Yeshua in His arms and presented as a sweet Terumah unto Yahweh. “And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma” (Ephesians 5:2).
Regardless of the cost to Himself, Yeshua was willing to retrieve His precious possession even if it required a penalty. As it is written, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). In lowering Himself, Yeshua underwent the same ritual purification as Aaron, a man born in the flesh. “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone” (Hebrews 2:9).
As Aaron purified God, Yeshua also purified the Father by atoning for human iniquity. It is a problematic statement as we know that God is anything but impure since there is no iniquity in Him, nor can He become impure since He cannot sin. The scripture is clear when it says that God became our sin. He became our impurity.
Yeshua came to fulfill His law, which required a man born of the flesh to atone for God’s sanctuary. So, how did God reconcile our impurity, which He became? He crucified it with Himself on the cross: “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin…” (Isaiah 53:10).
In conclusion, this Midrash helps us understand why God said: “in the land of Egypt.” It is the complete story of the Passover and the spiritual translation to Yeshua. The Passover and the Exodus from Egypt are connected to Yeshua’s declaration of the New Covenant on the Passover evening. These are not separate events but a continuation of one active progression of God’s redemption and salvation for Israel and humanity. “It shall come to pass in that day That the Lord shall set His hand again the second time To recover the remnant of His people who are left, From Assyria and Egypt, [and from the whole earth] …” (Isaiah 11:11).
This Midrash also helps us understand the immeasurable cost God paid to redeem and purify His sanctuary from human sin. In Yeshua, we, the church, Jew, and Gentile together as One New Man, are Crist’s Terumah and the sanctuary of God, atoned for and purified by His blood, the blood of Yeshua, God’s Terumah. The depth of God’s love for us is so great that it defies understanding.
[i] All Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Bible (NKJV) unless otherwise noted, Thomas Nelson Inc., 1982.
[ii] Peters, Mimi. Learning to read Midrash. Urim Publications. ISBN 965-7108-57-8.
[iii] Chabad of the West Side, New York, NY. Terumah—No Small Token. Friday, February 27, 2004.
[iv] Lessons in the Tanya, Likutei Amarim, Chapter 33, March 9, 2016. Chabad.org.