In past newsletters, we established that Pharaoh is the metaphor of the dragon and Egypt the ”seas” or “waters” of the world:

The “fleeing serpent” has a depth of meaning. “Fleeing” is the translation of the shoresh (Hebrew root) בָּרַח barach:

Exodus 36:33 uses this root to describe passing a bar through a Tabernacle board, piercing through. In summary, the dragon is an entity that overflows its borders.

As an example, Ezekiel prophesies in detail against Pharaoh and his overflowing the boundaries of the Nile. In the time of Pharaoh Neco, he waged war all the way to the Euphrates, the heart of both physical Babylon and the source River of Eden that flowed from beneath the Heavenly Throne to give crystal-clear drink to the garden.

As Pharaoh Neco drank the bitter cup of defeat in Babylon, so will the dragon who pierces the Heavens with his blasphemies against the Holy One and those who dwell in His Tabernacle. He will be cast out (Re 12). The dragon and the first beast kingdom, Babylon, will both require a lamentation. This perhaps explains the response, "Alas, Babylon the Great has fallen, fallen:

The prophecy of Neco may give some clues to the third Pharaoh prophecy of Messianic times.

Pharaoh Neco was sufficient in his own assigned habitat, Egypt and the Nile. However, he muddied the waters and left the waters. He went ashore, thinking like a “young lion.” This was in the attack on a young Babylonian lion kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar II. 

While a crocodile can live out of water, it is not his domain, or kingdom. He needs a proxy. Therefore, Pharaoh Neco, whose name means to strike or drive away, fell under Nebuchadnezzar, the lion-king’s sword. He was driven away and had to retreat to the Nile. This interaction, though, saw the transfer of Pharaoh's dragon power and throne to the land-based lion king, Nebuchadnezzar II. The first beast was spawned, and it began to do what a water dragon could not, expand on the earth.

The Midrash says that in the Messianic kingdom, the Mashiach will cause the giant sea-monster created on the 5th Day (Leviathan) and the behemah (beast, a giant ox) created on the 6th Day, to destroy one another [Leviticus Rabbah 13:3]. Adonai will make a sukkah to shelter the righteous with Leviathan’s skin [Bava Batra 75a], and the remainder of the skin will stretch over Zion as a canopy. Under these canopies, the righteous will eat the meat of Leviathan and the beast with great joy. These need not be taken literally, but allegorically.

Because of his pride, Nebuchadnezzar was changed into a beast, even eating grass like a beast: “Let his mind be changed from that of a man and let a beast’s mind be given to him... (Da 4:15-16)

Nebuchadnezzar is the “beast." Ezekiel's prophecy to Neco may be the prototype of how Leviathan and the beast would destroy one another. The beast makes the dragon flee, yet the beast inherits Pharaoh’s pride, and therefore, madness.

Although Neco was the fleeing serpent, fleeing back to his own boundary, he would never be the same. His power and throne, which was based in the yearly floodwaters, was moved to the earth so that beast-kingdoms could spread until their final Divine destruction by Mashiach.

The dragon’s kingdom, Egypt, is characterized by its lack of dependence on obedience to Heaven. The Nile floods yearly. Israel’s rain, and therefore crops, depend upon Israel’s obedience to the Covenant and her relationship to the Holy One. As a result, ”Egypt” and its offspring, who have no national covenant with Heaven, have no relationship with the moedim (feasts of Adonai). If, as Pharaoh said, “I have made myself,” then these beast nations are weakened by their pride in self-sufficiency. This will change in the time of Messiah:

This need to distinguish (Ex 11:7) good fish from bad fish, Pharaoh from the Holy One, may explain the odd insertion into this parasha’s narrative of the plagues. Just before Pharaoh drinks a tenth sip on his first cup of destruction, Moses and Aaron are given the instructions about the beginning of the months in Exodus 12:1-2. A calendar. A setting of time. The calendar is what will distinguish the nation of Israel from Pharaoh and his servants. The reason for this insertion, according to Rabbi Looks, is that

Before they ever leave Egypt or taste the lamb, the Israelites are severed from Pharaoh by a calendar. Then they are instructed very specifically on how to prepare the Pesach lamb. 

This explains why there is so much controversy concerning the calendar. It’s Pharaoh’s last chance to control the Israelites and the mixed multitude. If they can proudly exclaim, “I made it myself,” then they still serve his pride. They are not yet servants relinquishing their time to Heaven, just thrashing in Pharaoh’s muddy water. 

This first step of freedom, which is not the freedom to do whatever one wants, but to serve Adonai, is with a new calendar. A new national feast. A feast that will lead them eventually to offer first fruits of the barley in the Temple.

First, however, they must drive away the serpent and distinguish themselves as a people within the world. As if to reiterate this, the instructions very forcefully set up the Passover exodus with the nation forming family groups to eat the lambs. 

Without a group, it’s impossible to eat the lamb and join together in that house. One must be “counted” for the lamb. The counting reckons enough people to completely consume the flesh of the lamb. Nothing left over, for any left over must be burned, and one may not kindle a fire on a high holy day. Each person must consume at least a kazayit (size of an olive) to be counted. This does not exclude the ill or elderly who cannot consume meat. They are still part of the household. Those who are able, though, should eat.

In the First Centuray, the Passover lambs were slaughtered in the Temple in three groups. In Ezekiel's prophecies, the Pharaohs of three time periods each had to drink a bitter cup. Two Pharaohs have drunk. One has yet to drink.

Perhaps this is why the Lamb in Revelation has the appearance of one that has been slain. It is the signal that the “third group” and the “third cup” are now in play. It is time for Mashiach to destroy the dragon and the beast with the full disclosure of his resurrection power. Perhaps this is why Torah prohibits Egyptian converts before the “third generation” to enter into the congregation (see Deuteronomy 23:8–9).

One may only be “counted” for a lamb while it is still alive. After it is slaughtered, then one may not register for it. There is no house in which to eat or hide until the long night, the wrath of the Lamb on the firstborn of Pharaoh, has passed. Perhaps as Pharaoh’s firstborn beast, this is another reason why Babylon the Great is “fallen, fallen.” Fallen in the past; fallen in the future. 

Will the dragon will be lured out when he sees his “son” with a fatal head wound?

For a more thorough study into the dragon out of water and the three cups of Pharaoh, join us tomorrow on our Creation Gospel YouTube Channel live stream at 4:00 pm Eastern.

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