November 10, 2024
My apologies, I have been recovering from surgery but am back at the computer now. Enjoy!
Reading: Exodus 12:31 -51
Focus: Exodus 12:31-32 – During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested. Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me.”
Father God, thank You for your protection and Your redemption. Help us to see how You work in our lives to free us from captivity to sin. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Finally! Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and told them “. . . take your people and go!” He made no restrictions or bargains. Just “Leave my people”. Pharaoh had to have known from the beginning that the Israelites never intended to return. The deaths of the firstborn across all of Egypt was devastating. Even the Egyptians were eager for them to leave as well. They urged them to leave or “. . .we will all die.” The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked for gold and silver and clothing. The Egyptians were eager to comply with all of their requests. This generosity, inspired by God, allowed the Israelites to leave Egypt plundered of its wealth.
Now the Bible tells us that they wrapped up their dough in the kneading troughs and carried it with them. This dough did not have any yeast in it because there was no time to allow it to rise. You may wonder why God had Moses add this to the record. I’ll get to that in a minute.
The Hebrew word for Passover has a much deeper meaning. It’s not like stepping over or skipping something. The verb used was pasah, meaning ‘to spread wings over’. When the angel of death flew over Egypt. The spread of the wings passed over the homes with the blood applied to the lintel and door posts. If you look at it, the blood sort of forms a cross. God said. “. . . when I see the blood, I will pass over you.“ (Exodus 12:13) God included everyone in the death of the firstborn. God’s justice is on the just and the unjust. However, He balances righteousness with mercy. To redeem the firstborn of the Israelites, the lamb must be sacrificed, and the blood applied to the household. Not only did the Lord pass over the houses of the Israelites, He stood guard at each blood-sprinkled doorway.
The lamb and the blood are a foreshadowing of Jesus. John, the Baptist called Jesus, The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus took our place in death. That death was the complete separation from God. But He descended into hell and took the keys of death and hell from Satan and rose again. Conquering death for our sakes. Our belief and acceptance of Jesus’ death in our place, is equivalent to sprinkling the blood of the lamb on the door way. Jesus’ blood covers our sins, and God no longer sees them.
Israel’s redemption began that night. The night long vigil was full of hope and dread. Hope for those who followed God’s command and dread for those who did not. Not only did the blood of the lamb provide a protection for those in the house, it washed away four hundred and thirty years of Egyptian contamination. It protected them from the wrath of God. The lamb’s flesh nourished the people in preparation for the journey to come. As they ate and waited, they gained a trust deep enough to see them through a night where they stood on the bank of the Red Sea with all of Egypt’s military might behind them. Because of God’s Covenant, they were rescued. Keeping Passover would ensure that they would not forget His promises and the keeping of those promises.
The first leg of the journey was from the city of Rameses to Sukkoth. The city of Rameses is the reason that many Egyptian scholars believe that Rameses the Great was the Pharaoh of the Exodus. However, Rameses II, (the great) lived too late in time to be the Pharaoh of the Exodus. He ruled from 1279 B.C. to 1213 B.C. I agree with the theory that the Exodus was in about 1446 B.C. 1 Kings 6:1 says, “And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Zif, which is the second month that he began to build the house of Yahweh.” Historians determined that the fourth year of Solomon’s reign was 966 B.C. So, four hundred and eighty years earlier is 1446 B.C. I encourage you to find the movie “Patterns of Evidence: The Exodus” on Amazon and watch it. It’s eye opening.
When the Israelites reached Sukkoth they made bread with unleavened dough. Dough without yeast. They could have added leaven to the bread but Moses had been told by God that they should eat unleavened bread for seven days. And it appears that, at this time, Pharaoh hadn’t changed his mind about letting them go. Yet.
We are told in Exodus 12:37 that there were about six hundred thousand men, beside the women and children. Not only that, “. . . many other people went up with them.” (Exodus 12:38) There were also herds and flocks being driven with them. OK, now let’s look at how many people left Egypt. Six hundred thousand men. Assume that four or five hundred thousand had wives, at least one. That makes one million or 1.1 million people. And that’s not adding in children, nor the many others that went with them. So, let’s say there are five hundred thousand couples, each with a minimum of two children. That’s a million children. So, we are up over 2 million people. That number of people many Bible scholars estimate left Egypt.
Moses was a shepherd, a warrior, a priest, a prince, a scholar, a leader and administrator. Now he is shepherding over 2 million people toward Canaan. I can’t imagine the stress. We will see in the weeks to come the issues he had to deal with and how he dealt with them. He was not alone in that shepherding. God was with him and guided him in the administration of the newborn nation.
The Bible then tells us that the Israelites had lived in Egypt for four hundred and thirty years, to the day. It was on that day that “. . . all the Lord’s divisions left Egypt.” (Exodus 12:41) It goes on to tell us that for generations to come, Israel would keep vigil to honor the Lord for bringing them out of Egypt.
There at Sukkoth, God gave Moses and Aaron the law of Passover. It was for the Israelites alone. Circumcised servants could be a part of the Passover observance but foreigners, temporary residents and hired workers could not. Passover must always be eaten inside the house as it was that night in Egypt. If a foreigner wants to participate in Passover, all the males in his household must be circumcised. Anyone who would participate in the Passover observance must be circumcised. Only this would make them part of the Covenant.
And so, the journey out of Egypt begins.
Do you have a Passover event in your life?
Father God, Thank You for Your protection of Your people. Thank You that You made provision for the forgiveness of our sin. Help us to always remember that You alone are our salvation. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Food for Though
- Do you think that the Israelites thought they would ever leave Egypt? Why or why not?
- Why was it important to do exactly what God commanded for that night?
- Why was it necessary to stay inside that night?
- Do you think that, as Christians, we can learn from the Jewish festivals? Why or why not?
- What would you do if a Messianic Jew invited you to share Passover with his family?
