Exodus 12--THe Passover and the Exodus

The Passover
12 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. 3 Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household. 4 And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, 6 and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.

7 “Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8 They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. 10 And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. 11 In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. 12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. 13 The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.

14 “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. 15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. 16 On the first day you shall hold a holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. No work shall be done on those days. But what everyone needs to eat, that alone may be prepared by you. 17 And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever. 18 In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. 19 For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats what is leavened, that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land. 20 You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwelling places you shall eat unleavened bread.”

21 Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. 22 Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. 23 For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. 24 You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. 25 And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service. 26 And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ 27 you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.

28 Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

The Tenth Plague: Death of the Firstborn

29 At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. 30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead. 31 Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Up, go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as you have said. 32 Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!”

The Exodus

33 The Egyptians were urgent with the people to send them out of the land in haste. For they said, “We shall all be dead.” 34 So the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls being bound up in their cloaks on their shoulders. 35 The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. 36 And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.

37 And the people of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. 38 A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds. 39 And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.

40 The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. 41 At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. 42 It was a night of watching by the Lord, to bring them out of the land of Egypt; so this same night is a night of watching kept to the Lord by all the people of Israel throughout their generations.

Institution of the Passover

43 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat of it, 44 but every slave that is bought for money may eat of it after you have circumcised him. 45 No foreigner or hired worker may eat of it. 46 It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones. 47 All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. 48 If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. 49 There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.”

​50 All the people of Israel did just as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron. 51 And on that very day the Lord brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts.

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This passage marks one of the seminal points in history--so much so that God commands the Jewish people who have never had their own calendar up to this point to make this month their first month of their calendar.  It is on this day that the nation of Israel is officially born, so think of this day like their "Independence Day" (like July 4th here in the USA).  If the US made it's own calendar, that moment in our history would probably be so pivotal that we would use July as our first month of our year (even though we would celebrate our independence on the 4th day of that month).  This would be one of the many "feast days" on the Jewish calendar and would be known as The Feast of Unleavened Bread, but would usually be referred to by the name given here in Exodus, Passover (Pesach).

In addition to the cultural significance of the nation being led out of Egypt and this being both the new nation being officially formed on this day, this holiday had a huge spiritual component to it as well.  It was a day for the people to remember the LORD's power and provision for them as He alone led secured the freedom of His people and did so by the 10 plagues.  They would retell this story every year at Passover to all the generations present so that they would never forget the LORD and the things He had done--at least, that was the idea, but we will see later in the Old Testament that there were times in their history, especially times when they were in rebellion or in bondage, when they forgot about their history and their holy days (holidays) that marked these milestones and reminded them to worship the LORD who had provided for them and secured their freedom.

​I encourage you to read the rules and regulations regarding the preparation for the feast and the celebration of the feast.  Imagine the attachment that everyone would have to the lamb that had been living with them for four days (from the 10th day to the 14th day) and then the lamb would be killed at twilight (when the new day started for the Jews because the creation account says "and there was evening and there was morning....."), and all of the lambs would be killed--on for each family unit--that night.  This would be bloody massacre and the blood would be drained from the lambs (Jews were never supposed to eat or drink of blood, because life was in the blood and the blood was used to cover their sins as the animal gave its lifeblood in exchange for the life of the person making the sacrifice) and would be used to mark the top and sides of the doorway to the house so that the angel of death might see the blood and pass over that house because all those that were marked by the blood of the lamb were protected.

The people were also told during this time to clean their houses of all leaven (yeast) and to make unleavened bread (bread that would not rise) because they would not have time to make regular bread due to how quickly the plague would come and how quickly the response of the Egyptians would come to make them leave.  They were to eat their unleavened bread and roasted lamb standing up (most of the time they would be reclining at the table to eat) fully clothed with their staff in their hand and to eat the entire meal and save none of it--if anything was leftover it had to be burned as they would not be able to take any with them.  The Feast of Unleavened bread would start on the 14th of month (the night they would kill the lambs) and would last for a full week until the 21st of the month to remind the people of the Exodus but also as a symbol to the people that they were to purify themselves and to remove any sin from their lives and community because leaven is symbolic of sin and we'll read later that "a little leaven leavens the whole lump" and that sin affects not only the individual, but also the whole nation, so once a year at the time of the Passover, there was this time of purification and rededication and self-examination as they ate the ate the Passover meal and for the next week--not that different from how God through the apostle Paul commands us to examine ourselves before we eat from the Lord's Table to make sure that we don't eat in an unworthy manner.  Let me quote that whole passage for you while I'm thinking about it so that you can see how the instructions are the same and how they are different.

1 Corinthians 11:17-34 (ESV)

The Lord's Supper
17 But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. 18 For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part, 19 for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. 20 When you come together, it is not the Lord's supper that you eat. 21 For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. 22 What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.

23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. 31 But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

​33 So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another-- 34 if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home—so that when you come together it will not be for judgment. About the other things I will give directions when I come.

In the same way that this Feast was to be a memorial to an event that happened in history when the nation of Israel was saved out of slavery in Egypt and that nation was formed and given its freedom and that the choice was one of life or death so it is with the Passover when Jesus died in our place--God gave His firstborn in our place so that through His substitutionary atonement, He took the punishment and death that we deserved so that the wages of sin, which is death and the wrath of God, would pass over us and that we might become a new people--a nation of those who had been "born again" and passed from death to life, made in the image and likeness of God the Son ,just like was originally intended in creation--so that we might be fit for the journey to our Promised Land (heaven).  So in many ways this story of our freedom from the bondage and slavery of sin and our sin nature is the same story as that of the birth of the nation of Israel, and we are adopted into this family of God, not for a different purpose or to be a different people, but to be one people with those whom God was working to save in this passage with one purpose and one mission--we just see more of the story completed and can see that God has now chosen make a larger family of both Jews and Gentiles all through the blood of the Lamb.  We remember the death of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world every time we celebrate the Lord's Supper together (your local church may call it Communion or The Eucharist or something else), but like this meal it is prescribed to be done in a particular way as a memorial until the Lord returns, because ti reminds us of who we are and what He has done for us.

About 6 hours after twilight, at midnight the LORD went through the entire land of Egypt and killed their firstborn--of anyone who had not listened and marked their doors with the blood of the lamb.  But for Hebrew and Egyptian alike--all those who had believed and obeyed by faith were saved.  God was no respecter of persons in this judgment and the firstborn of Pharaoh died as well as the firstborn of the man in "the pit" (the prison that Joseph had been kept in)...even the firstborn of all the livestock that had remained after the previous plagues died.  No life was safe from the presence or judgment of the sin of Pharaoh and the Egyptians as it had marked all of the Egyptians for judgment, but God was gracious to only take the life of one member of each household, though all were guilty and deserving of death.  One day there will be another judgment worse than this where all nations and all peoples will be judged and no one will be able to stand before the LORD and the judgment will be swift, severe, and total.  Do the plagues described in this passage from the book of Revelation sound familiar?  What's the same, and what's different?

Revelation 16​ (ESV)
The Seven Bowls of God's Wrath

16 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.”

2 So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful sores came upon the people who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.

3 The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing died that was in the sea.

4 The third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel in charge of the waters say,

“Just are you, O Holy One, who is and who was,
    for you brought these judgments.
6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets,
    and you have given them blood to drink.
It is what they deserve!”

7 And I heard the altar saying,

“Yes, Lord God the Almighty,
    true and just are your judgments!”

8 The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire. 9 They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.

10 The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish 11 and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds.

12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. 13 And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. 14 For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. 15 (“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”) 16 And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.

The Seventh Bowl
17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. 19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. 20 And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. 21 And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.

Those who are in Christ need not fear this coming judgment in the same why that those protected by the blood of the lamb during the first Passover did not need to fear the 10th plague.

Then, now, and in the future, everything happens exactly as the LORD prophesied and commanded and according to His perfect plan.  Pharaoh wakes up to the screams of his people and within his own house and in bitter grief and fear for his own life and the life of all those who remain, he drives out the Israelites--so quickly they they took their unleavened dough with them because they did not have time for the bread to rise, just as the LORD said.  And they were given large amounts of silver and gold to pay them to leave and never come back, and were given all kinds of expensive offerings of spices that would later be used to make the incense used in the Tabernacle.  God let them leave fully equipped to worship Him, which was His desire from the very beginning.

We see that a people that had come to Egypt as a small family of 12 small clans was now a great nation of 650,000 men (not counting women and children), so it's probably fair to estimate that there were between 1 and 2 million people involved in the Exodus as most of these men would probably be married and have at least one child that would not be counted.  If Moses' family is representative of others than it was his father, his mother, and 3 children (Miriam, Aaron, and Moses) so we could even be talking about a group as large as 3 million if we use a multiplier of 5.  All that to say that this was a very large group of people that even in the midst of slavery and oppression, God had been faithful to keep His covenant with them that He would make them a great nation that would be so vast that you would only be able to count them if you could count the stars of the heavens or every grain of sand or the particles of dust, and yet, this is a small remnant of all the peoples of the earth--a people who were not saved because of any merit of their own, but saved because the LORD had chosen to do so for His name's sake and for His glory--the same is true for us today.

​We end with a few special commands about the Passover--again, see how it is similar and different to the Lord's command's about the Lord's Supper.  No foreigner (someone that is not part of God's people) is to eat it--check!  The meaning of this meal would only be understood by those for whom it was part of their history and it is not meant for everyone but only for those who part of the true Israel--in this case, all members of the Body of Christ, the Church with a capital "C."  Everyone who was a Jewish proselytite, even those who were slaves in the house of Jews who had chosen to be circumcised and practiced Judaism, were to also partake of the Passover--check!  The Lord's Supper is about identification with the Lord and what He has done, not about national origins.  All those who have believed by faith and in the New Covenant we would say who have followed in "believer's baptism" instead of circumcision, are eligible to receive the Lord's Supper.  (I speak from the position of one who is a Southern Baptist, and I'm aware that some of you reading this may have different views on what is the equivalent sign of the covenant here, but I think it's apparent with this group of people that were born outside of the covenant community that they must actively become a part of the covenant community before partaking in the rites, ordinances, or sacraments that belong to the covenant community.

An interesting addition is made here that no bones are to be broken when preparing or eating the Passover Lamb--this was something else that was fulfilled through Jesus' death that while His flesh was torn for us, not a single bone was broken.  Everyone who was part of the people of God would celebrate the same meal, the same way, each with his own family and no one was ever to take the meal who had not first become one of God's people through faith (marked by the act of circumcision), and no one was to be considered part of God's people who would not keep this feast, for it was their identity not only as a nation, but as the people of God.

We'll see as I mentioned before that observance of this feast was one of the first things that the people would do right when they were called to repentance by the prophets.  They would read this story and be convicted that they had forgotten who they were and what God had done for them and they would once again begin to observe this feast and it would make them desire to know who God was and what He wanted them to do, and this would make them desire to read the Law and its blessings and curses and they would realize that they were a people that stood condemned and were once again in need of deliverance--not from a physical bondage from the nation of Egypt, but from the sin and their very sin nature, the result of which would lead to death and condemnation.  As we continue to study the Old Testament together, look and see how much this Feast plays a central role in God reminding His people of who they are and calling them to repentance.  Does not the Lord's Table do the same for us today in the Church and is it not a sign to all the people outside the Church of something special that only we can understand and partake in, just like the Feast was for the nation of Israel?

I know that was a lot today, but I think it's of great importance as we understand not just the Origins (Genesis) of the people of Israel, but our origin story which is not so different and that God, not us, is at the center of both stories working all things for our good and His glory.