Episode 366 - "Instructions for Passover" - Exodus 12:1-28
12:1 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.
Ex. 12:7 “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.
Ex. 12:14 “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.”
Ex. 12:21 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.
Ex. 12:28 Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.
Yes. I know. There’s a lot here. So, why am I tackling twenty-eight verses as rich as this in a short weekly blog and podcast? The short answer is that I don't want us to miss the forest for the trees. There are some big-picture aspects to the LORD’s instructions to Moses that institute the Passover. Observing what the LORD was doing for and with Israel may have implications that are valuable to the Church.
First, while the LORD is about to execute the tenth and final plague on Egypt, the LORD’s instructions concerning the Passover are not simply a one-time “Get out of jail free card.” The LORD is establishing a new religious calendar for the Hebrews. Verses 2-3 make it clear that the LORD is establishing Passover as an annual remembrance for Israel. I made a point in the last episode to point out that the Hebrews had to obey the LORD’s instructions in order not to have the firstborn of each family and beast die, as was about to happen to the Egyptians. While the LORD had a special purpose for Israel, they were not exempt from obeying the LORD. The LORD begins these instructions by establishing that they were to be repeated year after year at the same time. Furthermore, the instructions were for “all the congregation of Israel” (v. 2) and “the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel.” (v. 6) These are just a few statements that emphasize that what applied to one member of the Hebrew people applied to every member of the Hebrews. It is my understanding that this principle carries over to the church as well. While Scripture makes it clear that we are not under the Law, no Christian is exempt from Jesus’ command to love one another. We observe that the LORD is consistent with his people
Second, the instructions were very specific. There was an element of corporate responsibility in that the nation as a whole was to obey these instructions. Yet, each family was responsible for participation. The people were not be observers of a few leaders performing a sacrifice for all the people. Each family had to sacrifice their lamb, apply the blood on the outside of the doorposts and lintel of their homes, roast, and eat the meat in exact accordance with the LORD’s instructions. In the same way, followers of Jesus gather together on a regular basis to remember Jesus’ death on the cross through communion. But we don’t leave our faith at the church doors and then live however we want. The apostle Paul instructs believers in Romans 8 that each of us are to be led by the Spirit to “put to death the deeds of the body” (Rom. 8:13). It speaks of our individual obligation to let the LORD change our thoughts, values, and actions to be honoring to him.
Passover is intended to be a time to remember what the LORD has done for Israel AND what he did to Egypt because of their actions. (See Exod. 12:12-13; Exod. 12:26-27) It is instituted forever so the story would be passed down to future generations. Likewise, if we believe the LORD has done something special in our own lives, whether it was something exciting and pleasant, or challenging and painful, we should remember these things and testify to others about how the LORD provided and blessed us, or even perhaps corrected us as a means of helping us in our spiritual walk.
One last observation I would like to make on this came from a former professor at our seminary, Dr. John Dwight Pentecost. He observed that after the blood of each household's sacrificial lamb was applied to the doorposts and lintel, people had to enter their home “through the blood” of the sacrificial lamb. Christians believe that we enter into God’s protection from eternal judgment through the blood of Christ. That’s a powerful thought to reflect on when we remember Christ during communion.
Books and resources reveal parallels between the Passover seder and Jesus' death on the cross. They may be educational and inspiring. I didn't aim to copy them, but to share the reflections I had on this text.