DAY NINETEEN:
Passover and Exodus
We didn't discuss the last, and most terrible, of the ten plagues yesterday. I'd like to do that now, as it leads into our passage today. God will strike the firstborn children of Egypt, from the poorest shacks clear up to Pharaoh's palace there will not be a single house spared. Again, this will not strike the Hebrews in Goshen. This time, however, they must do something to receive God's protection.
Moses told the people of Israel to get ready! Tomorrow's the day we leave. Gather in your homes for one last meal. Eat it with your shoes and coat on and your staff in your hand. Slaughter a lamb and paint some of its blood over the doorposts of your houses. This will be a sign for the Angel of Death, who is coming to strike the firstborn of Egypt, to "pass over" your houses. Then roast the lamb and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. This was the first Passover, one of the three feasts the Lord would ordain for His people (the others are Pentecost and Booths).
At midnight the Angel of Death struck the firstborn of Egypt, including Pharaoh's heir. A terrible wailing was heard all through the land, and Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron. He was finally ready to let the people go. The Egyptians were very anxious for them to leave because by this time they were very afraid of them and their God. Moses told the people to ask the Egyptians for their gold, silver and precious gems. The Egyptians were only too happy to comply, just so long as they left!
The Children of Israel headed up and moved out! There were about 600,000 men and an unspecified number of women and children. A "mixed multitude" of people went with them, Egyptians and people of other nations who had come to trust in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. All the livestock they had went with them. Think of it! Somewhere between 1-1/2 and 2 million people, plus all those animals. Everyone was on foot. I would hate to be at the end of that parade- think of the dust!
We're told in our passage that Israel left Egypt 430 years TO THE DAY that Jacob and his family arrived. God was honoring the promise He made to Abraham so long ago. Genesis 15:13-16 says, "Then the Lord said to Abram, 'Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.'"
The Hebrews have left Egypt and are on their way to the Promised Land. But it's far from smooth sailing. Tomorrow we'll look at the parting of the Red Sea.
The story of the Passover is the story of God's power to redeem His people. The Jews to this day celebrate the Passover, joining together for a special meal (called a Seder). Jesus celebrated the Passover with His disciples. In Luke 22:15 we read, "And he said to them, 'I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.'" The word translated "earnestly desired" is a word that is usually translated as lust. It describes any strong and overpowering desire, good or sinful. It was in this Passover meal that Jesus instituted what we call The Lord's Supper. We read on in Luke 22, "And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, 'This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood." In a few hours the authorities would arrest Jesus. The Roman governor Pontius Pilate would order His death by crucifixion. Jesus' body would be broken and His blood poured out. 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 says, "Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."
The lamb's blood painted on the doorposts was a picture of what Jesus would do many years later. 1 Peter 1:17-21 says. "And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God."
Lord willing, I'd like for us to share in a Passover Seder on Maundy Thursday (April 17). While for our Jewish friends it is a celebration and remembrance of how God brought His people out of bondage in Egypt, it is also for us a celebration and remembrance of how God brought us out of our slavery to sin and death through His Son.
Rabbi Joe Black has to be the coolest Rabbi ever! Here's his Passover song, performed with the help of some little assistants.
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