Exodus 12: Free at Last

My Summary
God initiates the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread as permanent instutions of Israel. God lays out guidelines intending for them to be a reminder to Israel of what is about to happen. The firstborn of Egypt die and Pharaoh and the Egyptians beg Israel to leave. Israel leaves and takes great wealth with them.

Random Historical Things
1. God says that if there is one who does not follow the Passover ritual he is cut off from Israel. There have been those who have interpreted that as meaning that they should be killed or banished. However, if you look closely it does not command anyone to cut them off, but God will be the One to cut them off from the blessings of following Him.

2. Were there really 600,000 men? That would mean 2 million or more Israelites. Given the size of people groups at the time, and the time required for that many people (even with God's blessing) to be born makes this number sound unlikely. It depends on your translation of the Hebrew words. The word for men actually means soldiers. The word translated thousand is also translated in the Old Testament as cattle, clan, divisions, families, oxen and tribes. It could mean that there were 600 families or clan, or it could mean that there were 600 units of soldiers or that each tribe could field 600 soldiers. This would put the total number of Israel at somewhere between 20,000 and 50,000 which is much more likely. Even given that some others accompanied them (vs. 38) it is unlikely that the number was much higher than 50,000.


And So What We Have Learned Applies to Our Lives Today...
1. When the movie "Prince of Egypt" was being shot the original script called for the line, "When God sees the sign on the doors." The religious experts working on the movie staff insisted that the line be changed, and so the line was changed to "When God sees the blood on the doors." The fact that it was blood was important. It was not just because blood was red and could be seen, but it was a sign of the blood of the Messiah. God was about to judge everyone for their sin, both Hebrew and Egyptians. However, the blood on the door showed the something had already been killed in that household. Likewise, when God judges us for our sin, He sees the blood of Christ on our hearts and know that the debt has already been satisfied. Although the blood of animals could not save the way Christ's blood could, it served as a symbol looking forward to when the blood of the perfect Lamb would wash away our sins completely.

2. Should we celebrate the passover today? God told the Israelites He wanted them to do these things to teach their children to remember God saving them from Egypt. Remember that the Passover and the blood was typological of the Christ who was to come. The ritual involved the flesh of an animal and the blood of that animal in order to remember the Passover. In the same way our communion today includes the bread (flesh) and the wine (blood) of Christ in order to remember the flesh pierced for us and the blood shed for us. So in a way we do continue the Passover, but we remember Christ as the completion of God's salvation plan.

3. It is amazing how God gets personal here. He is the one who will come down to kill the firstborn. He will see the mark on the door and pass over. Of course, God is everywhere and knows everything. He does not have to come anywhere or look anywhere. However, this type of language helps us see how God is with us and is actually moving. He is not the god of deism that is aloof and uninvolved. He is involved and moving in our lives!

4. Finally we see God's work of evangelism active in this story. His mighty works did not just judge, but moved some to follow Him. In verse 38 it says that other who were not Hebrew went with them. Whether these were Egyptians, other slaves or other people groups in the area is not clear. If you remember from the plague of hail there were Egyptians who believed Moses' warning because they feared God. So the nation of Israel was not just composed of "pure blood" Hebrew descended from Abraham. This goes hand in hand with what Paul taught. Paul taught that it was not physical descent from Abraham that made you chosen, but being a spiritual descendant by having faith in God. Through faith we can all be descendants of Abraham and heirs to the promises of God to those who follow Him!