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| “And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.” |
The
only power the ungodly understand is brute force. Reason and compassion do not
register in their hearts. The Lord gave Pharaoh every reason to know that He
was the God of all, but Pharaoh disbelieved in the face of insurmountable
miracles. The plagues sent upon Egypt have been gradually escalating to the
point of this final plague which transcends all others. The sins of Pharaoh
will be visited upon both the wicked and the innocent of Egypt. Most nations
have precisely the rulers they deserve. It is impossible for a free people
(whose hearts are also free) to be ruled by a ten-horned despot; but a vulgar
and ignorant people are quite easy to oppress. The lack of logic and
reason among the people of America has brought down upon their shoulders, for
the first time, the specter of oppression and totalitarian rule. Who can they
blame but themselves? The same is true in Egypt. The people will suffer for
their choices as do any people who abandon righteous rule.
In the early days of my education, people still described a lady or a gentleman
as a person of ‘good breeding.’ Such reference became passé with the onslaught
of politically correct speech and hatred of classical manners and art. But what
is good breeding if not the proper and Godly nurture of children by a Godly
mother and father? It means transferring the faith and beliefs of the parents
to the child, polite manners, and compassionate heart. Bad breeding is allowing
the child to become as wicked as the imagination will accommodate. “Then Moses
called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you
a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover.” (Ex
12:21) Worship and
faith, to the ancient Hebrews, involved the whole family as did the selection
of the Passover lamb and its benefits.
“And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the
bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in
the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the
morning.” (Ex 12:22) The commandment of God was to
each family member. NONE were to go outside during that darkest of nights in
Egypt. The blood, both above and on adjacent doorposts, protected all inside
the house from the curse of death. This is a hint of the meaning of baptism of
children as a covenantal practice. Just as the whole house of Zaccheus was
saved by his coming to Christ, so the head of every household is responsible
for bringing his children to Christ.
The Angel of Death was restrained by the Lord from entering any dwelling that
was marked by the blood of the lamb. The same is true today. When the Lord
passes over the host of all living and dead at the last trumpet, He will not
countenance the Angel of Death to touch any under the Blood of the Lamb of God –
we are marked by the Blood of Christ! “For the LORD will pass through to
smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the
two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the
destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.” (Ex
12:23) Now, it must
be noted, the Lord already knows who are His and who are not; but the
application of the blood was a sign of a more profound Passover to come. God
does require faith and obedience from His people, and provides them means of
demonstrating the same.
“And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons
for ever. 25 And it shall come to pass, when
ye be come to the land which the LORD will give you, according as he hath
promised, that ye shall keep this service.” (Ex 12:24-25) The inauguration of the
Passover in Egypt was not temporary change in the way the Lord expects His
people to worship. He is the same today, yesterday, and forever; it was the
beginning of a perpetual observation for all of Israel – the Old Testament
Church, as well as the New Testament Church. Our Easter would more correctly be
called the Passover rather than Easter. The term “Easter’ appears only once in
Scripture in a reference by the wicked Herod (Acts
12:4) and has no
meaning related to Passover. Our Holy Communion is a Passover observance, for
Christ has become our Passover, and it is His body and blood we observe in the
elements at the Lord’s Table – just as the Passover lamb and unleavened bread
were consumed in Goshen.
The explanation of our Lord’s Passover is very clearly explained: “And it
shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this
service? That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD'S passover, who
passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the
Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and
worshipped.” (Ex 12:26-27) The explanation is further
clarified in the New Testament: “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye
may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is
sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old
leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the
unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Cor
5:7-8)
It is altogether fitting that we study the deeper meaning of the Passover of
Christ compared with that in Egypt. Benjamin Keach, in his book - “Preaching
from the Types and Metaphors of the Bible” - lists more than twenty
five parallels of exact application between that first Passover and the final
Passover of Christ. We are to teach our children of the meaning as well. How
many adults, much less children, partake of the Holy Communion without an
inkling of the depth of its meaning? Do we bow our own heads in worship, or do
we practice a charismatic “free-for-all” in bedlam! “And the children of
Israel went away, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did
they.” (Ex 12:28)
The judgment of God against a land knows no distinction of class or position. “And
it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land
of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the
firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of
cattle.” (Ex 12:29) As we can see, even the beasts
of the field suffered judgment that horrible night in Egypt. “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 there was not
one dead.” (Ex 12:30) That great cry in the night in
Egypt was not singular, but the general population in common, rising up, with
Pharaoh, too, to mourn the death of a precious child. The wicked may presume
that they are getting away with a life of sin, but the judgments of God will
come in due time and bring even the wicked to their knees.
“And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you
forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve
the LORD, as ye have said. Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have
said, and be gone; and bless me also. And the Egyptians were urgent upon the
people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We
be all dead men.” (Ex 12:31-33) This is a precise fulfillment
of the prophecy of Moses, based upon God’s counsel, in Chapter 11: “And all
these thy servants shall come down unto me, and bow down themselves unto me,
saying, Get thee out, and all the people that follow thee: and after that I
will go out. And he went out from Pharaoh in a great anger.” (Ex 11:8)
Moses spoke with the knowledge God had imparted previously: “Yet will I
bring one plague more upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you
go hence: when he shall let you go, he shall surely thrust you out hence
altogether.” (Ex 11:1) As always, God’s Word was fulfilled to the jot and tittle.
“And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their
kneadingtroughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders. And the
children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the
Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: And the LORD gave
the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them
such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians.” (Ex
12:34-36) This was
not a dishonest borrowing. They were simply receiving from the Egyptians a tiny
remuneration for years and centuries of forced slavery and persecution.
“And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six
hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children. And a mixed multitude
went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle.” (Ex
12:37-38) It
appears from this passage that there were a small number of Egyptians who came
to fear the True God of the Universe during the time of plagues against their
sovereign.
“Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four
hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred
and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of
the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. It is a night to be much
observed unto the LORD for bringing them out from the land of Egypt: this is
that night of the LORD to be observed of all the children of
Israel in their generations.” (Ex 12:40-42) What a night that was! What a
night of fear and doubt the apostles experienced during the time of Jesus’ body
lying in the Garden Tomb! This was that Night of the Lord!
We learn in Exodus 13:4 the coming out of Egypt occurred during the month of
Abib (Nisan). The month of Abib corresponds to the month of Nisan in the Hebrew
calendar. It is the first month of the year and symbolizes “coming out”. It was
this time that Noah’s Ark rested on Ararat, Abraham was called out, Isaac was
born, the Tabernacle raised in the Wilderness, John the Baptist began his
ministry, and the Great Passover of Christ (His crucifixion) occurred.
And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the
passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof.” (Ex
12:43) This warning
applies with even greater import today: “Wherefore whosoever shall eat this
bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body
and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of
that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily,
eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.” (1
Cor 11:27-29) “But
every man's servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him,
then shall he eat thereof. A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat
thereof.” (Ex 12:44-45)
“In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth ought of the
flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof. All the
congregation of Israel shall keep it.” (Ex 12:46-47) In the Church, the family of
God comes together under one roof to partake of the Communion. The Communion
Service symbolizes our Oneness with Christ!
THE
STRANGER:
“And when a
stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the LORD, let
all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he
shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat
thereof. One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that
sojourneth among you.” (Ex 12:48-49) God deals with His people of
today by the same rule that He dealt with ancient Israel – for all who believe
in the Promised Seed of Abraham are Israel indeed. The Church recognizes this
Oneness by means of the Sacrament of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The
children of Israel were strangers in Egypt, and all others are strangers in
Israel until they are admitted to the family of God (Israel). You and I were
strangers until we came near by faith to Christ.
“Thus did
all the children of Israel; as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.”
(Ex 12:50)
Do we, too, believe all that the prophets have said concerning God’s Word and
His only Begotten Son; and, if we have believed, have we obeyed all that has
been commanded?
“And it came
to pass the selfsame day, that the LORD did bring the children of Israel out of
the land of Egypt by their armies.” (Ex 12:51) Egypt, scripturally, represents
sin and idolatry. The Children of Israel were brought out of that sodden land
en masse. Though it was Pharaoh who was forced at last to recognize the True
God and to release the people, it was nonetheless by the Hand of the Lord that
they were set free.
We may now brace ourselves for even more wonderful works and miracles of the
Lord that have direct meaning to us today.
