A Time To Eat And Run
Exodus 12
Exodus 11:1 (NIV)
Now the Lord had said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that, he will let you go from here, and when he does, he will drive you out completely.”
Exodus 11:4-8 (NIV)
So Moses said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the female slave, who is at her hand mill, and all of the firstborn of the cattle as well.
“’There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt – worse than there has ever been or ever will be again. But among the Israelites not a dog will bark at any person or animal.’ Then you will know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.
“All these officials of yours will come to me, bowing down before me and saying, ‘Go, you and all the people who follow you!’ After that I will leave.” Then Moses, hot with anger, left Pharaoh.
Exodus 12:1-13 (NIV)
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household.
“If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat.
“The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight.
“Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with the bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast.
“Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire – with head, legs and internal organs. Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it.
“This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover. On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt.
“I am the Lord. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.”
Exodus 12:21-28 (NIV)
Then Moses summoned all the elders in Israel and said to them, “Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover Lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe.
“None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning. When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.
“Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ then tell them,
“‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’” Then the people bowed down and worshiped. The Israelites did just what the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron.
Exodus 12:29-42 (NIV)
At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well.
Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead. During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested.
“Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me.”
The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. “For otherwise,” they said, “we will all die!”
So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, and carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs wrapped in clothing. The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing.
The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians. The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Sukkoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children.
Many other people went up with them, and also large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds. With the dough the Israelites had brought from Egypt, they baked loaves of unleavened bread. The dough was without yeast because they had been driven out of Egypt and did not have time to prepare food for themselves.
Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the Lord’s divisions left Egypt. Because the Lord kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt, on this night all the Israelites are to keep vigil to honor the Lord for the generations to come.
Psalm 105:37, 43
He brought out Israel, laden with silver and gold, and from among their tribes no one faltered. He brought out his people with rejoicing, his chosen ones with shouts of joy … .
1 Corinthians 5:7 (NIV)
For Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed.
Revelation 5:6 (NIV)
Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne … .
Revelation 15:2-4 (NIV)
They held harps given them by God and sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb: “Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the nations.
“Who will not fear you, Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”
God’s Way Making …
- Involves a blood-covering.
Exodus 12:13 (NIV)
“The blood will be a sign … and when I see the blood, I will pass over you.”
Hebrews 9:22 (NIV)
… without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
God’s Way Making …
- Involves faith and trust in Him as a Way Maker.
Hebrews 11:28 (NIV)
By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.
Romans 3:25 (NIV)
God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood – to be received by faith.
God’s Way Making …
- Is for all
Exodus 12:38 (NIV)
Many other people went up with them (the Israelites)… .
Some Versions of Exodus 12:38 say
A mixed multitude also went up with them … .”
God’s Way Making …
- Is to be continuously celebrated.
Exodus 12:14 (NIV)
“… for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord – a lasting ordinance.”
Exodus 12:26-27 (NIV)
“And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’”
Exodus 13:8 (NIV)
“On that day tell your son, ‘I do this because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’”
Luke 22:15, 19-20 (NIV)
“I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” (vs.19) And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”
Communion
- Will you apply the blood through receiving it by faith?
- What will it mean for you to “eat and run” this week? What bondage do you need to break free of?
- Parents: How are we helping our kids to see God as a Way Maker?