Ordinarily I would absolutely start things off with "In the beginning"; however, with the season being that of remembrance of Christ's great sacrifice for us on the Cross, that is where I will instead begin things. Why then am I actually starting with the first passover in Moses' time? Simple, because I start things at the beginning ;-)
Let's pick the story up with that final plague that God was about to bring down on the Egyptians. [Side note, at some later date we'll get into the parallels of the final three plagues in Egypt with that of the stages of the 6th trump in Revelation. We'll also cover the story of Jacob, his descendants and how his story makes up His-story.]
Exodus 11:1 (And the Lord said unto Moses, "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.
Exodus 11:4-6 And Moses said, "Thus saith the Lord, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt: And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts. And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more.
So here is where things are: The Egyptians were saved by God (using Joseph) 235/6 years prior (from when he was sold by his brothers) and had benefited from the many blessing of the Israelites presence in Egypt (only by God and His use of Joseph did the Egyptians survive the 7 year famine). But, in having forgotten the history of the Israelites being with them in the land of Egypt, the Egyptians felt threatened by them and made them slaves and killed their male born infant sons (Exodus 1). The Egyptians (as a whole) did not follow God or have regard for His followers at that time. Nine plagues into this ordeal, God was demonstrating 1) He was the one true God; 2) relaying the example of human nature and how that plays out; 3) that if you follow God's rules your (in this case children's) lives would be saved; 4) bringing about the justice of "an eye for an eye" in the killing of the children (Israelites by Egyptians and then Egyptians by God).
Exodus 12:1-14 And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, "This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, 'In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord's passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.
There was no guarantee that the death plague would pass over the Israelites just because they were Israelites. They had to obey God's command, a call to action, in order for them to be saved from the death plague. Much like today, we must believe on Christ as our Savior and follow Him in order for our souls to be saved from eternal death. So you can see why I started here, in part, as Jesus became our Passover, the lamb slain, His blood sacrificed and used to wash away our sins. [more on this later] Also note that God expects us to be ready (loins girded, shoes on, staff in hand) to act upon His command.....To truly be ready to act you must be educated on what that entails, God's Word has the instructions, from beginning to end! (II Timothy 3:16-17; II Timothy 2:15; Amos 8:11)
In the next post, I will delve into the calendar and how Passover is at the same time each year, what the "first month" is and how that applies to today.
Exodus 12:23-28 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. And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. 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. 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. And the children of Israel went away, and did as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.
Simply put, it was called "passover" at that time because the death angel "passed over" those in obedience of God's command. It is called "passover" now because Christ became our passover when he died on the cross. In an upcoming post, I will explain the confusion with the term "Easter" instead of "Passover" and how man has gotten wobbly on what He did and did not abolish with His great sacrifice. More to come.......
Let's pick the story up with that final plague that God was about to bring down on the Egyptians. [Side note, at some later date we'll get into the parallels of the final three plagues in Egypt with that of the stages of the 6th trump in Revelation. We'll also cover the story of Jacob, his descendants and how his story makes up His-story.]
Exodus 11:1 (And the Lord said unto Moses, "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.
Exodus 11:4-6 And Moses said, "Thus saith the Lord, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt: And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts. And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more.
So here is where things are: The Egyptians were saved by God (using Joseph) 235/6 years prior (from when he was sold by his brothers) and had benefited from the many blessing of the Israelites presence in Egypt (only by God and His use of Joseph did the Egyptians survive the 7 year famine). But, in having forgotten the history of the Israelites being with them in the land of Egypt, the Egyptians felt threatened by them and made them slaves and killed their male born infant sons (Exodus 1). The Egyptians (as a whole) did not follow God or have regard for His followers at that time. Nine plagues into this ordeal, God was demonstrating 1) He was the one true God; 2) relaying the example of human nature and how that plays out; 3) that if you follow God's rules your (in this case children's) lives would be saved; 4) bringing about the justice of "an eye for an eye" in the killing of the children (Israelites by Egyptians and then Egyptians by God).
Exodus 12:1-14 And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, "This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, 'In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord's passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.
There was no guarantee that the death plague would pass over the Israelites just because they were Israelites. They had to obey God's command, a call to action, in order for them to be saved from the death plague. Much like today, we must believe on Christ as our Savior and follow Him in order for our souls to be saved from eternal death. So you can see why I started here, in part, as Jesus became our Passover, the lamb slain, His blood sacrificed and used to wash away our sins. [more on this later] Also note that God expects us to be ready (loins girded, shoes on, staff in hand) to act upon His command.....To truly be ready to act you must be educated on what that entails, God's Word has the instructions, from beginning to end! (II Timothy 3:16-17; II Timothy 2:15; Amos 8:11)
In the next post, I will delve into the calendar and how Passover is at the same time each year, what the "first month" is and how that applies to today.
Exodus 12:23-28 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. And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. 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. 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. And the children of Israel went away, and did as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.
Simply put, it was called "passover" at that time because the death angel "passed over" those in obedience of God's command. It is called "passover" now because Christ became our passover when he died on the cross. In an upcoming post, I will explain the confusion with the term "Easter" instead of "Passover" and how man has gotten wobbly on what He did and did not abolish with His great sacrifice. More to come.......
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