GET READY
How do you prepare for an extended trip? Do you make a list of all the things you’ll need and start putting them in a designated place? Do you make sure you have all your tickets and reservations well in advance? Or do you wait until the day before and pack every thing you can think of?
THE WORD
12 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt:
2 This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. 3 Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household. 4 If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. 7 They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8 They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs. 10You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. 11This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the passover of the Lord. 12For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord.13The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. [See Notes for vv 14-20]
21Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go, select lambs for your families, and slaughter the passover lamb. 22Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood in the basin. None of you shall go outside the door of your house until morning. 23For the Lord will pass through to strike down the Egyptians; when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over that door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you down. 24You shall observe this rite as a perpetual ordinance for you and your children. 25When you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this observance. 26And when your children ask you, ‘What do you mean by this observance?’ 27you shall say, ‘It is the passover sacrifice to the Lord, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt, when he struck down the Egyptians but spared our houses.'” And the people bowed down and worshiped.
28The Israelites went and did just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.
29At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. 30Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his officials and all the Egyptians; and there was a loud cry in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead. 31Then he summoned Moses and Aaron in the night, and said, “Rise up, go away from my people, both you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord, as you said. 32Take your flocks and your herds, as you said, and be gone. And bring a blessing on me too!” [See Notes for vv. 36-37] NRSV
GET INTO THE WORD
1. Who is involved in the conversation at the beginning? What are they discussing? Why do you suppose God changes the calendar?
2. What does God talk about next? What direction does he give regarding the lamb? Regarding the blood? Regarding the meat and menu? Regarding clothing? Why do you think he is so specific here?
3. What is God going to do the night the people eat the lamb? What will happen to the Egyptians? How will the Israelites be safe?
4. How does Moses respond to God’s directions? What does he tell the people? What does he say about the blood? What does he tell them about the preparations in the future? How will this process start? How should the people answer? How did the people respond to Moses’ instructions?
5. When did the Lord act that night? Who was affected? How did the people respond? How did Pharaoh react? What did he tell Moses and Aaron? What did he ask of Moses?
GET PERSONAL
The lamb’s blood on the doorway ensured the Israelites’ physical safety just as Christ’s blood on the cross ensures our spiritual safety. How has God helped you understand Jesus’ sacrifice is for you?
NOTES . . .
12.2. First month of the year— Israel followed a lunar calendar, with the first month (“Nisan”) beginning with the first new moon after the vernal equinox (which is why Easter is not a fixed date on our calendar).
12:3. Lamb without blemish, a year-old male— though this lamb’s blood would be used to mark the Israelite homes [check v. 7], it is also the beginning of the concept of sacrifice for protection and redemption – ending in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross [John 1:29].
12:8. Roasted— a quicker cooking method than butchering and boiling.
Unleavened bread— the Israelites did not have time to prepare the new year’s supply of yeast before leaving Egypt, so they could take only flatbread.
Bitter herbs— probably lettuce, chicory and horseradish – appropriate for a quick departure since these required no preparation.
12:11. Loins girded— another sign of preparation for a hasty exit.
Passover— the blood on the doorway is the sign of God’s people – protected on this night and redeemed the next day.
12:22. Hyssop— an herb similar to
marjoram. Hyssop was also used to give Jesus sour wine on the cross [John 19:29].
12:26. What do you mean— even today, the youngest boy in the Jewish household asks this question to begin the Passover ritual.
And . . .
12:14-20. Feast of Unleavened Bread— God gives Moses instructions for remembering this night by celebrating a seven-day feast following the Passover celebration.
12:36. The Israelites asked for jewelry and clothing and the Egyptians gave them what they asked— this fulfilled God’s promise to Abraham [Gen 15:14].
12:37. About six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children left Rameses— even though this seems like an impossibly large number the Israelite population could easily have grown this much in 400 years (Numbers 2:46 gives a precise count of 603,550). The total including women and children plus the “mixed crowd” would have been over two million people.
MEMORY VERSE
By strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt,
[Exodus 13:14].
LESSON 10
Exodus 20: The Ten Commandments
