Beginning of Passover

                  
                                                             Sunday School Lesson                                        

Lesson: Exodus 12:1-14
                                                                                                 
Golden Text: “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” (Exodus 12:14).

 INTRODUCTION.  The biblical account of Israel’s first Passover is the subject we study this week.  No doubt the fathers in every family had some explaining to do to their children as they were watched while preparing to do what God had told them to do.  Lambs were being roasted outside on open fires.  Blood from these unblemished male lambs was to be sprinkled on the sides and top of the doorframes of their houses.  The family members needed to know that their fathers had received a message from God that He would actually kill the firstborn in every house that was not marked by the blood on the doorframes.  There is no parallel in history to the killing of the firstborn of Egypt, the Passover, and the nation of Israel being born in one day.  These facts of history clearly show the hand of God in a dramatic way.  Passover pointed to the ultimate sacrifice of Christ as the Lamb of God, slain before the foundation of the world, but crucified at the proper time on the cross.

II. Background for the Lesson.   When God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, Moses gave excuses for why he was not able to go to Pharaoh and tell him to let Israel go (see Exodus 3:11-13; 4:1-9).  The last excuse was that he was “not eloquent and was slow of speech” (see Exodus 4:10-12).  This response caused God to become angry with Moses (see Exodus 4:13). Then the Lord told him that Aaron, his brother was already on the way to meet him and he would be speak for Moses (see Exodus 4:14-16).  Moses then returned to Jethro his father-in-law and asked for his permission to go back to Egypt to check on his family, and Jethro agreed.  God also told Moses that it was okay to return to Egypt because those who sought to kill him were now dead (see Exodus 4:18-20).  Moses then gathered his family, returned to Egypt along with Aaron, his brother and they told the Israelites what God said that He was going to do (see Exodus 4:27-31).  In chapter 5, Moses and Aaron begin their contest with Pharaoh demanding that he let God’s people go. Of course Pharaoh refused and increased the labor to be done by the Hebrew slaves.  In chapter 6, God encourages Moses and Aaron to continue to press Pharaoh warning them that Pharaoh would not release His people.  In chapters 7-10, God brings nine of the ten plagues upon Egypt which included water turned to blood (see Exodus 7:14-25), frogs covered the land (see Exodus 8:1-15), lice and gnats (see Exodus 8:16-19), swarm of flies (see Exodus 8:20-32), diseased livestock (see Exodus 9:1-7), painful boils (see Exodus 9:8-12), hail and fire (Exodus 9:13-35), locusts (see Exodus 10:1-20), and three days of darkness (see Exodus 10:21-29).  Then in chapter 11:1-10, God tells Moses that He will bring one last plague which would be the death of every firstborn in Egypt both humans and animals.  But even then God said that when Moses tells Pharaoh of this last plague he still wouldn’t let the people go.  This is where this week’s lesson begins.

II. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE LAMB (Exodus 12:1-7) 
A. Beginning the new year (Exodus 12:1-2). 
1. (vs. 1).  Our lesson begins with “And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt saying.”  After Moses and Aaron gave Pharaoh his last chance to let the Israelites go, God spoke to the both of them.
2. (vs. 2).  In this verse God begins to speak to Moses and Aaron saying “This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.”  The words “This month” refers to the month Abib which before the Exodus was Israel’s seventh month.  Now it was to be “the first month of the year to you.”  We must remember that this is a new beginning for the nation of Israel and now they would have both a religious calendar with the first month being Abib, and a civil calendar beginning with Tishri.  After the Babylonian Captivity, the name for the first month was changed from Abib to Nisan (see Esther 3:7).  This would correspond to our months of March-April.
B. Choosing a Passover lamb (Exodus 12:3-5).
1. (vs. 3).  The Lord went on to tell Moses and Aaron to “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.”  God here begins to give instructions for the preparation of the first Passover.  He directed His spokesmen, Moses and Aaron to “Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel.”  They were to speak to the entire congregation, or nation of Israel, but we are told in Exodus 12:21-28 that Moses and Aaron gave the instructions to the elders to pass on to the rest of the people.  First, God said that on the tenth day of this first month Abib, a lamb was to be chosen “according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house.”  This means that every household was to select a lamb which would be prepared and eaten by family groups.  The Passover was going to be a family activity.
2. (vs. 4).  In this verse God further explains the choosing of the Passover lamb for families.  He said “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.”  Just in case a household or family was too small to eat the entire lamb, they were to share it with their neighbor taking into account the number of people that will eat.  The phrase “every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb” means that the number of lambs chosen should be determined by the number of people eating and how much each person would eat.  Therefore, it was possible that two or more families could share lambs and eat together. These directions were given because the lambs were to be eaten on one night and there were to be no leftovers (see Exodus 12:10).
3. (vs. 5).  Here God gave specifics concerning the lamb.  The Lord said “Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats.”  There were three basic requirements for the animal to be chosen.  First, the animal had to “be without blemish.”  This means that it had to be a perfect specimen, without any physical flaws, and certainly not diseased.  Note:  These requirements would be repeated to the Israelites as part of the Law when God would give instructions about the sacrifices they were to bring to Him.  An animal with any kind of defect was not acceptable for either burnt or peace offerings (see Leviticus 22:18-25).  The fact that this had to be a perfect lamb looked forward to the Lamb of God, Jesus, who died for us and who was and is perfect in every way (see Hebrews 7:26-27).  Second, the animal also had to be “a male of the first year” or one year old.  Third, the animal could be taken “out from the sheep, or from the goats.”  In other words, the animal could be either a lamb or a goat. 
C.  Applying the blood of the Passover lamb (Exodus 12:6-7).
1. (vs. 6).  Still referring to the Passover lamb, God said “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.”  The phrase “And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month” means that once the perfect Passover lamb or goat was selected, it was to be held until the fourteenth day of the month, four days after it was selected.  On that day, it was to be killed “in the evening” or literally “between the two evenings.”  Note:  The Jews had two evenings.  The first was 3:00 p.m. when the evening sacrifice was killed: and the second was at 6:00 p.m. or near sunset.  According to Josephus, the Jewish historian, the Passover lamb was slain between 3 and 5 p.m.  Thus the death of our Lord at the ninth hour or 3:00 p.m. (see Matthews 27:45) agrees with the time of the offering of the Passover lamb as well as the second daily sacrifice. (For a detailed explanation of how Jesus’ death fulfilled every aspect of the Passover, see the tab on this web site that says “The Last Week of Jesus’ Life.”)  During the four day period that the lamb was set aside, it still had to be without any blemishes at all when it was killed.
2. (vs. 7).  After the animal is killed God said “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.”  They were to take the blood from the slain animal and “strike it” or spread it on both sides of the door and on the top of the doors of the homes where they would eat the animal.  Everywhere a lamb was eaten its blood was to have been applied.  The blood would be the means of salvation or deliverance from the judgment that God would bring later that night.  Likewise, Jesus’ blood is the only means of our eternal salvation.  Note:  The application of the blood on the doorposts and upper post, or lintel of each house in which the Passover lamb was eaten would protect those in that house from God’s final plague in Egypt: death of the first born.  God prescribed this process as a matter of faith.  It was not a matter of logic, nor did it require human consent.  It was what God required for the walk of faith at that moment.  It’s most important to understand that Scripture tells us that God would only pass over the houses where He saw the blood applied.  This indicates that if any Israelite home didn’t have the blood applied to the door posts, the first born in that house would die as well. This was not limited to just Egyptians.  Salvation has and always will be based on one’s faith (see Ephesians 1:12-13; 2:8-10).  Spreading the blood over the doors was also a type, or picture of the Lord Jesus and what He would do on the cross.     
III. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE BLOOD (Exodus 12:8-14)
A.  Eating the Passover meal (Exodus 12:8-9). 
1. (vs. 8).  The Lord went on to say “And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.”  The Israelites were to “eat the flesh in that night” meaning the meat of the lamb was to be eaten the same night that it was killed.  In addition, God said it was to be roasted and eaten with “unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs.”  The bread that they ate was to be without leaven or yeast which caused the bread to rise.  The people had to eat their meal quickly because the Exodus would happen quickly.  There would be no time to wait for the bread to rise.  Note:  In Hebrew, this unleavened bread is flat bread called matza.  The bread eaten for the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread was not to have any leaven because leaven in Scripture typifies sin (see I Corinthians 5:6-8).  Along with the roasted lamb and unleavened bread, they were to also eat “bitter herbs.”  The Bible does not tell us what these “bitter herbs” were, but it is thought that they may have been chicory, horehound and wild lettuce.  We are not told the purpose of the bitter herbs, but one would have to agree that they would remind the people of the bitterness of their oppression and suffering while in bondage.
2. (vs. 9).  Still talking about the roasted lamb, in this verse God said “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.”  The people were not to eat the meat raw, “nor sodden at all with water.”   This means that they were not to boil it in water.  Again God stated that it was to be roasted in fire.  The phrase “his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof” means that the animal was to be roasted whole with the head, legs and “purtenance thereof” or the inner parts.  Simply stated, the Passover lamb could not be eaten raw, but had to be roasted whole with its inner parts intact. 
B. Being ready to leave (Exodus 12:10-11). 
1. (vs. 10).  The Lord continued to say in this verse “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.”  The phrase “let nothing of it remain until the morning” means that there were to be no leftovers.  If anything was left, they were to burn it up.  When Pharaoh would finally let Israel go, it would happen quickly and there was to be nothing from these Passover animas left behind.  This verse ends with God saying “it is the Lord’s Passover.”  There was to be no doubt that God was in charge of everything that will happen on that night.
2. (vs. 11).  This verse says “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.”  God here said that they were to eat the lamb “with your loins girded” or with their cloaks tucked in their belts.  They were also to eat with their shoes on and with “your staff in your hand” so all they had to do when they finished eating the Passover meal would be to get up and go without having to look for anything.  They were to also “eat it in haste” or eat it quickly because once the Lord killed the firstborn in the land, Pharaoh would call Moses and Aaron and tell them to get out of Egypt as quickly as possible (see Exodus 12:31-34).  They would be expected to gather all of God’s people and start their journey immediately. 
C. Observing the blood (Exodus 12:12-13). 
1. (vs. 12).  Now God tells Moses and Aaron why everyone needs to follow His instructions perfectly.  The Lord said “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.”  God said that He was going to do two things.  First, He was going to go through the land of Egypt that night and kill all the “the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast.”   The first born in every family and the first born of every animal would be killed as God passed through Egypt.  Second, God said that He would execute or bring judgment “against all the gods of Egypt.”  The Egyptians had many gods, but Israel’s God would demonstrate that He was the true and living God for He confirmed “I am the Lord.”  This implied that He was the only God and all the gods of Egypt were nothing, and completely powerful in His presence.
2. (vs. 13).  In this verse, the Lord said “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.”  God said that the blood would be a “token” or sign as evidence that they were to be spared from the destruction.  When the Lord saw the blood, He would “pass over” those houses.  The only thing that would save the Israelites from the death of the firstborn in Egypt would be the blood that God saw over the doorposts and lintels.  It is very clear that the lambs being put to death were types of Christ who was the antitype or fulfillment of the Old Testament Passover lambs.  The Apostle Paul told the Corinthian believers that “even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us” (see I Corinthians 5:7).  The Apostle Peter wrote that we were not redeemed with corruptible things but with “the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (see I Peter 1:18).  All of the Old Testament sacrifices were fulfilled when Jesus died on the cross, shedding His blood for us.
D. Establishing a memorial (Exodus 12:14).  In our final verse God says “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.”  The Lord said that “this day shall be unto you for a memorial” meaning that the Passover, the fourteenth day of Abib, was to be an annual reminder of their deliverance from bondage in Egypt.  The nation of Israel was to celebrate this occasion as a “feast” or festival forever “by an ordinance” or commandment from the Lord.  Bible-believing Christians today don’t observe the Passover Feast because it was designed for Israel only.  We believe that Jesus Christ is our Passover for He has been sacrificed for us (see I Corinthians 5:7).
                        
IV. Conclusion.  For believers in Christ, Israel’s slavery in Egypt pictures our bondage to sin from which we have been delivered.  The Exodus of God’s people from slavery and bondage in Egypt is still one of the most important events in Jewish history.  What was an act of mercy for them, a display of God’s grace, was at the same time, without doubt, an act of divine judgment upon Pharaoh.  This all was a fulfillment of God’s prophecy to Abram in Genesis 15:13-14, 16.  We can be sure that our God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who identifies Himself as the Lord, or Jehovah the covenant keeping God, always keeps His promises.