Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 13:8-10

8 And thou shalt shew thy son in that day, saying, This is done because of that which the Lord did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt.

9 And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the Lord’s law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the Lord brought thee out of Egypt.

10 Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year.

Once again the Israelites were instructed to point their children to the miracles in Egypt whenever they held their yearly Passover. Constantly reinforcing the reasons for the tradition in this way would help to prevent any adulteration of the practice, such as co-opting it for pagan rituals.

This idea of teaching and reminding the rising generation is continued in verse 9. Here we have the first reference to the phylacteries, small boxes with rolls of scripture that could be bound to the back of the hand or across the forehead. The wearing of the phylacteries would be the literal fulfillment of God’s commandment, and recalling His instructions in every thought and action would be the metaphorical fulfillment.

The notion of teaching the next generation what God had done previously and instilling faith in those past events has always been an essential element of discipleship. As I mentioned yesterday, the Israelites in Moses’s time were already far removed from the miracles that Abraham saw; they only had stories of those events. Of course, now they had seen their own set of miracles in Egypt, but their children would again only have the stories. Eventually, those children would see the parting of the Jordan River and the falling of Jericho, but the children’s children would again only have the stories. And so on and so on. Now and again, God’s people do see incredible signs and wonders, but in between those special moments, the belief is preserved by faith in the stories of old. We believers operate by trust and hope, living our lives in anticipation and reflection, only receiving a surety when we pass to the other side.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 13:5

5 And it shall be when the Lord shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month.

As I mentioned before, the Israelites who left Egypt were as far removed from Joseph as we are from William Shakespeare. Obviously, they were even further removed from Abraham, to whom God had originally promised the land of Canaan. From when God gave Abraham His promise to the birth of Isaac was a period of approximately 25 years. Isaac was 60 years old when Jacob was born, and Jacob was 130 when he entered Egypt. The Israelites dwelled in Egypt for 430 years. Thus, God’s original promise for Abraham’s seed to inherit the land of Canaan was now 645 years old when Moses led the people out of Egypt. Of course, because of some rebellion that we will soon read about, the fulfillment of the promise would be delayed another 40 years, making a wait of approximately 685 years. For comparison, 685 years before today was 1,338, at which time the Byzantine Empire was still standing!

But God had already fulfilled one of His promises to Abraham. He had made the man’s descendants into a great nation, approximately with 2 million souls, and the fulfillment of that promise was preparatory to Israel having the strength to claim the second.

No matter how much time has transpired, no matter how forgotten by man the promise might be, and no matter how many unexpected twists and turns come along the way, God will not forget or renege on His word. Many generations might pass away, but His pledge will not.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 13:3-4, 6-7

3 And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the Lord brought you out from this place: there shall no leavened bread be eaten.

4 This day came ye out in the month Abib.

6 Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the Lord.

7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters.

The requirements for observing the Passover had been stressed multiple times before it was observed and Israel was freed, and now on the other side of that miracle Moses doubled down on the requirements yet again. Before they left Egypt Moses pointed them forward, telling them what this observation would signify, and now that they had left Egypt Moses was pointing them backward, reminding them what the observation did signify.

This before-and-after teaching reminds me of a poetic structure that is found several places throughout the Bible called a chiasmus. In this form things are written in a palindromic way, with ideas mirroring one another as they approach the center. As it turns out, not only were Moses’s instructions palindromic, so was the very life that the Israelites were living.

  1. They were once free in Canaan
  2. Then they journeyed into Egypt
  3. They were made into slaves
  4. God worked His miracle among them
  5. They were made free
  6. They journeyed out of Egypt
  7. They were on their way back to Canaan

The central pivot point between the descent and the ascent is the miracle that God worked that first Passover night. Moses repeating the instructions for the Passover both before and after the miracle further reinforces how it is the central focus of the story, and the Israelites are to align themselves to that moment moving forward. Any time in the future when they lost their way and ended up in trouble, they would be restored only by remembering the lesson that the Passover had taught to them: that God alone could save them, even if by a miracle, as they surrendered to His will.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 13:1-2

1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

2 Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine.

God had spared the lives of all the Israelite firstborn, but that didn’t mean He was leaving them untouched. Just as the Israelites had marked their doors with the blood of the lamb, God had marked all of Israel’s firstborn sons to serve Him.

Notice that God says to “sanctify” the firstborn, not to “sacrifice” them. These boys would not be killed like the Egyptians, but they would still be giving up their lives in the service of God. They would be the priests to carry out the rituals of the temple, performing sacrifice and making atonement for the masses. And just as every family in Egypt was touched by the death of their firstborn, so too every family in Israel would be linked to God, also through their firstborn. Every Israelite would personally know someone who was part of this sanctified work, the firstborn would be the leaven that raised the whole nation.

Of course, this arrangement would only persist for a season. In time, the tribe of Levi would prove itself more faithful, and as a reward God would assign them to be the new priest class. All other tribes would retain their firstborn sons, then depending on the righteousness of more pure families to keep their connection to God.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 12:50-51

50 Thus did all the children of Israel; as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.

51 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.

In the final verses of this chapter we hear that the Israelites did all that they were instructed by the Lord. Of course, it is easier to be faithful when one has just been redeemed. In the flush of victory, obedience can become effortless. The Israelites had just gone from slavery to absolute freedom literally overnight. At this point there was no wilderness, no hardship, and no temptation to be doubtful or stubborn. But all of those hardships would come, and then faith and compliance would be far more precious.

Of course, we do anticipate a time when we all worldly burdens will finally be taken from our shoulders forever. We will have a respite from hardship and sin without end, and then being faithful should be perfectly effortless. But that time will only come in the next life, whereas here on earth refuge and peace are only fleeting. We can have the occasional season of “all is well,” but things always darken eventually. We are not here to learn how to be faithful when unburdened, we are here to learn how to be faithful no matter what. In every situation. And if it ends up taking forty years in the wilderness for us to get to that point, then so be it.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 12:48-49

48 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.

49 One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.

In these verses we have the first instances of God providing a path for a any person, even one who was not a direct descendant of Abraham, to become a part of His covenant people. Previously, God had chosen specific individuals to extend His promises to. Isaac was chosen and not Ishmael, Jacob and not Esau. Now, though, any outsider could enter into the fold of God through the sign of being circumcised. Then they would be “as one that is born in the land.”

“As one that is born in the land” means to receive the same rights, privileges, and covenants that chosen people enjoyed. They would receive the same promises that God had given to Abraham, with all of its accompanying blessings, both in this life and the next, culminating in the promise of eternal salvation. This was the most generous and hopeful gift imaginable, a path to salvation for all, an opening of the doors that Jesus would expand further many years later.

But it was, of course, necessary for the outsider to sincerely take on the Hebrew covenants and obligations to receive these promises. Too often it is argued that since the gospel is freely offered to all people that it cannot then have any requirements of those people. But the thing that is being freely offered is a law, while obtaining the positive outcomes of that law depend on it being followed. The gift from God is the opportunity to first accept His terms and then receive His rewards.

God reinforces this in verse 49 when He says “one law…to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.” One law, but God has described two different outcomes: one where a person becomes a part of the covenant through circumcision and one where a person remains a outsider by declining God’s offer. God is not contradicting Himself by stating “one law,” but with two outcomes, as every law necessarily separates people into different categories. Having a legal age limit to drive, for example, is just one law, but it dictates two outcomes depending on a citizen’s age. So, too, God’s law is freely given to all, but that doesn’t mean that the positive side of it is in force for all, only for those who meet the terms for it. That is still a gift, though, because it is a path for us to claim God’s greatest blessings, where otherwise we would not have any means to do that.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 12:43-47

43 And the Lord said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof:

44 But every man’s servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof.

45 A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat thereof.

46 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.

47 All the congregation of Israel shall keep it.

God instructed how the Passover feast was to be conducted in relation to those who were not natively part of Israel. This would include both foreigners and servants, and servants were further divided between owned servants and hired servants. Only the owned servant were eligible to participate in the Passover, and only if the servant had been circumcised, thus making him an official part of the Israelite household. He would then live under the umbrella of the lord of the house and would observe the same rituals that his master did.

Hired servants and other foreigners would still be free men under their own jurisdiction. As such, they were not to be included in the feast, and were, in fact, forbidden from participating.

Meanwhile, of the native Israelites God instructed that “all the congregation shall keep it.” There were to be no exceptions, regardless of age, gender, position, or status. Each family was responsible to host the meal in their own house (or in the house of a neighbor if both families were small), but not to pass food from one abode to another.

In all of this I see the Passover as being symbolic of receiving the testimony of the gospel. The foreigner and the hired servants represent the outside unbelievers, who the true disciple may otherwise associate with, but which are still distinct and do not hold the same convictions and responsibilities. The owned servant is the new convert, temporarily borrowing from the testimony of other believers, relying upon the nurturing of the experienced faithful. The native Israelites are the disciples who have fully come into their own testimony, no longer relying on the faith of another to be imparted to them. The Israelite household is the sphere of faithfulness that the true disciple maintains, capable of nurturing and sheltering all who dwell within its borders. We are all meant to progress from the foreigner, to the servant, to the native as we receive our first testimony, increase it from the strength of others, and finally come to a fulness of our own.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 12:40-42

40 Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.

41 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.

42 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.

In these verses we learn that the Israelites lived in Egypt for a total of 430 years. Of course, not all of that time was spent in servitude. There is an unspecific gap of time between when Jacob and his sons came into the land and when a later Pharaoh decided to subjugate the Israelite people. It seems likely that most of their time was spent in freedom, as they were not put under Egyptian oppression until they had grown to a mighty number, and the population growth would have started relatively slowly, becoming exponentially greater with each passing generation.

430 years was long enough to make all the stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the great patriarchs, distant history to the current generation. Consider that 430 years before today’s date would have been 1593, which was the time period of William Shakespeare and Galileo Galilei. Shakespeare is as far removed to us as Jacob was to Moses. Not completely removed, still well known and with a clear line of connection in between, but removed still the same.

Thus, it was a new Israelite nation that emerged from Egypt, far different from the one that went in. This new Israelite nation was one that knew nothing of its forefathers’ land of inheritance. It was one that had become accustomed to living under another’s rule. It was one that had been surrounded by all manner of false gods and strange practices. But in spite of all this they were being called to reconnect with their foreordained place in the world.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 12:35-38

35 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: 

36 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. 

37 And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children. 

38 And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle.

I pointed out earlier that when God instructed the Israelites to take the jewels of their Egyptian neighbors, it had the appearance of a conquering army taking the spoils of war. Verse 36 makes this interpretation concrete by saying the Egyptians were indeed “spoiled.” Though the Israelites had not raised a single hand against their overlords, yet they carried the trophies of their triumph over them.

Moving on, in verse 37 we hear exactly how large the Israelite nation had become. Back in Exodus 1, we were told that there were only 70 souls when Jacob and his family first entered into Egypt. Since that time, just their men were nearly 10,000 times greater in number! If their men “on foot” were 600,000, then presumably there were approximately 600,000 women, and probably more than 600,000 children, bringing their total up and to and even exceeding 2 million! One can see why the Egyptians had been worried about their growing strength. The “on foot” description of the 600,000 men seems to mean men who were still strong enough to travel forward under their own power, and therefore also fit to carry a sword. It was justifiable that Egypt would be concerned about this potential army within their borders, though their solution to that problem was certainly not justified.

Verse 38 tells us that they also took up all of their flocks, herds, and cattle, which of course Pharaoh had previously tried to deny them. Also of interest is that “a mixed multitude went up also with them.” This might have been the remnants of other nations that had been conquered by the Egyptians and made to serve alongside the Israelites. It might have been Egyptians who had intermarried with the Israelites or been converted to the Lord by His miracles.

Of course, we will see a theme soon enough of the Israelites being seduced from God by the strangers in their midst. It is possible that this “mixed multitude” was the first group to tempt them to sin. Though we will not have it spelled out to us in Exodus, a later recounting in Numbers shows that it was this group of foreigners who first began to complain to Moses in the wilderness, leading the way for the Israelites to also tempt the Lord. Thus, even in this moment of triumph, there are already the seeds of a downfall.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 12:34, 39

34 And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneadingtroughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders.

39 And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened; because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any victual.

We just read how the Egyptians were anxious to hurry the Israelites out of their land. Today’s verses explain even more of this haste, describing the Israelites as being “thrust out, and could not tarry,” with no time for even their dough to rise. Hence the wisdom in God telling them beforehand to prepare all of their bread to be unleavened. He knew the great hurry that would soon be upon them.

I mentioned yesterday that it sounded like Pharaoh had summoned Moses and Aaron in the very same night that all the firstborn of Egypt had been slain, and given today’s verses it sounds like the Israelites had to be out of their homes by the very next morning. Waiting for the dough to rise would only have been a matter of hours after all, not days, and they apparently didn’t have that long to spare. An immediate departure would also explain why God told them to have staff in hand, shoes on feet, and to burn any leftover lamb.

To sum up, it seems most likely to me that on the evening of the tenth day of Abib the Israelites had their Passover feast, the Egyptian firstborn were killed during the night, that same night Pharaoh commanded the Israelites to leave, and all the camp was gone in the morning. I never realized before how rapidly all these events might have transpired, and if it was this way then it shows just how quickly God can change everything, accomplishing the impossible in an instant!