Coromandel Baptist Church

Sunday 26 April 2009 Exodus 12:1-13 and 12:21-41

God Passes Over Egypt

In the account of God’s mighty works in Egypt recorded in Exodus 7-11, God is shown to be working out his purposes through Moses and Aaron. They use the staff of God’s presence; they speak to the king in God’s name; and they shepherd the flock by the prophetic words they have been given. Last time, we saw a pattern of nine mighty works—plagues and other judgements in the land­—that both brought ruination to the nation of Egypt and served to make a distinction between God’s people and the Egyptians. The goal of them all was the glory and exaltation of Yahweh so that all peoples might come to know that he really is the Lord. The nine works of power were presaged by the destruction of the ‘snakes’ of Pharaoh’s throne room, portending the utter judgement of the nation and the incontrovertible nature of the victory of God. But the nine plague-judgments were not sufficient in themselves to deliver the Lord’s flock. Passover (Heb. pesach, from which we therefore derive ‘paschal’ via the Gk. pascha) is the effective means of Israel’s deliverance and the proper culmination of the preceding works.

One of the significant differences between Passover and the mighty works which precede it is that in the actions of Passover God himself is the only player. He says he that he will pass over Egypt. It is the Lord’s Passover (Ex. 12:11c, 12, 13, 23, 27). While the other mighty works were beyond doubt the work of God (even the magicians acknowledged this in Ex. 8:19), in this last judgment-plague Moses and Aaron have no part to play at all, save to obey the Lord’s word to shelter under the blood of the slain lamb. This lamb (or kid, as a goat could also be used, see Ex. 12:5) was to be unblemished and chosen, being set aside on the 10^th day of the month for sacrifice on the 14^th day of the month. This kept the chosen animal clean and safe, set aside for its allotted purpose.

In the subsequent history of Israel the whole identity of the nation was defined by the events of the exodus, and Passover served as a constant memorial—a pedagogical reenactment (as in Ex. 12:26ff.; 13:8-9, 11-16)­—of the event that forged the them. Israel was to ‘remember’ the Lord by ‘remembering’ his works on their behalf. This theme forms a foundational element of the nature of the Law and national life in Israel (e.g. Deut. 5:15 cf. 7:18; 8:2, 18; 9:7, 22; 15:15; etc.) and if truly embraced, would have kept Israel (as so also us) from many divergent paths. The positive commands to remember are reinforced by the command not to forget. ‘Forgetting’ is often a parallel way of speaking about Israel’s exchange of worship, rejecting the Lord for their idols (e.g. Deut. 4:23 cf. 6:12; 29:25; 31:20). This was a particular danger in relation to the multiplied gods of Egypt (e.g. Deut. 4:20 in its context).

Just as previous mighty works had manifest the distinction between God’s people and the Egyptians (e.g. Ex. 8:22; 9:4, 6, 26; 10:23) so Passover would magnify and confirm this distinction in a most dramatic way (e.g. Ex. 11:7; 12:13). It is crucial to note, however, that this distinction is in no way based on intrinsic merit. Moses had to remind Israel of this repeatedly (e.g. Deut. 4:37; 7:7; 9:5; 10:15; etc.). The fact that Israel was protected under the blood of the Passover lamb was entirely due to God’s grace. Indeed, as the story unfolds we will see that the repeated failure of Israel to love and serve God is deeply rooted within the heart of the nation (for example, the proximity of the murmuring narratives to the song of deliverance in Ex. 15:22ff.). They were not God’s covenant people because they were inherently more righteous. He loved them because he loved them, and for no other reason.

That the Passover Lamb was needed presents us with a somber truth. Though not embraced by rebellious human spirit (not least as manifest in the essentially Pelagian psychology that underpins the contemporary western world view) the Bible’s teaching is plain…every life is forfeit to God. It is an inescapable biblical fact that there is none who is righteous, or who seeks after God, or who is free from sin. Therefore all are liable to judgement. Alec Motyer (Exodus, p. 134) has pointed to the simple comment in Ex. 12:30 ‘there was not a home in which there was not someone dead’ to remind us that in every home, Egyptian and Israelite alike, there was a body. The only difference was that in Israel the body was that of a slain lamb. The slain lamb represented the forfeit life of Israel—life not taken because God ‘saw’ the blood on the door posts and lintels—and it is thus plain that the lamb was a propitiating sacrifice which God himself had provided. Israel (as God’s communal firstborn) is saved by the grace of God, whose judgement takes the firstborn of the land.

That the Passover lamb was to be sacrificed in the way it was is also significant. The blood had to be shed and collected, and the body had to be roasted. The shed blood and consuming fire are evident in the propitiation that God has provided throughout time (e.g. Abraham, Isaac and the ram in Gen. 22; as well as in the patterns of sacrifice in the Tabernacle and Temple). Nowhere in the Bible is forgiveness ever a mere amnesty on sin. The fire of God’s holiness consumes sin, never excuses it. But that the lamb needed to be eaten is also significant. The sacrifice that God provides by his grace not only saves, but sustains. We are forgiven through the blood of the Lamb, and sustained by his life. He is the Bread of Heaven on whom we feed.

Two things underline the fact that the Passover makes the exodus final and complete. Firstly the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham is granted in the gathering of the gold and other precious possessions from the Egyptians (Gen. 15:14 cf. Ex. 3:22; 11:2; 12:35f.; Ps. 105:37). Not only do the Israelites plunder their enemies without raising a sword in anger, but given the setting of their captivity the plunder is taken from the gods of Egypt (gold being a divine metal in Egypt due to its connection with the shining sun-god Ra M. Lurker, An Illustrated Dictionary of the Gods and Symbols of Ancient Egypt p. 55). Secondly, Pharaoh ejects Israel from his land, with a series of definitive, emphatic imperatives (Ex. 12:30-32). His desire to know the blessing of God through Moses in Exodus 12:32 is not a sign of final repentance (he soon tries to pursue and destroy the people again, as Satan still does), but it is a sign of the utter defeat that has already taken place.