November 10, 2013 ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON

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1 November 10, 2013 ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON BEGINNING OF PASSOVER MINISTRY INVOCATION O God: We give thanks to You for the manifold blessings to us. You did not have to bless us but You did. We shall remain eternally grateful. Amen. WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW AND UNDERSTAND The Freedom of God promise to the Hebrew people will crate a new beginning in their relationship with God a beginning that they will commemorate for generations to come. THE APPLIED FULL GOSPEL DISTINCTIVE We believe in the indwelling of the Holy Ghost for all believers and that the Holy Ghost verifies and validates the Believer as part of the Body of Christ. TEXT: Background Scripture Exodus 6:2-30; 12 Key Verse Exodus 12:14 Lesson Scripture Exodus 12:1-14 (NKJV) 12 Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2 This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. 3 Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. 4 And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man s need you shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. 7 And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. 8 Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire its head with its legs and its entrails. 10 You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire. 11 And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD s Passover. 12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike 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. 13 Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses 1

2 where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. 14 So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance. COMMENTARY 12:1 The importance of this verse lies in its identification of Moses and Aaron, who were Levites and priests, as recipients of the legal instruction that followed. It was the responsibility of Levites and priests throughout the generations of Israel not only to keep the law themselves but also to enforce it and teach it to the population as a whole. Thus, the nation s first two levitical priests are mentioned prominently as a paradigm for all later proper clergy, and the instruction assumes great importance, in as much as these legal instructions were given them already in Egypt, that is, even prior to Mount Sinai. 12:2 Why should God have to tell the Israelites when their year began, that is, which month was to be the first in their calendar? The answer has two aspects: one is that this was not at all a settled question for them, and they needed revealed guidance on the matter; the other is that God was teaching them to link even their measuring of time to His calling on their lives. Why was it not a settled question? The people groups of the ancient world varied in their sense of when the year should begin, with some cultures choosing a fall new year and some celebrating a spring new year. It is possible that most of the various Canaanite groups celebrated a fall new year and that one reason for this ruling from God was to be sure the Israelites differentiated themselves from the Canaanites, near whom they were eventually to live (indeed, among whom they had to live by reason of their eventual unfaithfulness in the conquest). Even so, the Israelites themselves held membership in a broad culture that regarded the transition from summer to fall as the end of the year and therefore the fall as the beginning of the calendar. This use of language should not be viewed as contradicting the present law establishing a spring new year. It is simply phenomenological, informal language, much as people today speak of the day ending with dusk or beginning at dawn, even though they know that it technically ends/ begins at midnight, or speak of the weekend as including Sunday, even though they are well aware that, in English-speaking tradition at least, the week actually begins with Sunday. It is clear that in terms of formal teaching in the Pentateuch, the new year is firmly established as commencing in the spring, the month of Nisan (what we would call March April) being the first month, and that the seventh month was the one to which the fall festival was dated. 2

3 God decided that history determines the calendar, and in particular, the history of God s saving act of the exodus. Whatever might theoretically have been their previous thinking about a calendar, God decreed to His Old Covenant people that they would have a calendar designed to remind them of how they first became a people it happened by reason of their deliverance by His mighty hand out of the bondage of the oppressor, an act so important that it was also to be memorialized by a special annual feast, the Passover. 12:3 4 At its heart, the Passover is a meal, a commemorative feast. Feast holidays have the special emphasis of careful preparation for gathering people together to share a common gratitude and/or remembrance as they share the common meal linked to that gratitude/remembrance. The gathering of an entire family of Israelites (or group of families eating one animal though in separate houses) together at a dinner table helped symbolize the general pattern throughout the nation, that is, the whole nation eating together at individual locations. Moses was told that the whole nation must be instructed to eat the meal as households, not as individuals. Thus, great emphasis is placed on sharing the meat of a single animal. The goal is to have one goat kid or lamb for each full family, one for each household. Therefore, if a household were composed of just one, two or three people, and they could not by themselves consume a whole goat kid or lamb at one sitting, v. 4 provides for sharing the meal with the nextdoor family, so that everyone at the two houses eats together from a single sacrificed animal and finishes the meat of that animal during the meal. That is the meaning of share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. This might produce some situations in which a rather large number of people, consuming a goat kid or lamb, might each get only a relatively small portion of meat to eat, but the alternative meat left over, or someone being forced to gorge himself in order to finish off all the meat in one sitting was strictly to be avoided. The principle was thus: Everyone had to eat the meat, and all the meat had to be eaten. Why not allow leftovers? Why not allow gorging? The greater value is in preparation for the Messiah. The Messiah was to be one body, broken for all, symbolically eaten by all, in order to help believers in the New Covenant keep aware of their unity as members of the one body. Partial consumption and fragments left over do not appropriately symbolize that body and that unity. The ultimate purpose of the Old Testament Passover instruction is to point forward to Christ, to the purpose of His death, memorialized in the ritual of the Lord s Supper that now replaces the Passover, and also to the unity of those accepted by Him as His people, His body. 12:5 The Passover animal may be either a goat kid or a lamb, but it must be young ( year-old ), male, and perfect ( without defect ). A year-old goat kid or 3

4 lamb is a virtually full-grown animal. Since lambing and goat kidding took place in the spring in ancient times and the Passover took place in the spring, there is every reason to take literally the language indicating that the animal to be eaten would be a year old, not merely within its first year of life. It therefore makes sense that the Passover animal would be a male. That it should be of perfect quality is, however, an element specially designed for inculcating spiritual values into the observance. Lame, spotted, off-colored animals are just as tasty as perfect ones. The meat of an animal with a split ear or a blind eye is not affected by the defect. Thus, the reason for demanding perfection rested not in the quality of the meal but in the symbolic purpose: the animal served as a reminder of the eventual deliverance that a perfect God perfectly provided for His people as part of the process of making them holy like Himself. Proper relating to God requires perfection. How, then, could an animal help provide perfection for those who consumed it so that they could become acceptable to God? The answer is that it could not, except to the extent that the whole process of eating the animal in obedience to the Passover regulations was an act of faith and obedience, involving faith in God s gracious provision of the holiness that no human could himself provide and obedience to a process that showed confidence in the true God s true promises and requirements. From the vantage point of the full overview of the plan of redemption designed by God before He created human beings, Jesus of Nazareth was to be young at the time of His death, male of course, and perfect free from defect before God. His sinlessness qualified Him alone to be the Lamb of God, a human lamb rather than an animal of the flock, and yet a lamb in the sense of one meeting the criteria for the Passover meal. 12:6 The animals chosen four days in advance (12:3) would be properly distributed to every family and kept healthy until the time of slaughter. This was to take place at twilight so that there would be enough light for the process of slaughter, which also involved skinning, removing entrails, tying up for spit roasting, laying the proper fire. The eating itself took place later, after nightfall (v. 8), when the moon was full (the fourteenth day being the middle of the twenty-eight day lunar cycle, thus the exact time of the full moon). So there was maximal nighttime light for gathering together and eating, and, as well, the timing would function in commemoration of the coming full moon nighttime flight from Egypt that characterized the exodus (vv ). In New Testament times, of course, the Passover was celebrated at this same time of the month, during the night as it has always been in Judaism. The New Testament s last supper with Jesus and His disciples was a Passover meal. 12:7 This verse is slightly elliptical because in mentioning only the houses where they eat the lambs, it leaves to logic to realize that this also included 4

5 dwelling places such as tents and included people who lived alone but who may have celebrated the Passover with their families. Far more importantly, the verse specifies the power of the shed blood of a sacrificial animal to protect God s people from death. The purpose of the display of the blood on the doorframes of the houses top and sides is described further in v. 13 but one should appreciate the fact that an omniscient God would hardly need a sign to know which people had been faithful to Him. The sign therefore was presumably at least as much for the benefit of those who were to provide it, to require them to undertake an action that involved more than mere ideation, but one demonstrating their confidence in God s power to kill as well as to rescue. In this regard, it is somewhat analogous to the action required in the plague of hail: those who believed enough to take preemptive measures kept their livestock; those who did not lose them. A dwelling s doorway is its interface with the outside world. There is nothing sacred or symbolic about the doorframe of a house, but there is also no better location to place a sign showing faith on the part of those who reside inside for the benefit of anyone outside who comes to check. The blood was smeared on the doorframe even before the Passover meal was eaten; this may be an instance of first things first, that is, that deliverance from death is the primary interest of these instructions and proper memorializing of the exodus the less crucial concern. The Israelites were required to eat the Passover in a manner that demonstrated their readiness to leave Egypt immediately. All aspects of the cooking and eating were designed to minimize time and maximize preparedness for sudden departure. This was an issue of faith: did the families of the Israelites really trust God s promises for them? If so, were they willing to show that trust by arranging themselves so as to be fully prepared for departure, and by eating what was to be their last meal in Egypt in such a manner as not to impede their ability to gather together and start moving as soon as the command reached them? The willingness to go at a moment s notice and never to return cannot have been easy for most Israelites, even though they initially believed Moses signs (4:31), had witnessed the nine plagues thus far, and had been treated so badly for so long. They had lived in Egypt for 430 years a long time to acclimate culturally and geographically and were now being asked to leave behind everything they had ever known: the place where they had lived all their lives, where their parents and grandparents had lived and died, and where they had prospered until the paranoia of the post-hyksos pharaohs had taken over. They were leaving the houses they had built and raised families in. Now their faith was to be shown; now they were to gather as families to eat a quick meal of quickly prepared ingredients and then to depart quickly in order to get a head start on any potential Egyptian pursuit. 5

6 12:8 9 Roasting over a fire required no setup or washup of pots and other utensils, no additional drawing of water, and no waiting time for the water to boil; thus it was the fastest, simplest way to cook meat. Bitter herbs were the easiest to find and harvest and were eaten as a side dish either raw or seared, as opposed to more elaborate ways of preparing, mixing, and cooking vegetables. Bread made without yeast could be rapidly mixed and heated: the usual waiting time for the dough to rise and the loaf to bake was cut to just minutes. Eating raw meat would have been even faster but both distasteful and dangerous to health; boiling the meat would have been both slower and more cumbersome and therefore inconsistent with the emphasis on speed and readiness inherent in the Passover concept. The inclusion of inner parts in the roasting does not mean the goat kid or lamb was roasted whole but merely that it was gutted very simply and then roasted rapidly, as opposed to the usual full butchering and separation of the various organ meats for consumption in various ways and at various times. 12:10 11 Although cooked meat rapidly putrefies without refrigeration or preservation by salting, many Israelites might have been tempted to save some for breakfast. But this would have violated the symbolic sense of the meal, indicating that those who saved the meat both distrusted that God would provide for them the next day as they were on the run out of the country and that God s deliverance was an immediate, once-for-all rescue and sparing of His people. Accordingly, any remains had to be burned once the meal was over. It was more a meal of religious observance than a meal to provide sustenance over time. Dressing for travel also was important as another indication of faith that the long-promised deliverance was truly at hand. People tucked cloaks into belts when they traveled; they kept cloaks on loose and full length at night for warmth and comfort. Sandals normally were taken off at home; with this meal they were worn in the house, because a trip was imminent. No one carried his staff around the house; it was a tool for protection and herding in the open A staff in the hand normally indicated readiness to be on the move, not a plan to stay at home. Thus the entire meal and its manner and posture of consumption were to indicate faithful readiness for a speedy departure. It was a meal eaten in haste, the Lord s Passover not a typical meal at all but God s specially assigned symbolic meal of exodus deliverance. 12:12 13 This precise description of the tenth plague reveals that it would take place in a matter of hours at most ( on that same night ), would affect the firstborn of all Egyptian humans and livestock, would be averted from homes that displayed the Passover blood on their doors as a sign of faithful obedience to God, would be a divine strike against Egypt, and above all would constitute judgment on all the gods of Egypt. The blood on the doorposts showed 6

7 acceptance of God s plan for rescue and trust in his word. After all, the sight of dried blood by itself had no power to deter death; it was only as the dried blood painted on the top and sides of the door was a testimony to the faith of the inhabitants in Yahweh that it had its efficacy. Thus the statement, When I see the blood, I will pass over you in other words, I will spare all those who show that they have placed their faith in me. 12:14 In saying this is a day you are to commemorate God did not slight the full seven-day festival as if it were not also to be commemorated equally; rather, the starting day was a crucial one. If the starting day was missed, then observing the rest of the days could not entirely make up for the loss of the one that specifically aligned with the day the Israelites actually left Egypt, the fourteenth of the first month at the full moon. The terms for generations to come and as a lasting ordinance provide two more supporting concepts linked to the concept of commemorate. It was very important that each subsequent generation renew for itself an awareness of the original Passover and its meaning. It was a festival to the LORD, thus a special and solemn religious celebration intended to focus attention on this memorable event every year. Why such an emphasis on commemoration? Because what is not carefully remembered by a community is very naturally and easily forgotten and virtually completely forgotten as soon as the oldest members of that community who experienced the original event die. The full seven-day festival was not celebrated by the Israelites on the occasion of the first exodus as they actually fled from Egypt. They had experienced the exodus personally. It was clearly for generations to come, who had not been there to know God s salvation directly. Why did God want His people to remember the exodus so carefully? Because it was his supreme Old Covenant demonstration of deliverance, and He wanted His people to trust Him as a delivering God. The Old Covenant exodus was the paradigm of God s saving acts; the New Testament crucifixion was the ultimate exodus because it delivers not merely from bondage to human despotism but from bondage to sin itself, and thus it provides for life not merely in a promised earthly land but in an eternal promised land, the home of the Father. RELATED DISCUSSION TOPICS CLOSING PRAYER My God: I am grateful to have found You and kept You in the forefront of my being. Bless us continually with Your grace and mercy. They represent bountiful blessings for all of us. Amen. 7