Exodus 12:37-51 Introduction In Exodus chapter eleven, we had the announcement of the final plague the death of all the firstborn in Egypt. That was the first slice of bread, as it were, in our sandwich. Since then, we ve had the filling with the Feast of Cover-over and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Now we re ready to finish the sandwich with the second slice of bread the fulfillment of the final plague the death of all the firstborn in Egypt. (READ Exodus 12:29-36; see chart on page 9) We ve been waiting a long time for this, haven t we? Finally, it s happened. And yet now that it s happened, we understand that this is a way bigger deal than we might have ever imagined in the beginning. We ve learned a great deal about God; His sovereignty, His justice, His holiness, His power, His tenderness and love. And in the end, we ve seen each one of these attributes of God come fully to bear in the blood-redemption of Israel, and in the actual creation of Israel as a brand new people. This isn t just an event for the history books. It s theology. It s the revealing of God as He works out His plan to be greatly exalted and glorified in the salvation of His people. And so, since this is such a massive big deal, the first sandwich is about to be followed by a second. There s still more to be learned about the theology and the meaning and the very practical significance of this historical event for the people of God. In verses 37-42, Moses lays out the first slice of bread in this second sandwich. (See chart on page 10 I. Exodus 12:37 And the people of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. No one knows, today, exactly where Rameses and Succoth were, but we can guess close enough approximately where they must have been. And we can also know that Israel must have set out from Rameses in an easterly or southeasterly direction. (See map on page 11) The bigger question that people have has to do with the number of Israelites who left Egypt. Almost all of our English translations say 600,000 men on foot, besides women and children. This, then, means a total population for Israel of somewhere between two and three million. On the face of it, there would seem to be numerous problems with this number. Based on everything that s known of the size of ancient civilizations in Egypt and in Canaan, with an army of several hundred thousand, Israel would easily have overwhelmed their enemies and taken possession of the entire land of Canaan all at once. Most importantly of all, this number seems to contradict other statements in Scripture about the smallness of Israel as a nation (compared with surrounding nations; cf. Deut. 7:6-8) and some of the descriptions in Joshua of Israel s conquest of the land of Canaan. (cf. Deut. 7:22; Josh. 7:1-5) There are many different proposed solutions to this problem. Some of them flow from doubt and unbelief about the Word of God. But others are very conservative, and flow from a belief in the reality of miracles, and a commitment to the Bible as the inspired, inerrant, infallible word of God. Based on these various solutions to the problem, we might estimate the total population of Israel at the time of the Exodus anywhere from 30,000 on the low side to perhaps 250,000 on the high side. Of course, that s way less than two to three million. This whole issue is highly complex, but I wanted to at least mention this only because I believe that the Scriptures I preach to you every Sunday are true and without error 1
right down to every last word, jot, and tittle. Therefore, I felt it was important that I at least make you aware that there are many who understand this verse to say or mean something very different than what we would understand based on our modern English translations or our modern day literary assumptions. In any case, we go on to read in verse thirty-eight: II. Exodus 12:38 A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds. So along with all the hosts of Israel, there also went up with them a mixed multitude. We can only guess at who these people were, but there may have been some Egyptians among them, as well as (even more likely) people of other ethnicities who had also been enslaved to the Egyptians. It s easy to see why other slaves would have taken the opportunity to leave the land of Egypt along with the Israelites. If there were Egyptians included in this mixed multitude, there s really no way to know their reasons for leaving. The only other place that it seems we read about this mixed multitude is in Numbers chapter eleven. Numbers 11:1 3 And the people [of Israel] complained in the hearing of the LORD about their misfortunes, and when the LORD heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp. Then the people [of Israel] cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the LORD, and the fire died down. In these verses, the entire nation of Israel is guilty of grumbling and complaining against the Lord. But in the very next verse, Moses singles out what appears to be another group of people among the Israelites who seem to have had a special role as instigators of this grumbling and complaining. Numbers 11:4 6 Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, Oh that we had meat to eat! Based on these verses, the mixed multitude that left Egypt along with Israel was not necessarily joining Israel for noble, spiritual reasons! So now we have to ask: What s the point of telling us about this racially mixed multitude that goes up out of Egypt along with all the people of Israel? It actually feels kind of jarring after all the emphasis we ve had on this brand new congregation and assembly of Israel. In fact, it s this emphasis that we come right back to in the next couple of verses. III. Exodus 12:39 41 And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves. The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. So here again is this emphasis on the sudden, miraculous, overnight birth of a nation! And, of course, this isn t just any nation. Here in these verses, these people are actually called for the very first time the hosts of the Lord. So the question we might all naturally ask is what does a 2
mixed multitude have to do with the hosts of the Lord? This is a tension. And this tension becomes even more exaggerated when we come to the last two verses of this slice of bread. After twelve verses of focusing on the details of the actual historical event of the Exodus the striking down of the firstborn, the great cry in Egypt, Pharaoh s order for the Israelites to leave, the plundering of the Egyptians, the first stage of the journey, the number of Israelites who left Egypt, the mixed multitude who left with them, the number of years that Israel lived in Egypt, etc. (12:29-40) after all this focus on the historical details, Moses turns everything back again to the theology behind the Exodus to all the redemptive meaning in these events that s so powerfully summed up in the Feast of Cover-over. IV. Exodus 12:41 42 At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. It was a night of watching by the LORD, to bring them out of the land of Egypt; so this same night is a night of watching kept to the LORD by all the people of Israel throughout their generations. At the end of 430 years, on that very day The Israelites counted days from sundown to sundown. So the point here is that on the very day that Israel observed that first Cover-over meal, on that very day (without any further delay) all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. Therefore, that very day (or night) is set apart and kept to the Lord as the Feast of Coverover by all the people of Israel throughout all their generations. We asked a moment ago, What does a mixed multitude have to do with the hosts of the Lord? Now we might ask even more specifically, What part does a mixed multitude have in celebrating the Feast of Cover-over? After all, what is the point of eating the Cover-over meal? The point is that all of God s people in all future generations might experience and appropriate anew and afresh for themselves this reality of their redemption accomplished long ago, and their miraculous creation as a congregation and an assembly, set apart. In this light, then, what part can a mixed multitude have in the eating of Israel s Cover-over meal? Or, we might ask, does God really even care about questions like these? What would you answer? Verse 41 says, at the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. If we skip ahead to our second slice of bread (the bookend of this section) we read almost exactly the same thing: V. Exodus 12:51 And on that very day the LORD brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts. So we come, now, to the filling in this second sandwich. Once again, I would suggest it s very likely that Moses has taken instructions that he actually received almost a year later at Mount Sinai, and transferred them here into the filling of this sandwich. VI. Exodus 12:43 47 And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, This is the statute of the Cover-over: no foreigner shall eat of it, but every slave that is bought for money may eat of it after you have circumcised him. No foreigner or hired worker may eat of it. It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones. All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. 3
The point of these verses is very simply exclusivity. That s certainly not a very popular word today not in the world, and not in our churches. To be exclusive means to exclude, to leave out, to bar the way. And so the Lord says to Moses and Aaron, No foreigner shall eat [the Coverover meal]. He is not allowed at the table. He is barred from the meal. If an Israelite happens to purchase a foreigner as a slave so that this slave is now actually under his authority as a part of his own house, then his slave may eat the Cover-over meal after he has circumcised him. Circumcision was the sign of the covenant, and so if a master circumcises his slave, it s a sign that he is now a member of the Covenant people and so also subject to all the terms of the Covenant (given at Mount Sinai). In this case, I m not sure that the slave really had much of a choice in whether he was circumcised. Because he is owned by his master, and a part of his household, his circumcision seems to be the result of his master s determination: As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. No sooner has Yahweh made this one exception than He says again: No foreigner or hired worker may eat of it. Once again, the emphasis is on exclusion. No Israelite had the authority to have his hired worker, who was not a part of his household, circumcised much less any other foreigner who happened to be living in the land. And so the foreigner and the hired worker are very explicitly and clearly not allowed at the table. They are barred, and excluded from the meal. And just to make sure that this sacred meal is not made available to any foreigner or hired worker, Yahweh clarifies that the meal must be eaten only in one house (even if more than one household is sharing in the meal) and none of the flesh may be taken outside that one house. In other words, not only are foreigners excluded, but the meal itself is to be carefully kept, and guarded, and protected. And now it s in this context of the exclusion of the foreigner and the guarding of the meal that God emphasizes once again the oneness and the wholeness of His people. You shall not break any of its bones. All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. (There s the third time that we ve seen that word.) What does the mixed multitude have to do with the hosts of Israel? We begin to understand the answer to this question when we see how very seriously God takes the foreigner s exclusion from the Cover-over meal. Well, if the point of these verses has been exclusivity (exclusion), then the point of the next few verses is a welcoming inclusiveness opening the door and welcoming in. VII. Exodus 12:48 50 If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Cover-over to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you. All the people of Israel did just as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron. No stranger, or foreigner may eat of the Cover-over meal. But if a stranger first becomes as an Israelite by receiving circumcision, along with all the males in his household, and so placing himself and all his household under all the terms of the Covenant, then he may come near and 4
eat the Cover-over meal. The point here is that someone must never, ever be excluded based on nationality, or ethnicity, or even his station in life. Even the foreign slave of a foreigner may eat of the Cover-over meal after he has become an Israelite, and received the sign of the covenant! So you can see that from the very beginning there was a wonderful, welcoming inclusiveness about the people of God. As the Lord says in verse 49: There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you. There must be no partiality whatsoever, no favoritism, no privileged status for the native born Israelite over the stranger. Anyone in all the world who desired to take part in the Cover over meal was invited and welcomed to do so, so long as he first became an Israelite a full-fledged member of the Covenant community. And so we see that hand in hand with this welcoming inclusiveness is a very exceedingly strict exclusiveness. Even here, in these inclusive verses, the Lord repeats His warning now for the third time: But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. No foreigner is ever to be allowed at the table. Instead, the meal must be carefully kept, and guarded, and protected. Including is meaningless apart from excluding. Conclusion So what does all of this mean? What do these things, first of all, tell us about our God? On the one hand, God is no respecter of persons. Great or small, rich or poor, red or yellow, black or white, all are welcome to eat of the Cover-over meal if they are Israelites if they are fullfledged, circumcised members of the covenant community, people who are subject to all the terms and conditions of the covenant. So at the same time that we see God is no respecter of persons at the same time that we see the wonderful, welcoming inclusiveness of God we also see that He is a holy God, and that throughout all of history He has been doing the work of calling a people out from the world so that they might be, like Himself, separate, and set-apart, and holy. The holiness and separateness of God is to be reflected in the holiness and the separateness of the people that He is calling out of, and out from the world. So when God gives His people a meal to eat as a means of experiencing and appropriating the reality of their redemption and their miraculous creation as a congregation and an assembly, this meal is to be just as separate, and just as set apart, and just as holy as the people who eat it are separate, and set apart, and holy, because the God who redeemed and created them as a people is separate, and set apart, and holy. For any foreigner, therefore, to eat the Cover-over meal would be to profane the meal. And for God s people to expose the Cover-over meal to being eaten by a foreigner would be to compromise, and even to deny their own holiness as a people separate, and set apart, and called out from the world. The careful guarding of the Cover-over meal, and the excluding of any foreigner from eating it, far from being something mainly negative, is actually a positive, wonderful affirmation of the very heart of God s salvation plan throughout all of history His plan to create a separate, set apart, holy people, called out from the world. It s actually in and through the careful guarding of the Cover-over meal, and the excluding of any foreigner from eating it that both the foreigner and the member of the Covenant community are made aware of everything that s really at stake 5
so that there s no one deceived, no hypocrisy, and no ignorance of the truth. To exclude, then, was to be truly loving not just to other members of the covenant community, but even to the foreigner. So now we have to ask: What does all of this tell us about how we are to be doing church as the congregation of the Lord? We ve already seen how the Lord s Supper which we eat is the fulfillment of the Old Testament Cover-over meal. And so also we, as the people to whom this meal has been given, are now the fulfillment of the Old Testament covenant people. Therefore, we must carefully keep and guard our covenant meal from outsiders. We must not make our Covenant meal available to those who are not full-fledged members of the Covenant community. The key to any truly loving inclusiveness is to be first of all a people who very earnestly exclude. What, then, does all of this mean for our weekly assemblies on Sunday morning when we gather together to eat the Lord s Supper? It means, very simply, that our Covenant assemblies on Sunday morning are to be exclusive. In other words, they should be designed to include only God s separate, set apart, holy people who have been called out from the world. The teaching and preaching of God s Word on Sunday morning is designed not with the unbeliever in mind, but rather for the saints, that they might mature, and be deepened and established in their saving knowledge of the Lord. The musical style is never chosen to appeal to the tastes of an outsider, or even of an insider, but rather to enable congregational singing (a cappella?), and lyrics that engage the mind as well as the heart. The congregational time of prayer is never shortened or crafted so as to engage or maintain the interest of the seeker, but rather to engage in the real work of intercession and humbling ourselves before the Lord. And church discipline is something we re always prepared to put into effect for the ultimate salvation of the one who is sinning and also to guard the purity and holiness of the body. Now none of this means that we turn away unbelievers and outsiders at the door (cf. 1 Cor. 14:24-25), but it does mean that our covenant gatherings are always designed in such a way that an outsider still remains an outsider a spectator, and never a participant. An outsider may come to a covenant assembly of God s people, but he comes only to observe what happens there as God s people engage in this holy, and fearful, and joyful, and awesome business of covenant worship. And so as the most obvious and sobering sign of this reality, when it comes time to eat the Lord s Supper, the outsider must be excluded, and in so far as it s possible, not permitted to come to the table. God obviously took this very seriously, and therefore so also should we. So in the first place, our covenant assemblies must never be designed so as to be attracting unbelievers. In the second place, we must faithfully, always warn any potential outsiders to refrain from eating this sacred meal. And then there are other practical steps that some churches might take such as serving the meal from the front so that people must publicly come to the table rather than the meal being brought to them. (We never celebrate the Lord s Supper on Christmas or Easter Sunday because these are the two Sundays in the year that we re most likely to have unbelievers in our covenant gathering.) It should be clear to us by now that that this biblical principle of exclusion flies directly in the face of what s happening in numerous (if not most) conservative, evangelical churches today. How many times has it been said: I stopped going to such and such a church because I realized it wasn t a place where I could invite my unbelieving neighbor? We see this thinking in the 6
music styles that are chosen as well as the lack of content (or very often the equally dangerous imbalanced content). We see this in the absence of any significant pastoral and corporate prayer in Sunday morning worship services. We see this in the polished presentations with all the timing, and the sound, and the lights. We see this in the preaching, in sometimes subtle, sometimes blatant ways. We see this in the reality that in most conservative, evangelical churches today there is no real place for church discipline. And we see this also in the different ways that the Lord s Supper is being observed. Some churches have replaced the fruit of the vine and the unleavened bread with pop and cupcakes. That s an extreme case. Then there are the churches that have the bread and cup in the back, and then have a sort of intermission so that people can eat and drink at their leisure and in their own comfort zone. And finally, most commonly, there are the churches that never even identify precisely who is allowed to eat and drink. These are often the churches that design their services to make the outsider feel comfortable, but would then never publicly and earnestly warn the outsider to abstain from eating its most sacred meal. I m not saying that our sovereign God is not accomplishing any of His saving, redemptive purposes in these churches. To the contrary, I m sure that He is and I m glad to affirm this. I m not saying that the pastors and members of these churches are not God s children, and so also my brothers and sisters in Christ. But I would say both with boldness and with trembling that the philosophy and practice of these pastors and churches is blatantly unbiblical and ultimately sets the church up for losing its true identity as a separate, set apart, holy people who have been called out from the world. I believe that in the end, despite all outward appearances of life and growth, there is far, far more harm being done to the church today than good. I believe this only because of what I believe the Bible clearly teaches. The way church is being done today in many conservative, evangelical churches all over America is ultimately to compromise, and even in the end to deny who we are because of the sacrifice of our Cover-over Lamb. May this cause us not to be on our sinful, judgmental high horse, but rather to grieve, and pray earnestly for the well-being of Christ s church. So are we raising our children in such a way that they will know how to be discerning when they re making their own choice of a church? Are we purposefully teaching our children about the true, biblical nature, and reason for the covenant assembly? Are we modeling to our children a zeal, and a devotion, and a commitment to the business of the covenant assembly, both during the week and on Sunday? All of us who have had young children know that the Sunday assembly can just feel long and boring. That s alright. Our job as parents is just to keep on teaching, and encouraging, and modeling, and praying with all of our heart, and soul, and strength, and mind. Finally, having said all these things there s still another reason that we need to beware. The main point of these verses is exclusion, but we must never forget the equally clear message of God s inclusiveness, and His desire that others might be joined in covenant to the congregation of His people. So we should earnestly be seeking to be salt and light as God s holy people living in this world. We need to be praying for the radical, spiritual rebirth of those people to whom we can preach the Gospel. And when we gather every Sunday as God s people to engage in this holy, and fearful, and joyful, and awesome business of covenant worship, we must pray that any unbeliever or outsider who observes what we are doing will be able to see that God is truly 7
present among us that he, too, might fall down on his knees and give glory to the one true God. (cf. 1 Cor. 14:24-25) Is it with this in mind that we diligently engage every week in this covenant assembly with all of our heart, soul, strength and mind? Brothers and sisters, rather than hindering our witness, may our exclusivity our separateness only make our witness all the more powerful and truly effective for the glory of God. 8
The Tenth Plague ANNOUNCEMENT and FULFILLMENT Exodus 11:1-10 ANNOUNCEMENT of TENTH PLAGUE and the EXODUS 2 Speak now in the hearing of the people, that they ask, every man of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor, for silver and gold jewelry. 3 And the LORD gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, 5 and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle. 6 There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt. 8 And all these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, Get out, you and all the people who follow you. And after that I will go out. Exodus 12:29-36 FULFILLMENT of TENTH PLAGUE and the EXODUS 29 At 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 captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock... And there was a great cry in Egypt. 31 Then [Pharaoh] summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, Up, go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as you have said. 32 Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone. 35 The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. 36 And the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Thus they plundered the Egyptians. 9
PART II The 2 nd Sandwich Exodus 12:37-42 Joyful Description and Statement of the EXODUS 41 At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. Exodus 12:43-49 PASSOVER Participants 43 And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat of it, 44 but every slave that is bought for money may eat of it after you have circumcised him. 45 No foreigner or hired worker may eat of it. 46 It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones. 47 All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. 48 If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. 49 There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you. Exodus 12:50-51 Joyful Statement of the EXODUS 50 All the people of Israel did just as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron. 51 And on that very day the LORD brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts. 10
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