July 9- 30 1992
v. 21, pg 2, believe the word's of moses.
v. 27, the Lord's supper, pg 7.
v. 43, pg 16 on, in depth dealing with infant baptism and circumcision.
added third point on pg 26. send to weaver
January 5, 2004:
Some find strong support for "Infant Baptism" in this chapter, even going as far, though they deny the charge, as believing in "Baptismal Regeneration" of infants. That is, an infant is baptized, and thus considered a member of the covenant people based upon his (or her, though I cannot understand how they can equate circumcision of males with the baptism of females) baptism. The infant is then considered a member in good standing of the Lord's body unless in later years, he or she exhibits a non-Christian lifestyle. There are many problems with this idea, not the least of which is the belief that baptism makes the infant a member of the covenant people, yet the church does not exercise church discipline according to Matthew 18 against that infant or child who is a habitual sinner, as they would against an adult. At what age is that child held accountable for his habitual sin? Here we have an arbitrary age of accountability, for which the Baptists are condemned by the Paedobaptists. If, as the Paedobaptists teach, an infant is indwelt by the Holy Spirit as a believer by his parents faith, then why is not discipline exercised against those who do not exhibit that possession of the Holy Spirit, no matter what the age?
There are more problems and inconsistencies with Paedobaptism than we can possibly list here. The practice is clearly a holdover from Rome, and leads back to Rome. Only the Lord knows why good men who claim to believe the Bible will depart so openly and clearly from Scripture in this area. (My observation is that the wives and mothers are the ones who desire to hold to Paedobaptism—Evidently, they want to believe that their children are "safe" if they should die at an early age, so they keep the pressure on their husbands.)
An excellent study on Infant Baptism is A Critical Evaluation of Infant Baptism by Greg Welty, Reformed Baptist Publications, 2001 W. Oak Ave, Fullerton CA 92833. 714.447.3412 Order from him or from us at the Biblical Examiner.
I have a lengthy evaluation of infant baptism taken from this chapter. When I get time to review and edit it properly, I will post it also.
July 9- 30 1992
Exodus 12
Of course, this chapter institutes the passover, the most central passage of the Christian faith. Although the Redeemer had been promised in the Garden and reconfirmed several times over, this is the clearest Scriptural picture of His work.
Let's consider some opening remarks:
1) Joseph Parker points out that even though Israel had been protected during the previous plagues, Israel was none the less in bondage. The Lord is now going to take care of that in this final plague.
2) Even though Israel in Egypt had been promised redemption and freedom as far back as Abraham, they still had to apply the blood by faith.
I have heard some Calvinists say that a person is foreordained and elect to salvation; therefore, there is no need to attempt to reach them. This is a perversion of the doctrine of election, to say the least. Here in the passover, we see that if the elect, chosen nation of God did not apply the blood, then death would strike. The blood must be applied if anyone will be spared separation from God and death. Paul is clear on this point in 1 Cor.
[A thought in passing: Could all (every individual) in the house being redeemed by the application of the blood refer to the fact that all, every area, of the individual who applies the blood is redeemed. Our bodies are considered houses; therefore, when the blood is applied by the individual every area of his house is redeemed rather than just one area. This would solve a couple difficulties: A) those in the house spared whether they had faith or not. B) the animals were also covered by the redeeming blood. This could be spiritualizing to much because I have never seen any kind of reference to anything like this.]
3) As MH says, we do not want to replow ground, so we will refer the reader to RJR's Institutes vol. 1, pp 754, 5 for a good development of the plagues, passover and redemption of Israel. Thus, we will go through this and pick out what we can with very little aid from other authors. As usual though, if I happen onto something that I am not familiar with, I do check out my ideas to be sure they are not knew. When I come to circumcision, I check with every one that I have trying to develop it from every angle, and answer many arguments.
This chapter can be divided into several sections.
I. Vv. 1-20, the Lord's instruction to Moses.
II. Vv. 21-27, Moses' instructions to the people. Of course,
#s I & II will be quite similar.
III. V. 28, the people's obedience to the word of the Lord as
given through Moses.
IV. Vv. 29, the Lord's movement in accord to His word.
V. Vv. 30-33, the Egyptians response (just as the Lord said they would respond).
VI. Vs. 34-39, Israel's departure.
VII. Vs. 40-42, a short historical record of Israel.
VIII. Vs. 43-51, provision for the foreigner in the passover.
I. Vs. 1-20, the Lord's instruction to Moses, ie. the institution of the Passover.
Vs. 1, 2.
Evidently this takes place right after Moses departed from Pharaoh. Pharaoh has had the death penalty pronounced against him for his hardness in sin; he is now under the death penalty.
Observe:
1) As we think on the passover, notice that the death penalty against sin was against everyone living in the land, not just Pharaoh and the Egyptians.
Whereas in the previous plagues Israel had been protected by the Lord, there is now no automatic protection or exemption. The previous plagues had been specific judgments against specific sins; the tenth plague is going to be a general judgment against sin, and Egypt and Israel alike are sinners.
Israel's claim to the promise given to Abraham will not exempt him from this plague as it had in the past. The Lord promised to bring Abraham's seed out of Egypt with great wealth, but they would die in Egypt if they did not follow the Lord's instructions through Moses. Thus only the obedient people were genuine heirs to the promise.
2) The coming judgment against sin was universal, and so was, in the passover, the provision which the Lord made: Anyone could avoid the judgment, and many Egyptians did.
3) Now the Lord is going to make provision for anyone who desired to avoid the final plague: death. The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron while Israel was still in Egypt, and established a new beginning for His people. In fact, this would be the actual birth of the nation of Israel.
4) The passover, which pictures for us the work of Christ, represents a new beginning for His people. There is new life in Christ for all who will place their faith in His shed blood, life for both the stranger to the covenant (Egyptian) and natural born in the covenant (Israelite).
The Lord counts life from the time that He gives us life. He gives us a new beginning at redemption, our new birth.
Vs. 3-10.
The Lord gives to Moses the general outline for avoiding God's wrath and judgment against sin: the shed blood of the lamb (called by all commentators, the paschal lamb), the blood on the door post and the eating of the lamb. In vs. 11-20, the Lord goes into more detail, then in vs. 21-28, Moses explains to the people what they need to know for the passover meal itself.
The time frame appears something like this:
V. 2, a new month of a new year.
V. 3, 10 days into this first month a lamb was to be set aside: one lamb per family. The lamb was to be kept for four days. Note how attached the family could become to the lamb during this time.
V. 6, 14 days into this first month, the lamb was to be killed.
V. 11, they were told to eat the lamb in hast and without leaven in their bread, ready to move out of the land.
V. 12, the Lord told them that He would kill all the firstborn within all the land of Egypt that night of the 14th day of the month.
Vs. 15-18, appears a little confusing to me, but leaven was to be purged from their houses and from their diet from day 14 until day 21. We'll cover that a little when we get there.
Vs. 43-49, the rite of circumcision is reemphasize. Was this given before or after the first passover?
Vs. 49-51 indicate that it was before as a condition for partaking of the passover, and that the foreigners who joined with Israel had to be circumcised before they could partake. Even if this was given after the first passover, any person not circumcised had to be before the next one. See our discussion of this point at vs. 43-49.
The Passover:
1) Note that it was family based, as is all the word of God.
2) The people partook of it dressed and ready for action. The passover provided them with the redemption which they needed in order to obey and serve God.
3) This was going to be God's general judemgnt against sin throughout the land; this time, Goshen was not exempt.
4) Though the command is given specifically to Israel, v. 3, there appears to be no person specifically excuuded at this point as is starting in v. 43. In fact, v. 4, indicates tha any neighbour could be invited to join in the passover. The Lord does not say, his israelite neighbour. Again, was v. 43 given before or after the first passover?
I have checked with every authour which I have, and none even speculate in this area. (I have found this consistent: the passages I have problems with are overlooked by others.) We will have to except the Word of God in this at face valuse: we will take it as it stands in the context, vv. 43-49 is given after the initial passover. See the end of this study in Chapter 12, vv. 43-51, where we deal with the questions raised here.
So, evidently anyone could partake of the passover, foreigner or Israelite. The command was given to the congregation of Israel, but foreigners were not excluded. V. 43, the provision for foreigners is probably given after the original passover. It would be consistent with God, even as revealed in these plagues (9:19), to provide salvation for all who will listen, believe and act. Therefore, even though the Egyptians had been judged in the previous plagues, they could be spared this one if they would place their trust in the shed blood of the lamb according to God's promise.
Note that judgment upon sin should bring one to the cross for the shed blood of the lamb.
6) It goes without saying that this clearly speaks of the Lamb of God which was slain from before the foundation of the world. There is a great amount written on this extremely obvious subject, so we will only mention some outstanding points.
A) God established the time of their redemption; the choice was not Israel's.
B) the lamb was large enough for everyone; in fact, too much for some, v. 4. The implication is that each Israelite who believed God was to ask his neighbor to join him in the passover, and the neighbor did not have to be an Israelite. Israel was scattered throughout the land, but primarily dwell in Goshen; therefore, many Egyptians were included.
C) the lamb had to meet these conditions or he could not cover the household.
D) the people had to follow these instructions explicitly or they would die.
E) every one who desired the protection of the blood was to kill it in the evening. Even though a great many lambs were involved, they were all treated as one, e. g. they were all to be killed at the same time (Christ was slain only once for the sins of all His people).
F) specific instructions were given for every detail because it specifically spoke of the Lamb of God which was to come:
a) the time of the lamb's death, v. 3;
b) the sufficiency of the lamb (enough for every person and family), vs. 3, 4;
c) the kind of lamb (male, first year, without blemish), v. 5;
d) the care of the lamb, v. 6;
e) the blood of the lamb, v. 7 - notice that the door post was to be stricken with the blood, not wiped with the blood; obviously, this is Isa 53:8:
He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generations? for he was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgressions of my people was he stricken.
f) the cooking of the lamb, required to be burnt and whole, v. 8;
g) bitter herbs were required with the lamb. This reminded them of the bitter bondage of their bondage, v. 8. Note that we also should be reminded of our bondage before our redemption.
h) not only was the lamb killed as one lamb, but the lamb was to be eaten as one lamb, vs. 8, 9. This is clearly Christ, 1 Cor 5:7; 10:17;
i) the eating of the lamb, v. 8, 9;
j) the left-over of the lamb, v. 10.
k) furthermore, hyssop was to be used to strike the door. Hyssop was a symbol of purification, Ps 51:7.
G) while the death angel was passing through Egypt, God's people were enjoying a feast. What was death to the sinners, disobedient and unbelievers, was a cause of feasting and rejoicing for God's obedient people.
The word of God is extremely detailed when it comes to dealing with life and death situations. Nothing is left up to the individual's opinion or feelings.
7) V. 8, unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs... Leaven is is an extremely important point which we will develop fully at vs. 14-17. (See also 13:8-10.)
There are three thing mentioned: leaven, bitter herbs and the blood of the lamb.
First, Leaven. It represents the corruptibility of men's works: the fact that men's works or temporal and will pass away. The contrast is to unleavened bread, or God's works which will never pass away (see below). Man may do the best of works, but they are born with death in them. It may take only a few years, or it may take many generations, but the works started by men will pass away. Only the work of God is not corruptible.
Second, bitter herbs. This reminded them of the bitter bondage which they suffered in Egypt.
Third, the shed blood of the innocent victim, the lamb. The lamb had to be killed first, the blood shed and placed upon the door posts, then the lamb eaten, with the eaters clothed and ready to march.
Thus the unleavened bread and the shed blood of the lamb on the door represented the individual's total trust in the shed blood apart from any works on man's part. V. 13, the blood on the door showed that they were trusting in the shed blood of the lamb for their redemption and avoidance of the soon coming death.
Vs. 11-17.
Vs. 2-20 records the Lord's words to Moses. Vs. 21-27 record Moses passing the instructions which he received on to the people; therefore, they are very similar.
V. 11 would almost stand by itself. I think the wording of v. 11 is significant: the partakers of the first passover were to eat it fully clothed, in haste and ready to move at a moments notice.
In other words, not only is the passover a picture of redemption from bondage to Egypt, but it is a picture of action and obedience. The people were not observing the passover so they could remain at ease in Egypt, but so they could be free to work hard, serve the Lord and conquer a land (Canaan) for the glory of God. Israel came out as a conquering army: They conquered Egypt and they would conquer Canaan, v.17.
Vs. 12-17 the Lord to gives to Moses more detail of the manner and purpose of the passover.
1) the Lord explains to Moses the purpose of the passover, v. 12. He is going to pass through the land of Egypt on the night of the passover, and He will smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. He is going to execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt.
A) The powers of darkness, who ruled Egypt with their magic and fear, are judged in the midst of the darkness of this night. If anyone should be fearful of the dark, it should be the powers of darkness.
B) The marg reads, princes or rulers of Egypt; the false gods of Egypt have already been destroyed by the previous nine plagues. Now the Lord is going to specifically judge all the leaders of Egypt. No one will escape the judgment of God against sin, which special mention of the evil leaders of the nation.
Meanwhile, the believers were in their houses partaking of a feast. We can rejoice in the destruction of the gods of Egypt while the Egyptians mourn with a great mourning.
2) the Lord explains the purpose and importance of the blood of the lamb upon the house. Vs. 22, 23, records Moses' instructions to the children of Israel:
The head of each household was to take a lamb, kill it and save the blood. Then he was to take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that was caught, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood, and remain in the house. The reason... the Lord is going to pass through all the land of Egypt on the night of the slaying of the lamb to kill all the firstborn of the land.
3) And the blood shall be to you for a token... The blood was for the peoples benefit, not for the Lord's, although the Lord would see the blood.
The only means of avoiding the death which was going to strike the whole land was by placing the blood upon the house. All families throughout the land of Egypt who did not shed the blood and apply it as commanded by the Lord through Moses would lose their firstborn child and animal in this last plague.
Thus the blood on the door primarily was for the families benefit: that this family believed the word of God and was trusting in the shed blood of the lamb according to His promise. When the Lord saw that the family had placed its faith in the blood, He passed over them.
4) the Lord commands that the passover be commemorated forever, vs. 14, 24.
5) there is another very important point here: Vs. 1-3 compared with v. 21, we see that the Lord spoke to the covenant people through Moses. It was only by trusting in and acting on the Word of God as given by Moses that the people knew the Word of God and were spared the coming death.
Observe:
In the NT, the religious leaders would believe Moses but not our Lord. These corrupt leaders have not died out, only now they believe in the Lord's words and not Moses (if such a thing were possible). The Lord dealt with this very thing in John 5:46, 47. He tied His, the Father's and Moses' words inseparably together, and said that if we do not believe one, we deny the other.
Vs.15-20.
This is the institution of the feast of unleavened bread.
The feast of unleavened bread is given in vs. 14-17, and again in 13:8-10. I will try to develop this in an orderly fassion at this point in the study.
The time table is a little confusing because of the way it is written. Apparently, the first day of Israel's new year was when the initial passover instruction was given; 10 days latter, the lamb was to be set aside; 4 days latter (the 14th day) the lamb was to be killed and eaten with unleavened bread.
I see no prohibition of leaven before this passover meal (so apparently leaven could be eaten on that 14th day, up until the meal itself) which must take place before midnight because the death angel was to pass over at midnight of the 14th day. Very early on the 15 day, Egypt thrust Israel out of the land; probably well before daylight Pharaoh told Moses to get out; then Israel borrowed from the Egyptians. For this reason, Israel was to eat the meal fully clothed and ready to march.
Israel hurriedly moved out of the land and had no time for their bread to leaven.
V. 15, Israel is commanded to observe a seven day feast of
unleavened bread. Evidently this feast starts on day 14 (which
is the day the passover is celebrated), lasts 7 days until day
21 and remembers the fact
that Israel had to hurriedly move without having time for the
bread to leaven.
V. 16, reads like all work is forbidden during this 7 day period, except what was necessary for food. But Keil says that this refers only to the two days, the first day, and the seventh day. These two days were to be a holy convocation. (Second Book, pg. 34) By rest being required after the passover, it shows us that man is to rest completely in the work of the Lord, not only for his redemption (passover), but also rest in the strength of the Lord for his every action.
V. 17, it celebrates the fact that the Lord, and He alone, delivered Israel from Egypt. [I think that it also speaks of the fact that He delivered them in spite of themselves.]
Oehler describes this festival thus:
"The Passover, with which the annual cycle of festivals commenced in spring, celebrated in the first month of the Mosaic year (Ex xii.2), on the evening of the 14th Abib or Nisan, with the seven days of unleavened bread, kept from the 15th day of the same month onward..." (Theology of the OT, pg. 323. Evidently, my understanding was correct. I checked Oehler a couple of weeks after I put the above time table together.)
But, this instruction is not given to Israel yet. Israel receives the instruction in v. 21.
Observe:
1) V. 17, this feast is clearly an ordinance which was done away with in the work of Christ, Col 2:14ff.
2) 13:10, this feast is spoken of as an individual: his season.. Therefore, it is speaking of Christ, and His unleavened work which was to come.
LEAVEN
A) Leaven speaks of man's corruptable temporal works which, no matter how good and godly they are, are born with death (corruption) in them. All of man's works will degenerate in time. Maybe that period is over hundreds of years, but they will corrupt and fall from God and pass away.
B) On the other hand, the work of Christ had/has no corruption it. His work started in eternity past and will continue through eternity future. His work has no corruption, leaven, in it.
C) This seven day period with no leaven in the diet or in the house started with the passover; therefore, it spoke of the incorruptible work of Christ after He ascended to the right hand of the Father (and, of course His work before the cross was incorruptible).
The period ends with a feast of rejoicing. His work in heaven in behalf of His people is certainly a cause for rejoicing.
Note an interesting point here: If leaven spoke of sin and the corruption of sin, then why was not Israel commanded to avoid leaven all the time? If one says that leaven represents the corruption of sin, then one must also say that God only requires separation from sin one week out of the year. This thinking may appear to be prevalent among Christians, but it is untenable from the word of God.
Unleavened bread would speak of man's dependance for the Lord to work through him in every thought and action.
E) 13:9, one purpose of the feast was to remind the children that the Lord's law was always to be in their mouth. Therefore, one purpose of the feast of unleavened bread was to look ahead to the work of Christ for and through His people. They are only required to obey the Lord's law; He must do the rest.
The passover pictured the total rest in the Lord to provide
redemption through the shed blood of the lamb; the feast of unleavened
bread pictured the total rest in the Lord to do His incorruptible
work through His people.
(See 13:8-10, the instruction of the sons of the family. Everything
was built around teaching the children total dependance upon the
Lord.)
F) Lev 7:13, leaven was required to be offered to the Lord with the sacrifice of thanksgiving (Amos 4:5, the Lord rebukes His people for making this offering at the false alters at Bethel and at Gilgal). Why is this offering with leaven commanded?
I believe it speaks of thankfulness to the Lord for human gifts, abilities and the strength to work for Him. Even though man's works will pass away, all things are to be done with thanks to God for the abilities and done for His glory.
It is interesting to trace leaven a little into the NT:
A) Matt 13:33, The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.
Man is to go into all the world and, by hard work and labor, preach the gospel to every creature, Mat 28:19, 20. This means that God advances His kingdom here on earth by the temporal efforts of faithful, yet sinful, men. Though God uses people to do His work, it is still God doing the work (1 Cor 1 & 2).
[Note that Vine's identifies leaven here and in Lk 13:21, as corrupt doctrine. In doing this, he likens the kingdom of heaven to corrupt doctrine. Why? Because W.E. Vine is a Darbyite; therefore, his presuppositions are reflected in his theology. See my notes on Darby.)
B) 1 Cor 5:6, Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? This is what our Lord said concerning the kingdom of God; therefore, the picture of leaven is nuteral, and can be used either negatively or positively. Paul is using it negatively here (& Gal 5:9) to say that the little bit of corruption left in the church will corrupt the whole church.
The old leaven which is to be removed is like a woman who keeps
a small
amount of the old leaven from the previously baked bread to leaven
the new
bread.
Thus, God's people are to keep the feast of unleavened bread, 1 Cor 5:ff. The NT feast of unleavened bread consists of three things:
1) removing all of the old works of the flesh (wickedness of all kinds) from one's life, v. 8,
2) avoiding close commpanionships with the wicked: those who ignore God's law, and
3) casting the unrepentant sinner out of the church (the house was to be cleansed under the command of the feast of unleavened bread).
Paul's negative use of leaven here is in contrast with the Lord's positive use, Matt 13:33, where a little leaven of the gospel of the Kingdom conquors the world for Christ. Why? Because the works of man for the Kingdom's sake has God's blessing upon them, and throught them (the preaching of the gospel) the Lord conquors the earth.
Paul says in a negative sence, Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the hole lump? (1 Cor 5:6).
Our Lord says, A little leaven (of the godpel with the power of God) leaventh the hole earth for the Lord. Both are refering to the nutural fact that leaven influences everything around it.
Ex 12. Notice all the verses in this chapter dealing with leaven,
8,
15, 17, 18, 19 &, 20. Throughout the law of every sacrifice
which spoke of Christ's work upon the cross, God emphatically
forbad any leaven to be involved. By doing this, God continually
reaffirms that only confidence in the blood that the Lord provided
through His Lamb will provide redemption. There can be no confidence
in the works of man whatsoever, not even "good works"
of the law (baptism, &c.).
V. 17, armies.
Observe:
1) Israel had been a slave nation to Egypt, but they did not come out as an unruly mob. Israel came out in an orderly fashion, a mighty triumphant army whoes God totally defeated Egypt. Egypt forced them to leave and paid them to do so. Israel never had to lift a finger, only trust in the Lord. What makes us think that He cannot do the same today?
2) Israel was not a small army, but a 600,000 man strong army.
3) It was at this point, when the Egyptians urged them to go, that Israel became the adopted people, 6:7, 8.
4) This confirms that the people were redeemed from Egypt for a purpose: as the armies of God to fight the Lord's battles against His enemies, v. 11.
5) Israel was redeemed from bondage to fight the Lord's battles, but their redemption was all of the Lord. Israel ate the passover ready to move as an army on the march. The Lord redeemed to Himself an army. The Lord waged a war against Egypt unassisted from Israel (redemption), and He will wage a continual war against His enemies. His warfare is waged through the hard effort of His redeemed people.
God redeems us to fight for the kingdom of God, but the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds...
Furthermore, the Lord will subdue the earth unto Himself, and it will be through His redeemed people. As they obey Mat 28:19, 20, the Lord will subdue hearts to Himself. There is a day coming when the Lord will work by His grace to give His people the desire and power to fulfill Mat 28:19, 20. The result will be the conquering of the world for Christ.
Vs. 18, 19, from the evening of day 14 to until day 21, they were to eat no leaven bread.
Vs. 19, 20 the house was to be purged of leaven on day 14. Notice that it does not say that leaven is to be completely done away with, only that for these 7 days there is to be none eaten, nor is there to be any in the house nor in the land. This is not a yearly purging of the land to be sure that no leaven was brought in by a sinner.
Observe:
Therefore leaven then cannot represent sin. Sin is to be put away from throughout the land for all time; it is to be removed as far away as possible. Consequently, in the case of the feast of unleavened bread before the passover, it represents man's corruptible works. Whatever the cost, all of man's self-effort must be put away from him, and he must totally depend upon the work of God the Lamb for his redemption.
To further confirm this understanding of leaven representing any of man's works for his own redemption, the Lord warns that whoever retains any leaven will be cut off from Israel, whether that person is a natural born Israelite or a stranger.
Moses closes his instruction of Exodus 12 to the people with these words: One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you, v. 49. This shows us that God is no respecter of persons; there is only one means of avoiding the final plague against sin and death: total dependance upon the shed Blood of the Lamb. And every one is not only welcome, but they are encouraged to trust in the Lamb of God.
II. Vs. 21-27, Moses' instructions to the people.
Of course, I & II are quite similar, so we will only look at the things which we have not covered yet. Although Moses would have had to instruct Israel concerning the passover meal without leaven, evidently the instruction concerning the 7 days without leaven is not given to Israel until 13:3ff.
V. 21, we have already mentioned the fact that God spoke to the people through Moses. The Lord inseparability tied belief in the words of Moses with belief in His own words. The words of Christ and the words of Moses must be taken and understood as one word, or they both are misunderstood.
V. 22, the ones in the house where the blood was applied could not go out of the house until the next morning.
V. 23, the Lord, as He moved in vengeance against sin, would see who had trusted in the shed blood of the lamb and who had not.
Observe:
1) Of course, the blood struck on the lintel and the two side posts formed a cross such as the Lord was crucified on.
2) The blood was not placed on the threshold, for the blood
was/is not to be trampled under foot.
3) Furthermore, striking instead of spreading the blood would
cause the blood to splatter and run down the posts. This further
speaks of the profuse bleeding which the Lord did on the cross.
V. 24, an ordinance... for ever. Israel was promised protection, redemption and deliverance if he would obey the word of the Lord with the passover and the shed blood. When Israel placed the blood upon the door, he displayed his trust in the promises of God. The trust in the shed blood of the lamb in the place of the sinner is the only method of redemption, FOREVER.
Observe:
If Adam and Eve were saved, it was because they trusted wholly in the shed blood, in the work of the Lamb of God in their place. If Moses was saved, it was because he trusted wholly in the shed blood, in the work of the Lamb of God in his place. If Paul was saved, it was because he trusted wholly in the shed blood, in the work of the Lamb of God in his place. If the last person born into this world is saved, it will be because he trusted wholly in the shed blood, in the work of the Lamb of God in his place.
In other words, salvation has never been faith plus the works of the law, it is not today faith plus the works of the law, nor will it ever be faith plus works of the law. Any doctrine which offers anything in addition to the works of the Lamb of God is a false doctrine, a doctrine of devils.
V. 25, the Lord has given an ordinance which clearly pictures the passover which took place on that terrible night (for the unbeliever). His people are to keep the ordinance forever. This ordinance is carried over into the church by the Lord's supper which is to be observed until the Lord returns.
V. 26, one of the purposes of the ordinance is to cause the children to ask what the ordinance is all about.
V. 27.
First, the children ask, and this gives a reason for the parents to explain what actually took place that night of the passover.
Notice that christian parents should do things which create questions in the hearts of their children about the workings of God.
Furthermore, do the Baptist avoid rituals too much that should speak of the past mighty workings of God. No doubt this was a ritual which the Hebrew parents went through to get the children to ask questions.
The Lord's supper... I think we should include the children in it by having them ask questions: "What do you mean by this service?"
Second, the people bowed their head and worshiped. The ordinance and command is given before the death of the firstborn actually takes place. So then by faith the people believed the promise of God for deliverance, and then worshiped the Lord though it had not actually happened yet.
III. V. 28, the people obey the word of the Lord as given through Moses: so did they...
Observe:
1) Faith in God's word was not a spooky feeling.
2) God delivered those who did as the Lord commanded - They exercised faith in the promise. The word did is used redundantly in this verse, calling to our attention that faith is obedience to the Word of God - as delivered through Moses in this case, and according to the words of Christ.
A) Faith in God's word was not a mystic feeling.
B) God delivered those who did as the Lord commanded. They exercised faith in the promise. Thus, Israel, the covenant people, was delivered by faith. The seed of Abraham here were only those who believed the word of the Lord and acted upon it, including the Egyptians.
IV. Vs. 29, the Lord's movement in accord to His word.
It takes only a few words to describe what Moses has spent many verses preparing the people for. The Lord did as He said He would: He struck the firstborn of Pharaoh, the firstborn of the captive in the dungeon and all the firstborn of the cattle. God's final stroke was against all of the unbelieving persons of Egypt.
I am sure that the soft-headed liberals would say, "My, how cruel of the Lord to kill the little babies like that!"
But Egypt had plenty of warning. The total period of the plagues was just a little less than a year: about 9 months. God had struck them 9 times, so they should have known that this was no idle threat, and that God was capable and would carry this out. In addition, every one had at least 21 days to prepare.
God delivered the message to Moses and thus to Israel 21 days before it took place. Because of the fame of Moses by now, every Egyptian in the land, and probably all the surrounding nations, would have known what the tenth stroke against Egypt would be, when it was coming and the conditions upon its avoidance.
In other words, every one had plenty of warning and the provision was available to anyone (seek safety in a house of a Hebrew under the blood), so their death was upon their own hands.
While the believers were in their safe place provided by the Lord, rejoicing in the mercy of God, the judgment of the Lord against sin was going throughout the land of Egypt. See Ps 78:51; 105:36; 136:10; Isa 37:36.
V. 29, the death took place at midnight. Therefore, from this time on as they kept the passover, the meal had to be completed before midnight.
V. Vs. 30-33, the Egyptians respond just as the Lord said they would.
V. 30, I wonder how much sleep they got that night. Did they
keep the firstborn close to the beds of the parents to see if
it really would take place as Moses had promised?
Observe that rebellious man may refuse to believe the death penalty
against him or against his society, but it will not be avoided.
It is appointed to man once to die, and after this the judgment.
V. 31, Pharaoh clearly understood the reason for God demanding
Israel's release: He calls for Moses and Aaron and tells them
to get out of the land and go, serve the serve the Lord, as ye
have said.
We might say here that the unsaved Pharaoh's of our day understand better the purpose of redemption than do God's people. They clearly understand that God's people are redeemed to be a holy people who serve God.
V. 32, it was the firm, uncompromised stand upon the command-word of God which brought the victory. We see in Ps 105:38, that the Egyptians fearfully urged them to depart. The Lord had conquered Egypt, and the Egyptians now fear the conquering army.
V. 33, took many hard years to accomplish, but God did accomplish it in spite of the people, v. 39.
VI. Vv. 34-39, Israel's departure.
V. 34 appears to say that the people had their bread dough already set aside ready for the addition of leaven as soon as the feast of unleavened bread was over. But they had to take it in its unleavened form.
Vv. 35, 36, the spoiling of Egypt.
The Israelites were told to go ask their neighbors for their jewels and raiment. The Lord gave them favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and the Egyptians gave them everything they asked for.
Observe:
1) This was according to the promise of God to Abraham, Gen 15:14.
2) This was their pay for 400 years labor with no pay. I develop this idea elsewhere, so we will say very little about it here.
3) This would also pay for the property which they were forced to leave behind, eg. houses, &c. They had been here 400 years.
4) They did not borrow as we think of borrowing. They asked for the goods, and God gave the goods to them.
5) Isaiah 60 gives the same promise to the church. The day is coming when the wealth of the Gentiles will be turned over to the church. Because it seems so impossible to the human understanding, this promises is rejected by the vast majority of Christians today.
But we see here that this happened in one night. At midnight the Egyptians urged God's people to go. The people asked the Egyptians for their wealth, and the Egyptians gave it to them. By morning, Israel was gone. So within a 12 hour or less period, the wealth of Egypt had changed hands from the God hating crowd to God's people.
6) Another point that we do not dare to overlook is the purpose of the wealth; its purpose was to serve God, v. 31. Today, with the worldly attitude among the covenant-people, if God would deliver the wealth of the heathens to His people, they would use it to serve the gods of the pagans.
Note: Why should the Lord deliver the wealth of the pagans to His people, if all they will do with that wealth is serve the same gods as the pagans presently serve? I am astounded every time I think about those who professed loudly their love for the Lord and vehemently criticized those who "did not love the Lord" as they did, and now those "lovers of the Lord" chose to work on Sundays and have only been to church once in 2 months.
In other words, under #5, we see that there is going to have to be a tremendous change of attitudes and priorities before the Lord will fulfill His promises such as are found in Isaiah 60.
Vv. 37-39, Israel moves.
This passage records for us the departure of Israel from Egypt, based upon their redemption. At this point, the nation of God's people is born (Isa 43:15-17), and Israel is held to this fact from here on in history.
Many times over, the Lord reminds them this point in their history - when He redeemed them and brought them out to Himself. Their redemption from here on is held as the Lord's claim upon them. They now belong to Him, for He bought them with the blood of the lamb and the firstborn of Egypt. He gave the heathen for their redemption.
Furthermore, this was the most joyous moment in the history of this nation: They were free and the Egyptians had urged upon them great wealth. At the same time, it was the most grievous moment for the Egyptians. Their firstborn were all dead.
V. 37. Only the total number men of military age is given, 20 and up. They are now a mighty conquering army on the march. They have conquered the most powerful nation of the day; they have spoiled the richest nation of the day, and now they depart. The thing is, they did not have to lift a finger because their God gave them the victory.
We deal with this number in the first chapter of Exodus.
V. 38 makes an important point in passing. And a mixed multitude went up also with them. The marg says, a great mixture. In other words, many others, including Egyptians, had been turned to the God of Israel because of His destruction of the pagan gods of Egypt.
Observe:
1) there is question about the makeup of the mixed multitude. Most of whom I checked with claim these came from other captive nations who were also in Egypt. They saw a chance to get out in the confusion with Israel and took it.
I would suppose my speculation is as good as anyone's. Moses and his God had become extremely great in the sight of the Egyptians. Within less than a year, Moses' God had turned Egypt into a wasteland and totally destroyed Egypt's gods. Pharaoh had lost his authority in the eyes of even his personal advisers. Therefore, it is not at all unreasonable to believe that this mixed multitude was made up of many Egyptians. (It seems to me that the 'commentators' do not want to admit that any Egyptian would give up the security of Egypt for the insecurity facing Israel on the other side of the Red Sea.)
2) Deut 29:10-12, there appears to be a reference to this group as a group of people of less "station" in Israel than the Israelites themselves. Regardless, they are included in the covenant.
3) the mixed multitude created some difficulties for Israel. They were probably heavily involved in the building of the calf, but the Lord does not say that they led in the building of the calf as He says that they led in the sin of the murmuring in Num. 11:4. Moses' primary problem came from Israel, not from the mixed multitude. It was the 10 Israelite spies that refused to believe God, not the mixed multitude.
4) Ex 12:38 mentions specifically about the mixed multitude which came out of Egypt. We see the significant of this statement when we look at God's promise to Abraham, Gen 15:13-18.
A) Abraham's seed will serve in a land that is not their's
for 400
years.
B) His seed will, after 4 generations, come out of that land of their bondage with great wealth.
C) His seed will move on to inherit the land which the Lord had shown and promised to Abraham.
Words are important. The Lord says what He means, and means what He says. Missing words many times are as important as words present. Our point is this: In His promise to Abraham, the Lord makes no mention, and thus no provision, for strangers. The Lord says to Abraham (v. 13), thy seed, not thy seed and many strangers with them. Obviously, seed is singular although it includes many people: they. In other words, everyone who came out of Egypt was included in God's promise to Abraham: They were part of the promised seed of Abraham.
Thus the nation of Israel was not restricted to the physical seed of Abraham. The nation of Israel was freely open to any one who wanted to unite with it.
5) Another question: Did the mixed multitude partake of the passover? Was the mixed multitude counted in the 600,000 men of military age? The wording, and a mixed multitude, indicates that they were counted separate from those in v. 37. Did their firstborn die? Did they partake in the passover?
The 600,000 Israelite men of v. 37 included every one who believed the promise of God enough to place their trust in the blood of the lamb which was slain on the 14th day. Their birth or nationality had nothing to do with their deliverance; rather, everything depended upon their faith in the promises of God exhibited by their application of the blood of the lamb.
In the early part of this study, we also dealt with the number who went into Egypt with Jacob 400 years previously: it was quite large.
Thus the covenant people were delivered by faith. According to the promise to Abraham, his seed consisted of all who came out of Egypt, including the mixed multitude.
How many of the 600,000 men could actually trace their linage to Abraham? How many were included in the promise of the seed to Abraham? All who came out of Egypt, regardless of their nationality. Provision will be made for them starting in v. 43.
6) even very much cattle. Even though Israel had been no more than slaves for about 400 years, Pharaoh had not confiscated the personal property.
I will have to say that with all his many faults, Pharaoh was better than what we have today. It seems that for a person to raise to national prominence, he must promise to confiscate the property of one class of people to give it to another. (See my July 92 Mail Out on envy.)
Pharaoh had tried to get Israel to voluntary leave their cattle behind, which the Lord would not permit. Rather, they came out with a great amount of wealth, both in jewels of gold and silver, and with cattle.
The Lord demanded total separation from Egypt and to Himself, not only of the person of His people, but also of their property. He got it in spite of Pharaoh.
V. 39. Evidently Israel did not believe that they would indeed be delivered as Moses had said. They made no preparation even though they had a 14 day warning, v. 6.
The time frame of v. 39 is revealing:
A) they had to bake unleavened bread because it was not leavened, indicating that they had planed on having leavened bread. Moses had not yet delivered to them the feast of unleavened bread. He will instruct them after they depart from Goshen.
B) they could not tarry... does not say they did not tarry
in their departure, but that the Lord placed them in a situation
where they could not tarry. This indicates that they would have
tarried if they could have.
C) neither had they prepared... this is what catches my attention.
Moses told them 14 days previously that on the 14th day, after
they killed the lamb and ate the passover, they would be thrust
out of Egypt (their homes).
The reason they were not prepared and the bread was not leavened is not because they would not do it, but because they left Egypt so quickly.
This verse shows us at least two things:
First, the people did not really believe Moses because they made no preparation, and second, they did not really want to leave because Egypt had to drive them out. Moses spoke the word of the Lord, but they did not really hear what he said. How many preachers have faced the same situation?
Note that the Lord delivers us in spite of ourselves; we would make our own preparation for our redemption if we could, so He must place us in the position where we are unable to do anything except trust in Him.
VII. Vs. 40-42, a short historical record of Israel.
The Lord twice mentions the length of time they wore in Egypt in a way which says that they came out exactly 430 years from the day Israel went into Egypt.
V. 41, Israel is called the hosts of the Lord.
All the hosts of the Lord... All who placed their faith in the blood of the lamb are considered the hosts to the Lord. The Lord, when referring to His might and power in the time of warfare, many times is called the Lord of hosts. Thus, the Lord's army is His covenant-people.
V. 42, total credit is given to the Lord for bringing them out of Egypt. V. 39 shows that they just were not expecting Him to do what He had told them He would do. There redemption was wholly of Him. He did it all in one night, and what a night it was.
VIII. Exodus 12:43-51, provision for the foreigner in the passover.
In this section the Lord establishes the annual passover observance, and also defines who is to take part in it. In this section we develop the thought of infiant baptism.
This section, vs. 43-48, is removed and is in a separate study under Infant. See that study for this missing section.
V. 49. We must add here that the One law is God's law, and it applies to everything that has breath. God has only one standard of truth for the whole world, Rom. 2.
Vs. 50, 51.
The people did as the Lord commanded through Moses. Self-same day, the Lord did bring..
1) Apparently this happened all on the same day.
2) The people were delivered from Egypt before they passed through the Red Sea. They were still in the land of Egypt, but they are considered delivered from Egypt.
This shows us that deliverance from the bondage of this world takes place at salvation, not at baptism. The people were already delivered from Egypt while on the Egyptian side of the sea.
V. 51, again the Lord mentions armies, v. 17. They were delivered to fight, not to be carried to the promised land on flowery beds of ease.