LESSON VIII.--MAY 22.

THE PASSOVER.--EXOD. 12:1-14.

      GOLDEN TEXT.--Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.--1 COR. 5:7.
      TIME.--B. C. 1491, when Moses was eighty years old. The month of Abib, or Nisan; either in March or April.
      PLACE.--Egypt, probably near Zoan or Tanis.
      HELPFUL READINGS.--Exod. 4:1-17. Exod. 5:1-20; Exod. 6:1-13; Exod. 7:1-25.
      CONNECTING LINKS.--Signs Given to Moses, (Exod. 4:17); Return of Moses to Egypt, (Exod. 4:18-26); Bondage Made Heavier, (Exod. 6:1-13); The Ten Plagues upon Egypt--1. Blood, (Exod. 7:20-25); 2. Frogs, (Exod. 8:5-15); 3. Lice, (Exod. 8:16-19); 4. Flies, (Exod. 8:20-24); 5. Murrain, (Exod. 9:5-7); 6. Boils and Blains, (Exod. 9:8-12); 7. Fire and Hail, (Exod. 9:22-25); 8. Locusts, (Exod. 10:12-15); 9. Fearful Darkness, (Exod. 10:21-23); 10. Death of the First-born, (Exod. 11:4-7; 12:29, 30).
      LESSON ANALYSIS.--1. The Paschal Lamb Chosen; 2. The Paschal Lamb Slain; 3. The Paschal Blood a Passover.

INTRODUCTION.

      The long travail was now ended, and the birth-hour of Israel has come. Everything in the style of the narrative indicates that momentous events impend. The institution of the Passover, which was the national birthday festival, is minutely related. Everything here shows the supreme importance of this Passover institution. It is interwoven into the very substance of the history, and, including the further repetition of the next chapter, is described, ordained, and enforced in four different forms, each bringing out special and important features, yet all involving the essentials of the ordinance. This, the great memorial feast of the old covenant, foreshadowing the one memorial feast of the new, typifies to the Christian consciousness the whole history of redemption, the sacrifice of the Lamb without blemish, "slain from the foundation of the world," and the Exodus of a redeemed race from the bondage of sin. The Passover, which is the oldest of the Jewish festivals, has outlasted all the rest; and this alone has passed from the old to the new covenant, and, as the supper of the Lord, commemorates now how "Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us."--F. R. Newhall. [146]

      1. THE PASCHAL LAMB CHOSEN.--1. The Lord spake in the land of Egypt. The statements that these instructions were given in the land of Egypt, and that they were given to Moses and Aaron are important, the one marks the peculiar dignity of this ordinance which was established before the sinaitic code, the other marks the distinction between Moses and Aaron and all other prophets. They alone, as Aben Ezra observes, were prophets of the law, that is, no law was promulgated by any other prophets.--Canon Cook. This note of place would have been unnecessary if the writer had not passed from Egypt into the wilderness since the preceding chapter was indited. It is, therefore, an intimation that this portion of the narrative was not committed to writing till after the Exodus had taken place. It thus affords an incidental presumption that the narrative was composed by an eye witness.--Murphy. It was a feast in Egypt, and not of Egypt. It did not consist of Egyptian viands. It spoke of deliverance from Egypt, yet it was first to be observed in Egypt. It told of Egypt and it told of Canaan. So with the Lord's Supper. It is in the world, yet not of the world. It is given here, observed here, yet it points away from this; it reminds us of our heavenly inheritance.--H. Bonar.

      2. This month shall be to you a beginning of months. The term here employed denotes the new moon, and hence the day of the new moon, or first day of the month, and lastly the month as defined in its commencement by the new moon. It appears to denote here the beginning of the month. The chief of months--the most important among the months on account of the great event which was about to take place in it.--Murphy. Hitherto the year had commenced with the month Tisri (or September), but henceforth the year was to be reckoned from Abib, the month of Israel's birth. Abib signifies an "ear of grain;" it was the month when barley ripened, corresponding with our close of March and beginning of April. The Hebrew months were lunar, and Abib was the mouth commencing with the new moon just after or just before the vernal equinox. This was the sacred year, by which the festivals were reckoned; but the civil or common year was still reckoned from Tisri.--F. H. Newhall.

      3. All the congregation of Israel. The nation represented by its elders. Upon [147] retiring from Pharaoh's presence, Moses had undoubtedly withdrawn to the land of Goshen, to arrange for the departure that he saw now to be close at hand. On the tenth day. The Paschal Lamb was selected on the tenth day of the month, but not slain until the fourteenth. Take to them every man a lamb. The term in the original may mean a sheep or goat of any sex or age, though in verse 5 it is stated that it shall be a male of the first year. According to the house of their fathers. That is, according to the distribution of the people into families, so that only the members of one family or family circle should unite--not an indiscriminate company.

      4. If the household be too little for the lamb. No mention is made here of the number of persons necessary to a Paschal company, but a Jewish tradition fixed ten as the least number, and including children it averaged about twenty. An individual might not eat the Passover alone.

      5. Your lamb shall be without blemish. God has always required that the offerings made to him shall be of the best. From the sheep or from the goats. It was understood by the Jews that a goat was not to be taken if a sheep could be obtained. At a later period in Jewish history only lambs were chosen. The Paschal Lamb was typical of Christ (see Golden Text). Matthew Henry traces out the following points of resemblance: 1. It was to be a lamb, and Christ is the Lamb of God (John 1:29); often in the Revelation called the Lamb; meek and innocent as a lamb, dumb before the shearers--before the butchers. 2. It was to be a male of the first year (verse 5), in its prime. Christ offered up himself in the midst of his days, not in infancy with the babes of Bethlehem. It denotes the strength and sufficiency of the Lord Jesus, on whom our help was laid. 3. It was to be without blemish (v. 5), denoting the purity of the Lord Jesus, a lamb without spot (1 Peter 1:19). The judge that condemned him, as if his trial were only like the scrutiny that was made concerning the sacrifices, whether they were without blemish or no, pronounced him innocent. 4. It was to be set apart four days before (v. 3, 6), denoting the designation of the Lord Jesus to be a Saviour both in the purpose and the promise. It is very observable that, as Christ was crucified at the Passover, so he solemnly entered into Jerusalem four days before the very day that the Paschal was set apart. 5. It was to be slain and roasted with fire (v. 6-9), denoting the exquisite sufferings of the Lord Jesus, even unto death--the death of the cross. The wrath of God [148] is as fire, and Christ was made a curse for us. 6. It was to be killed by the whole congregation between the two evenings--that is, between three o'clock and six. Christ suffered at the end of the world (Heb. 9:26); by the hand of the Jews, the whole multitude of them (Luke 23:18), and for the good of all his spiritual Israel. 7. Not a bone of it must be broken, (v. 46), which is expressly said to be fulfilled in Christ (John 19:33-36), denoting the unbroken strength of the Lord Jesus.

      II. THE PASCHAL LAMB SLAIN.--6. Ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth of the month. The Hebrew implies that It was to be kept with great care, which appears to be the meaning of the expression, "keep it up."--Canon Cook. For three days, which were, as we suppose, the days of darkness in the land of Egypt, the devoted lamb was kept for the sacrifice; in each family the center of prayerful meditations, as they talked together of the great morning of deliverance that was about to dawn on them.--F. H. Newhall. It should be observed that the offering of our Lord on the self-same day is an important point in determining the typical character of the transaction.--Canon Cook. It was a famous and old opinion among the ancient Jews that the day of the New Year, which was the beginning of the Israelites' deliverance out of Egypt, should in future time be the beginning of the redemption by the Messiah.--Masius. The whole assembly . . shall kill it. Not by the whole assembled people, as though they gathered together for this purpose, for the slaughtering took place in every house (v. 7). The meaning is simply that the entire congregation, without any exception, was to slay it at the same time.--Keil. In the evening. The Hebrew has "Between the two evenings." The meaning of the expression is disputed. The most probable explanation is that it includes the time from afternoon or early eventide until sunset. This accords with the ancient custom of the Hebrews, who slew the Paschal lamb immediately after the offering of the daily sacrifice, which, on the day of the Passover, took place a little earlier than usual, between two and three P. M. This would allow about two hours and a half for slaying and preparing all the lambs. It is clear that they would not wait until sunset, at which time the evening meal would take place.--Canon Cook.

      7. They shall take of the blood. It was not enough that the blood of the lamb was Shed, but it must be Sprinkled, denoting the application of the merits of Christ's death to our souls. We must receive the atonement [149] (Rom. 5:11).--M. Henry. The blood had to be sprinkled by a formal act; we receive the blood by a formal act; being buried by baptism into the death of Christ. Shall strike on the two door-posts. That the smearing with blood was to be regarded as an act of expiation is evident from the simple fact that a hyssop bush was used for the purpose (v. 22); for sprinkling with hyssop is never prescribed in the law except in connection with purification; whence the sense of expiation (Lev. 14:49, sqq; Num. 19:18, 19). In Egypt the Israelites had no common altar, and for this reason the houses in which they assembled for the Passover were consecrated as altars; and the persons found in them were thereby removed from the stroke of the destroyer. The upper door post. The upper part of the door frame, which extended over the door.

      8. They shall eat the flesh. As the death of the Paschal lamb is a symbol of the redemption, by which the death penalty due from one is paid by another, so the eating of it is a figure of the participation of pardon, acceptance, and blessedness, consequent upon the atonement. Roast with fire. Roasted, because the whole meal was hurried--a hasty meal, on the eve of departure, and the roasting in the fire was more speedy than boiling. And unleavened bread. This symbolized three things--the haste which did not permit bread to rise; their sufferings in Egypt, on account of which it was called the bread of affliction (Deut. 16:3); and lastly, purity, since fermentation is incipient putrefaction, and leaven is a symbol of impurity. Bitter herbs. A symbol of their bitter bondage.

      9. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden . . . with water. Not raw, as thus it was unfit for use; nor sodden with water, which would take away its strength and savor. His head with his legs. The lamb was to be roasted whole, not a bone broken, the entrails being cleansed and put back, and all the viscera, as heart, liver, etc., included. Boiling would be liable to separate the members, but the typical wholeness of the lamb was an essential thing as setting forth the oneness of the chosen people, and this was preserved in roasting.--F. H. Newhall. The preservation of Christ, so that not a bone was broken, had the same signification; and God ordained this that he might appear as the true Paschal Lamb, that was slain for the sins of the world.--Baehr. Purtenance. It may be supposed, however, that these last simply included the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, etc., and not the intestinal canal.--Bush. Let nothing of it remain. This entire consumption of the lamb constitutes one marked difference between the Passover and all other sacrifices in which either a part or the whole was burned, and thus offered directly to [150] God. The whole substance of the sacrificed lamb was to enter into the substance of the people, the blood only excepted, which was sprinkled as a propitiatory and sacrificial offering.--Canon Cook.

      III. THE PASCHAL BLOOD A PASSOVER.--11. Thus shall ye eat it. As the first Passover was eaten in the last hours of their stay in Egypt, they must have been all ready to leave, waiting for the final word. Usually they sat or reclined upon the table, but now they were to stand on their feet. Their feet were always bare within the house, but now they were to be shod for the rough desert roads. Their long garments were usually loose as they sat at meals, but now they were to be girded up closely for a long journey. Each was to have his traveling staff in hand, and to eat in haste.--F. H. Newhall. Loins girded. The usage of the Arabs, who do not generally use trousers, analogous to the practice described in the Bible by "girding up the loins," consists in drawing up the skirts of the vest and fastening them to the girdle, so as to leave the leg and knee unembarassed when in motion. An Arab's dress consists generally of a coarse shirt and a woolen mantle.

      12. For I will pass through Egypt this night. This explains how the blood of the lamb was the Lord's Passover. He would pass in wrath through Egypt, but pass over the homes of Israel where the blood of the lamb was sprinkled on the door post. The word rendered "pass through" is wholly distinct from that which means "pass over." The passing through was in judgment, the passing over in mercy.--Canon Cook. Man and beast. The helpless brute creation must unconsciously bear the yoke of sin, and suffer with their erring masters. Against all the gods of Egypt. The slaying of the first-born was a judgment upon the gods, not only because the impotence and worthlessness of the fancied gods were displayed in the consternation by this stroke, but still more directly in the death of the king's first-born son, and many first-born animals that were worshiped as gods. [151]

      13. The blood shall to a token. The blood was not needed to show God the homes of Israel, but it was needed to show to the Israelites that their trust must be in God. So with all the positive commands of God. He does not need them, but we do. He does not need baptism as a demonstration of our faith, repentance and surrender to his will, but we do need it to reveal the state of our own hearts.

      14. This day. The fourteenth of Abib, or Nisan, which was forever to be memorial as Israel's birthday. The full moon of the spring equinox, when nature begins her round once more was ever to be the great national festival of Israel.--F. H. Newhall. A memorial. The Passover was to be a commemorative and sacramental ordinance of perpetual obligation. As such it has ever been observed by the Hebrews. By the Christian it is spiritually observed; its full significance is recognized, and all that is foreshadowed is realized in the sacrament of holy communion. It is not, therefore, necessary to limit the meaning of the words "through your generations" and "forever," although both expressions are frequently used with reference to an existing dispensation, or to a limited period.--Canon Cook. A feast. The radical meaning is festivity, expressed in outward demonstrations of joy.--Canon Cook. An ordinance forever. A perpetual ordinance, lasting in its form as long as Israel is the peculiar people; in its principles, as long as the state of redemption which it celebrates, and therefore absolutely forever.--Murphy.

PRACTICAL AND SUGGESTIVE.

      Salvation is wrought by a chosen and perfect sacrifice; an unblemished lamb must represent God's spotless Son. Vers. 4, 5.

      All must have an interest, even the children, in the lamb which is slain for all. Ver. 4.

      The lamb is not slain at once after being chosen; God kept his Lamb four thousand years, as the people kept theirs four days. Ver. 6.

      The blood of the sacrifice must not only be shed, but appropriated, and according to the divine plan; we are saved not in our own way, but in God's way. Ver. 7. [152]

      There must not only be the sprinkling with the blood, but also the feeding upon the sacrifice: every believer must eat and drink Christ. John 6:53. Ver. 8.

      An old warrior, lying at the point of death, said to the missionary who stood at his side, "I saw in a dream an immense mountain, with precipitous sides, up which I endeavored to climb, but when I had attained considerable height, I lost my hold and fell to the bottom. Exhausted with perplexity and fatigue I went to a distance and sat down to weep; and while weeping I saw a drop of blood fall upon the mountain, and in a moment it was all dissolved." "This was certainly a strange sight," remarked the missionary; "What construction did you put upon it?" The dying chief seemed astonished at the missionary's question, and replied, "The mountain was my sins, and the drop which fell upon it was one drop of the precious blood of Jesus by which the mountain of my guilt must be melted away."--Foster's Cyclopedia.

      The blood was the ground of safety. Not as seen by the sinner, but as seen by the Lord himself. And while the blood made all within safe, they gathered about the lamb and ate. Jesus, the source of safety, and the center of union forevermore, both on earth and in heaven.

POINTS FOR TEACHERS.

      1. Bring out history to date of lesson; the appearance of Moses and Aaron before the king; his refusal to let Israel go; the plagues that follow in quick succession; finally the last appeal when Moses tells him he shall no more see his face. 2. Bring out the last terrible judgment that was about to fall upon Egypt; the death of the first-born in every household on a single night. 3. Impress the occasion of the Passover; a means to render all Israel safe from the dread passage of the angel of death. 4. Observe the means appointed; a lamb to be slain; blood to be sprinkled on the door post; the angel of death cannot pass behind that blood. 5. Observe the manner of the celebration; a lamb without blemish of first year, selected beforehand, slain and blood sprinkled, lamb roasted and eaten with bitter herbs and unleavened bread, by a family group girded for travel. 6. Note the memorial observance of Israel, observed at same time every year; never could have originated unless it had a historic basis. 7. Observe the type and its application to our Passover. Our Paschal Lamb slain at the same time; he without blemish; his blood saves those who have received its sprinkling from the angel of destruction; neither death nor curse can pass over or behind that blood; it was in neither case enough that the blood be shed; it must be appropriated in the Lord's own way, by obedience to his command. 8. Picture a passover feast, a family group of at least ten persons, a lamb roasted whole, thin cakes of unleavened bread; a dish of bitter herbs cooked in a kind of broth; a rehearsal of the wonderful deliverance of the first passover. 9. Turn to the last passover ever celebrated by the command of God, the Savior and his disciples eating the passover; the Lord dying as our passover. [153]

Source: Barton Warren Johnson. The Christian International Lesson Commentary for 1887. Des Moines, IA: