This chapter gives an account of one of the most
memorable ordinances, and one of the most memorable providences, of
all that are recorded in the Old Testament. I. Not one of all the
ordinances of the Jewish church was more eminent than that of the
passover, nor is any one more frequently mentioned in the New
Testament; and we have here an account of the institution to it.
The ordinance consisted of three parts:—1. The killing and eating
of the paschal lamb,
1 And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. 3 Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: 4 And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: 6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. 7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. 8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. 10 And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. 11 And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord's passover. 12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. 13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. 14 And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever. 15 Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. 16 And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you. 17 And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever. 18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even. 19 Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land. 20 Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread.
Moses and Aaron here receive of the
Lord what they were afterwards to deliver to the people
concerning the ordinance of the passover, to which is prefixed an
order for a new style to be observed in their months (
I. God appointed that on the night wherein
they were to go out of Egypt they should, in each of their
families, kill a lamb, or that two or three families, if
they were small, should join for a lamb. The lamb was to be got
ready four days before and that afternoon they were to kill
it (
II. The lamb so slain they were to eat,
roasted (we may suppose, in its several quarters), with unleavened
bread and bitter herbs, because they were to eat it in haste
(
III. Before they ate the flesh of the lamb,
they were to sprinkle the blood upon the doorposts,
IV. This was to be annually observed as a
feast of the Lord in their generations, to which the feast of
unleavened bread was annexed, during which, for seven days,
they were to eat no bread but what was unleavened, in remembrance
of their being confined to such bread, of necessity, for many days
after they came out of Egypt,
1. The paschal lamb was typical. Christ is
our Passover,
2. The sprinkling of the blood was typical.
(1.) 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,
3. The solemnly eating of the lamb was
typical of our gospel-duty to Christ. (1.) The paschal lamb was
killed, not to be looked upon only, but to be fed upon; so we must
by faith make Christ ours, as we do that which we eat, and we must
receive spiritual strength and nourishment from him, as from our
food, and have delight and satisfaction in him, as we have in
eating and drinking when we are hungry or thirsty: see
4. The feast of unleavened bread was
typical of the Christian life,
21 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover. 22 And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. 23 For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you. 24 And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. 25 And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the Lord will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service. 26 And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? 27 That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped. 28 And the children of Israel went away, and did as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.
I. Moses is here, as a faithful steward in God's house, teaching the children of Israel to observe all things which God had commanded him; and no doubt he gave the instructions as largely as he received them, though they are not so largely recorded. It is here added,
1. That this night, when the first-born
were to be destroyed, no Israelite must stir out of doors till
morning, that is, till towards morning, when they would be
called to march out of Egypt,
2. That hereafter they should carefully
teach their children the meaning of this service,
(1.) The question which the children would
ask concerning this solemnity (which they would soon take notice of
in the family): "What mean you by this service? What is he
meaning of all this care and exactness about eating this lamb, and
this unleavened bread, more than about common food? Why such a
difference between this meal and other meals?" Note, [1.] It is a
good thing to see children inquisitive about the things of God; it
is to be hoped that those who are careful to ask for the way will
find it. Christ himself, when a child, heard and asked
questions,
(2.) The answer which the parents were to
return to this question (
II. The people received these instructions
with reverence and ready obedience. 1. They bowed the head and
worshipped (
29 And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle. 30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead. 31 And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as ye have said. 32 Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also. 33 And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men. 34 And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneadingtroughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders. 35 And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: 36 And the Lord gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians.
Here we have, I. The Egyptians' sons, even
their first-born, slain,
II. God's sons, even his first-born,
released; this judgment conquered Pharaoh, and obliged him to
surrender at discretion, without capitulating. Men had
better come up to God's terms at first, for he will never come down
to theirs, let them object as long as they will. Now Pharaoh's
pride is abased, and he yields to all that Moses had insisted on:
Serve the Lord as you have said (
37 And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children. 38 And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle. 39 And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened; because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any victual. 40 Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. 41 And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. 42 It is a night to be much observed unto the Lord for bringing them out from the land of Egypt: this is that night of the Lord to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations.
Here is the departure of the children of
Israel out of Egypt; having obtained their dismission, they set
forward without delay, and did not defer to a more convenient
season. Pharaoh was now in a good mind; but they had reason to
think he would not long continue so, and therefore it was no time
to linger. We have here an account, 1. Of their number, about
600,000 men (
43 And the Lord said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof: 44 But every man's servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof. 45 A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat thereof. 46 In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof. 47 All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. 48 And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof. 49 One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you. 50 Thus did all the children of Israel; as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they. 51 And it came to pass the selfsame day, that the Lord did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies.
Some further precepts are here given concerning the passover, as it should be observed in times to come.
I. All the congregation of Israel must
keep it,
II. In one house shall it be eaten
(
The chapter concludes with a repetition of
the whole matter, that the children of Israel did as they were
bidden, and God did for them as he promised (