Blood of the Lamb

Exodus 12:1-14 (Hebrew-English Masoretic Text)

The LORD spoke unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying: 'This month shall be unto you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. 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 their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household; and if the household be too little for a lamb, then shall he and his neighbour next unto his house take one according to the number of the souls; according to every man's eating ye shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year; ye shall take it from the sheep, or from the goats; and ye shall keep it unto the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at dusk. And they shall take of the blood, and put it on the two side-posts and on the lintel, upon the houses wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; its head with its legs and with the inwards thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; but that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. 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. For I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, and will smite all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD. 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 there shall no plague be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. 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.

So, there’s our first lesson, our Bible story for tomorrow as we continue our way through Exodus with Moses. The Passover Meal is to be eaten this night, and hereafter a ritual forever. The blood of the passover lamb is to be marked over the door of every Israelite household as a sign to the avenging Lord as he passes through Egypt. Pharaoh’s time has come. Even with all the plagues that God has brought down upon the land, Pharaoh has failed to acknowledge and submit to the Lord. He will not let God’s people go. He will now live to regret it, but his firstborn son will not, nor the firstborn son of any Egyptian family, for whom it will be a night of horror. After this terrible night, the Egyptians will free the Israelite slaves from bondage, to leave Egypt. Before leaving, the Israelites will demand silver, jewels, gold, and fancy clothing, which the Egyptians will give them, “despoiling” the Egyptians, as the Bible says at Exodus 12:36 (where else did we think the Israelites got the gold that Aaron would later melt down into a golden calf?). And so begins the Exodus, forty years in the wilderness with Moses, bound for the Promised Land. 

This is our story. We are not to stand back and piously presume to be objective, morally judgmental of the bloody mess. The story is ours, it’s about us, God with us. The Lord is on our side and he will have the victory. Pharaoh’s doom is sure. As for us: we are saved by the blood of the lamb.

Sabbath: shalom.

TW+