"The account of the final proof of Yahweh's Presence in Egypt has been expanded by a series of instructions related to cultic requirements designed to commemorate that proof and the freedom it purchased."198
The Jews called their first month Abib (v. 2). After the Babylonian captivity they renamed it Nisan (Neh. 2:1; Esth. 3:7). It corresponds to our March-April. Abib means "ear-month"referring to the month when the grain was in the ear.
"The reference to the Passover month as the lead month,' the first of the year's months' is best understood as a double entendre. On the one hand, the statement may be connected with an annual calendar, but on the other hand, it is surely an affirmation of the theological importance of Yahweh's Passover."199
The spring was an appropriate time for the Exodus because it symbolized new life and growth. Israel had two calendars: one religious (this one) and one civil (23:16). The civil year began exactly six months later in the fall. The Israelites used both calendars until the Babylonian captivity. After that, they used only the civil calendar.200
". . . the sense of the verse is: you are now beginning to count a new year, now the new year will bring you a change of destiny."201
Note that the Passover was a communal celebration. The Israelites were to observe it with their redeemed brethren, not alone (v. 4). They celebrated the corporate redemption of the nation corporately (cf. Luke 22:17-20; 1 Cor. 11:23-29).
Since the lamb was a substitute sacrifice its required characteristics are significant (v. 5; cf. John 1:29; 1 Cor. 5:7; 1 Pet. 1:19).
"Freedom from blemish and injury not only befitted the sacredness of the purpose to which they were devoted, but was a symbol of the moral integrity of the person represented by the sacrifice. It was to be a male, as taking the place of the male first-born of Israel; and a year old, because it was not till then that it reached the full, fresh vigour of its life."203
Some of the ancient rabbis taught that God wanted the Jews to sacrifice the Passover lamb exactly at sunset because of the instructions in verse 6 and Deuteronomy 16:6. However "at twilight"literally means "between the two evenings."The more widely held Jewish view was that the first evening began right after noon and the second began when the sun set.204In Josephus' day, which was also Jesus' day, the Jews slew the Passover lamb in mid-afternoon.205The Lord Jesus Christ died during this time (i.e., about 3:00 p.m., Matt. 27:45-50; Mark 15:34-37; Luke 23:44-46; 1 Cor. 5:7).
The sprinkling of the blood on the sides and top of the doorway into the house was a sign (v. 7; cf. v. 13). It had significance to the Jews. The door represented the house (cf. 20:10; Deut. 5:14; 12:17; et al.). The smearing of the blood on the door with hyssop was an act of expiation (cleansing; cf. Lev. 14:49-53; Num. 19:18-19). This act consecrated the houses of the Israelites as altars. They had no other altars in Egypt. They were not to apply the blood to the other member of the door frame, the threshold, because someone might tread on it. The symbolic value of the blood made this action inappropriate. The whole ritual signified to the Jews that the blood (life poured out, Lev. 17:11) of a sinless, divinely appointed substitute cleansed their sins and resulted in their setting apart (sanctification) to God. The application of the blood as directed was a demonstration of the Israelites' faith in God's promise that He would pass over them (v. 13; cf. Heb. 11:28).
The method of preparing and eating the lamb was also significant (vv. 8-11). God directed that they roast it in the manner common to nomads rather than eating it raw as many of their contemporary pagans ate their sacrificial meat (cf. 1 Sam. 2:14-15). They were not to boil the lamb either (v. 9). Roasting enabled the host to place the lamb on the table undivided and unchanged in its essential structure and appearance (v. 9). This would have strengthened the impression of the substitute nature of the lamb. It looked like an animal rather than just meat.
The unleavened bread was bread that had not risen (cf. 12:34). The bitter herbs--perhaps endive, chicory, and or other herbs native to Egypt--would later recall to the Israelites who ate them the bitter experiences of life in Egypt. However the sweetness of the lamb overpowered the bitterness of the herbs. The Israelites were not to eat the parts of the meal again as leftovers (v. 10). It was a special sacrificial meal, not just another dinner. Moreover they were to eat it in haste (v. 11) as a memorial of the events of the night when they first ate it, the night when God provided deliverance for His people.206
"Those consuming the meat were not to be in the relaxed dress of home, but in traveling attire; not at ease around a table, but with walking-stick in hand; not in calm security, but in haste, with anxiety."207
In slaying the king's son and many of the first-born animals, God smote the gods of Egypt that these living beings represented (v. 12). This was the final proof of Yahweh's sovereignty.
"The firstborn of Pharaoh was not only his successor to the throne, but by the act of the gods was a specially born son having divine property. Gods associated with the birth of children would certainly have been involved in a plague of this nature. These included Min, the god of procreation and reproduction, along with Isis who was the symbol of fecundity or the power to produce offspring. Since Hathor was not only a goddess of love but one of seven deities who attended the birth of children, she too would be implicated in the disaster of this plague. From excavations we already have learned of the tremendous importance of the Apis bull, a firstborn animal and other animals of like designation would have had a tremendous theological impact on temple attendants as well as commoners who were capable of witnessing this tragic event. The death cry which was heard throughout Egypt was not only a wail that bemoaned the loss of a son or precious animals, but also the incapability of the many gods of Egypt to respond and protect them from such tragedy."208
Egyptian religion and culture valued sameness and continuity very highly. The Egyptians even minimized the individual differences between the Pharaohs.
"The death of a king was, in a manner characteristic of the Egyptians, glossed over in so far as it meant a change."209
The Egyptians had to acknowledge the death of Pharaoh's son, however, as an event that Yahweh had brought to pass.
Note that God said that when Hesaw the blood He would pass over the Jews (v. 13). He did not say when theysaw it. The ground of their security was propitiation. The blood satisfied God. Therefore the Israelites could rest. The reason we can have peace with God is that Jesus Christ's blood satisfied God. Many Christians have no peace because the blood of the Lamb of God does not satisfy them. They think something more has to supplement His work (i.e., human good works). However, God says the blood of the sacrifice He provided is enough (cf. 1 John 2:1).
The Feast of Unleavened Bread began with the Passover meal and continued for seven more days (v. 15). The bread that the Jews used contained no leaven (yeast), which made it like a cracker rather than cake in its consistency. The Old Testament uses leaven as a symbol of sin often. Leaven gradually permeates dough, and it affects every part of the dough. Here it not only reminded the Israelites in later generations that their ancestors fled Egypt in haste, before their dough could rise. It also reminded them that their lives should resemble the unleavened bread as redeemed people. Bread is the staff of life and represents life. The life of the Israelites was to be separate from sin since they had received new life as a result of God's provision of the Passover lamb. Eating unleavened bread for a week and removing all leaven from their houses would have impressed the necessity of a holy life upon the Israelites.
"For us the leaven must stand for the selfness which is characteristic of us all, through the exaggerated instinct of self-preservation and the heredity received through generations, which have been a law to themselves, serving the desires of the flesh and of the mind. We are by nature self-confident, self-indulgent, self-opinionated; we live with self as our goal, and around the pivot of I our whole being revolves."210
Anyone who refused to abide by these rules repudiated the spiritual lesson contained in the symbols and was therefore "cut off from Israel."This phrase means to experience separation from the rights and privileges of the nation through death.211
The Israelites celebrated the Passover on the fourteenth of Abib, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread continued through the twenty-first (v. 18). God's call to the Israelites to live holy lives arose from what God had done for them. Consecration follows redemption; it is not a prerequisite for redemption. Similarly God calls us to be holy in view of what He has done for us (cf. Rom. 12:1-2). He does not say we can experience redemption if we become holy first.
Sunset ended one day and began the next for the Jews.
Hyssop grew commonly on rocks and walls in the Near East and Egypt (v. 22). If it was the same plant that we identify as hyssop today, masses of tiny white flowers and a fragrant aroma characterized it. The Jews used it for applying blood to the door in the Passover ritual because of its availability and suitability as a liquid applicator. They also used it in the purification rite for lepers (Lev. 14:4, 6), the purification rite for a plague (Lev. 14:49-52), and for the red heifer sacrifice ritual (Num. 19:2-6).
"The hairy surface of its leaves and branches holds liquids well and makes it suitable as a sprinkling device for purification rituals."212
"The people were instructed that the only way they could avert the destroyer' was to put the blood of the lamb on their doorposts. Though the text does not explicitly state it, the overall argument of the Pentateuch . . . would suggest that their obedience to the word of the Lord in this instance was an evidence of their faith and trust in him [cf. Heb. 11:28]."213
God through Moses stressed the significance and the importance of perpetuating the Passover (v. 26).
"The Israelitish child will not unthinkingly practice a dead worship; he will ask: What does it mean? and the Israelitish father must not suppress the questions of the growing mind, but answer them, and thus begin the spiritualizing [the explanation of the spiritual significance] of the paschal rite."214
Worship and obedience occur together again here (vv. 27-28). These are the two proper responses to God's provision of redemption. They express true faith. These are key words in Exodus.
"The section closes with one of those rare notices in Israel's history: they did exactly what the Lord had commanded (v. 28)--and well they might after witnessing what had happened to the obstinate king and people of Egypt!"215
