CHAPTER 12

(1491 B.C.)

THE PASSOVER

¹And the LORD spoke unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt saying (this Chapter is a perfect picture of Christ, the True Pascal Lamb),

²This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. (The person doesnt really begin to live until he comes to Christ; as well, the Believer doesnt really begin to enjoy the more abundant life afforded him by Christ until he learns Gods Prescribed Order of Victory, which is Faith in Christ and the Cross exclusively, which then gives the Holy Spirit latitude to work, thereby bringing about the graces of the Fruit of the Spirit [Rom. 8:1-2, 11; Gal. 5:16-25]. All Believers have more abundant life [Jn. 10:10], but all Believers are not enjoying more abundant life and, in fact, cannot until they learn Gods Prescribed Order of Victory, which is the Cross [I Cor. 1:17-18, 21, 23; 2:2; Gal. 6:14; Col. 2:14-15].)

³Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying (Another great lesson learned here is the fact that neither Moses nor Aaron introduced any legislation of their own, either at this time or later. The whole system, spiritual, political, and ecclesiastical, was received by Divine Revelation, commanded by God, and merely established by the agency of the two brothers. This proclaims the fact that Salvation is all of God and none of man. This problem presents itself when man attempts to insert his means and ways into that which God has devised, which, in fact, the modern Church is now doing), 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: (In the Fourth Chapter of Genesis, it is a lamb for each person. Now it is a lamb for each house. Upon the giving of the Law, it would be a lamb for the entirety of the nation. But when Jesus came, He would be the Lamb for the entirety of the world [Jn. 1:29]. The offering up of the Lamb in Sacrifice was a Type of Christ, and what He would do at the Cross, all on our behalf. The lamb represented innocence and gentleness. The Prophets represented the tender compassion of God for His people under the figure of the Shepherd and the Lamb [Isa. 40:11], and ultimately the intention of God for His people used the lamb as an important symbol; therefore, the Lamb was a worthy symbol of our Saviour, Who, in innocence, patiently endured suffering as our Substitute [I Pet. 1:19].)

⁴And 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. (Every person had to partake of the Passover. This was mandatory. Even though the lamb represented the entire house, it had to be partaken by each and every individual in that house. It is the same as it regards Salvation, which is always very personal.)

⁵Your lamb shall be without blemish (Christ was without blemish, Who the lamb represented, holy, harmless, undefiled a lamb without spot [I Pet. 1:19]), a male of the first year (meant to portray the virile manhood of Christ; in other words, He didnt die in the throes of old age, but rather in the prime of manhood): you shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats (the goats then represented were different from our goats presently; then they were very similar to the sheep, actually, with their long flowing mane, even more beautiful than the sheep):

⁶And you shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month (they were to select the animal on the tenth day, and then kill it on the fourteenth day [Vs. 3]; it was to be minutely inspected during these four days, that no trace of illness would be observed; representing Christ, it had to be perfect): and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. (The actual Hebrew says, between the two evenings, which was about 3 p.m. This was the exact time that Jesus died on the Cross of Calvary [Mat. 27:46].)

⁷And they shall take of the blood (which represented the shed Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ), and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it (eat the Passover; in I Corinthians 5:7-8, we have the Divine Authority for our regarding the contents of Exodus, Chapter 12, as typical of what our Blessed Saviour did on the Cross; at the deliverance of the Children of Israel from Egypt, the blood, which represented the shed Blood of Christ, was to be put on the side posts and the upper posts of the house; later, it would be applied to the Mercy Seat on the Great Day of Atonement; now, by Faith, it is applied to our hearts [Jn. 3:16; Eph. 2:13-18]).

⁸And they shall eat the flesh in that night (in essence, Jesus was referring to this in John 6:53-55; of course, He wasnt speaking of His flesh literally being eaten, but was speaking rather of our Faith in Him and what He would do for us at the Cross; our Faith must be in the entirety of His Finished Work), roast with fire (this spoke of the Judgment of God that would come upon Him as the Sin-Bearer, which was death, instead of us), and unleavened bread (this typified the Perfection of Christ; He was Holy, harmless, and undefiled [Heb. 7:26], of which the lack of leaven was a Type); and with bitter herbs they shall eat it (the bitter herbs were to remind the Children of Israel of the slavery which they had experienced in Egypt [Ex. 1:14]; as well, the Cross ever reminds us presently of that from which we were redeemed, abject slavery to Satan).

⁹Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water (this speaks of accepting Christ, but without the Cross, which God cannot condone), but roast with fire (speaks of the Cross and the price paid there); his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. (The purtenance pertained to the intestines, which were removed and washed, and then placed back in the animal and, as obvious here, to be eaten when the lamb was consumed. This speaks of partaking of all of the Cross. Sin goes to the very vitals; therefore, for sin to be properly addressed, and in every capacity, everything that Christ did at the Cross must be accepted, and without fail.)

¹⁰And you shall let nothing of it remain until the morning (all of it must be consumed, referring to the fact that we must accept all of Christ, or else we will not have any of Christ; untold millions attempt to accept Christ as a good man, a great example, even a miracle worker, but they care not for the Cross; if Christ is to be had at all, He can only be had by and through the Cross; otherwise, we have another Jesus [II Cor. 11:4]); and that which remains of it until the morning you shall burn with fire. (This tells us that Christ cannot be received in stages. He can only be received in totality. Burning the remainder with fire once again points to the Cross. We must always remember, Christ is the Source, while the Cross is the Means.)

¹¹And thus shall you eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand (proclaims the fact that they were leaving Egypt; after the Law was given, and Israel was safely ensconced in the Promised Land, they were to eat the Passover resting, and for all the obvious reasons); and you shall eat it in haste (the same admonition, however, should hold true for the modern Believer, in that we should be eagerly awaiting the moment when the Trump of God shall sound and, thereby, we will be raptured away [I Thess. 4:13-18]): it is the LORDs Passover. (Concerning this, Pink says: The Death of Christ glorified God if never a single sinner had been saved by the virtue of it. The more we study the teaching of Scripture on this subject, and the more we lay hold by simple Faith of what the Cross meant to God, the more stable will be our peace, and the deeper our joy and praise. The Passover was ever a Type of the Cross. In I Corinthians 5:7, we read: Christ our Passover. He is now our Passover, because He was first the LORDs Passover.)

¹²For 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. (The words pass through could be translated go through, since the word used is entirely unconnected with the Passover. According to Exodus 12:23, the Lord did not personally go through the land of Egypt that particular night, but rather that He used an Angel. The beasts were included, because animal worship was an important part of the religion of the Egyptians. So, the Lord directed His judgment against every facet of Egyptian life and living.)

¹³And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where you are (the blood applied to the door posts meant that their Faith and trust were in the Pascal Lamb; the blood then applied was only a token, meaning that it was then but a symbol of One Who was to come, Who would redeem mankind by the shedding of His Lifes Blood): and when I see the blood, I will pass over you (this is, without a doubt, one of the single most important Scriptures in the entirety of the Word of God; the lamb had taken the fatal blow; and because it had taken the blow, those in the house would be spared; it was not a question of personal worthiness, self had nothing whatever to do in the matter; it was a matter of faith; all under the cover of the blood were safe, just as all presently under the cover of the Blood are safe; this means that they were not merely in a savable state, but rather that they were saved; as well, they were not partly saved and partly exposed to judgment, they were wholly saved, and because there is no such thing as partial Justification; the Lord didnt say, When I see you, or, When I see your good works, etc., but, When I see the blood; this speaks of Christ and what He would do at the Cross in order that we might be saved, which pertained to Him giving Himself in Sacrifice, which necessitated the shedding of His Precious Blood [I Pet. 1:18-19]), and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. (Salvation from the plague of Judgment is afforded only by the shed Blood of the Lamb, and Faith in that shed Blood.)

¹⁴And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and you shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; you shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever. (The Passover is continued in the Lords Supper [I Cor. 5:7-8]. In this way, the Passover may be regarded as still continuing unto Christianity, and is intended to continue, at least throughout the Kingdom Age, which is yet to come. The Passover per se is not continued, simply because it represented the Type, which was carried out through the offering of clean animals. Now that Christ has come and fulfilled the Type, it would not be proper to eat the Passover as it once was celebrated, and because all that it symbolized or represented was fulfilled in Christ.)

¹⁵Seven days shall you eat unleavened bread (the Feast of Unleavened Bread was to be kept in conjunction with the Passover Feast; the Unleavened Bread symbolized the Perfection of Christ; the number seven symbolized His Perfection in totality; in other words, He was not Perfect just some of the time, but was Perfect all of the time); even the first day you shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel (would be eternally lost; sin destroys and destroys completely! the entire idea of the Cross was to atone for all sin and, as well, to make it possible for the Believer to live a life free from the domination of sin, which can only be done by one ever making the Cross the object of ones Faith, which then gives the Holy Spirit latitude to work in ones life; otherwise, it cannot be done [Rom. 6:3-14; 8:1-2, 11; Gal. 6:14]).

¹⁶And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation (all of this was holy unto the Lord, and what it typified, which speaks of what Christ did at the Cross, had better be holy to us, as well), and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you (the first day and the seventh day indicated that the entirety of this convocation was holy); no manner of work shall be done in them (signifying that it is not of works, lest any man should boast [Eph. 2:8-9]), save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you (the only works that God will recognize is the Work of Christ at the Cross, and our Faith in that Finished Work).

¹⁷And you 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 you observe this day in your generations by an ordinance forever. (The Cross is referred to as The Everlasting Covenant [Heb. 13:20].)

¹⁸In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at evening. (The phrase in the first month, as it regards this Verse, refers to the fact that Christ and His Cross are to be first and foremost. In fact, the Cross is not within itself a Doctrine, but rather the Foundation of all Doctrine [I Pet. 1:18-19].)

¹⁹Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eats 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. (The absence of leaven proclaims the fact that what Jesus would do would make it possible for us to live free of the domination of sin. As well, Jesus Christ and Him Crucified is the answer for the entirety of the world, and the only answer!)

²⁰You shall eat nothing leavened (meaning that we are to have victory over all sin); in all your habitations shall you eat unleavened bread (while the Bible doesnt teach sinless perfection, it definitely does teach that sin is not to have dominion over us [Rom. 6:14]).

²¹Then 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. (The Elders of Israel were to take the lead, and the people were to follow. If Preachers will presently preach the Cross, most of the people will follow. Concerning the Passover, Pink says: The institution and ritual of the Passover supply us with one of the most striking and blessed foreshadowments of the Cross-work of Christ to be found anywhere in the Old Testament. Its importance may be gathered from the frequency which the title of Lamb is afterwards applied to the Saviour, a title which looks back to what is before us in Exodus 12 [Jn. 1:29; I Pet. 1:19].)

²²And you shall take a bunch of hyssop (the hyssop was not connected with the Lamb, but with the application of its blood; it speaks, then, not of Christ, but of the sinners appropriation of the Sacrifice of Christ; hyssop was a type of grass which grew in crevices between the rocks), 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 (in fact, the blood applied to the header [lintel] and two side posts formed a perfect cross; we are to never regard the Cross of Christ as a mere circumstance in the Life of Christ referring to His sin-bearing; it was the grand and only scene of sin-bearing; He did not bear our sins anywhere else; He did not bear them in the manger, nor in the wilderness, nor in the Garden, but only on the Tree [I Pet. 2:24]); and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. (The death Angel was to come through at night and, beyond the protection of the Blood of the Lamb, there was no assurance of safety. In fact, there was no safety outside of this application, just as there is no safety presently outside of this application.)

²³For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He sees 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. (The word destroyer implies the fact that the Lord sent an Angel to carry out this task. The only protection from judgment is the Cross of Christ.)

²⁴And you shall observe this thing for an ordinance to you and to your sons forever. (Some three times the Lord ordered Israel to keep the Feast of the Passover forever [Ex. 12:14, 17, 24], and implied it in Exodus 13:10. In essence, this tells us that the Work of Christ on the Cross was, and is, a Finished Work, which means that it will never have to be repeated, and there will never have to be anything added.)

²⁵And it shall come to pass, when you be come to the land which the LORD will give you, according as He has promised, that you shall keep this service. (Every Promise of God is based, without exception, on the great Sacrifice of Christ.)

²⁶And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean you by this service? (In this Passage, we are plainly told that it is our responsibility to properly relate and explain the great Sacrifice of Christ to our children. This we must not fail to do.)

²⁷That you shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORDs Passover, who passed over the houses of the Children of Israel in Egypt, when He smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. (The application of the Blood spelled Salvation for the Children of Israel, but destruction for the Egyptians. Spiritually speaking, it is no less presently!) And the people bowed the head and worshipped. (Without a proper understanding of the Cross, true Worship of God cannot be properly enjoined.)

²⁸And the Children of Israel went away, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they. (They went to prepare the Passover, and no doubt paid careful attention to that preparation. Their very lives and eternal souls depended on it.)

DEATH OF THE FIRSTBORN

²⁹And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle. (The blame for all the deaths of the firstborn in Egypt had to be laid at the feet of Pharaoh, and not God.)

³⁰And 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. (Believing that the afterlife consisted of the prosperity of the firstborn, what had happened to them was tantamount to a Christian being consigned to eternal darkness, the loss of the soul. The great cry was not only for their dead, but, as well, that Pharaoh would let Israel go.)

³¹And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both you and the Children of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as you have said. (At the beginning, the Monarch had asked the question, Who is the Lord, that I should obey His Voice to let Israel go? [5:2]. He now knows as to exactly Who is the Lord!)

³²Also take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone; and bless me also. (Trembling with fear, the Monarch requests of Moses and Aaron that they should bless him also. To be sure, the less will be blessed of the better.)

³³And 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. (The Lord knew this would happen; consequently, He told Israel, as it regards the Passover, You shall eat it in haste [Vs. 11]. In other words, Be ready to go!)

³⁴And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneadingtroughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders. (They were ready to go!)

³⁵And the Children of Israel did according to the word of Moses: and they borrowed (asked) of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment:

³⁶And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent (gave, with no thought of it being returned) unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians (meaning that much gold and silver, etc., were given to the Israelites).

THE EXODUS

³⁷And the Children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth (a distance of about 15 miles), about six hundred thousand on foot who were men, beside children (refers to men of war, between 20 and 50 years of age; counting all the women and children, and men over 50, the total number was approximately 3 million).

³⁸And a mixed multitude went up also with them (Egyptian sympathizers, of which the number was considerable); and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle (as Moses said, Not one hoof shall be left behind [10:26,]).

³⁹And 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. (They were ordered to leave immediately, and did so.)

⁴⁰Now the sojourning of the Children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. (This doesnt mean that they dwelt in Egypt for 430 years, but it is rather from the time of Abraham, when he was 75 years old, and called of God to leave Ur of Chaldees, that the 430 years are reckoned. They actually spent some 215 years in Egypt proper.)

⁴¹And 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. (The phrase, the hosts of the Lord, refers to the fact that they belonged to Him.)

⁴²It 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. (This first Passover-night was a night of the Lord, much to be observed; but the last Passover-night, in which Christ was betrayed, and in which the first Passover, with the rest of the ceremonial institutions, was superseded and abolished, was a night of the Lord much more to be observed; when a yoke, heavier than that of Egypt, was broken from off our necks, and a land better than that of Canaan, set before us. That first Passover was a temporal deliverance to be celebrated in their generation; this an eternal Redemption to be celebrated in the praises of glorious Saints, world without end Matthew Henry.)

THE PASSOVER

⁴³And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the Ordinance of the Passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof (the idea is, they were the Lords by purchase bought with a price; the unredeemed have no understanding of Christ and what He has done for us at the Cross; consequently, they cannot partake of Him without accepting Him as Saviour and Lord):

⁴⁴But every mans servant who is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof. (Circumcision has its antitype in the Cross. The male alone was circumcised; the female was represented in the male. So, in the Cross, Christ represents His Church, and hence the Church is crucified with Christ; nevertheless the Church lives by the Life of Christ known and exhibited on Earth, through the Power of the Holy Spirit [Rom. 8:1-2, 11; Gal. 2:20].)

⁴⁵A foreigner and a hired servant shall not eat thereof. (The ordinance of circumcision formed the grand boundary line between the Israel of God and all the nations that were upon the face of the Earth; the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ forms the boundary between the Church and the world.)

⁴⁶In one house shall it be eaten; you shall not carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall you break a bone thereof. (The flesh of the Lamb was not to be taken out of the house, but rather eaten in the house, typifying the fact that none are saved outside of the Family of God. The house is Christ. And let it be known, there is no Salvation out of this house. As well, not a bone of Christ was broken in the Crucifixion, signifying that the True Body of Christ is one.)

⁴⁷All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. (As all of Israel was to keep the Passover, likewise, all Believers must look to the Cross. There is no exception.)

⁴⁸And when a stranger shall sojourn with you, 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 who is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof. (The word stranger refers to Gentiles. They could come into the Covenant, but only if they came Gods Way. It is the same presently. To be saved, irrespective as to who the person might be, they must exhibit Faith in Christ and what He has done for us at the Cross.)

⁴⁹One law shall be to him who is homeborn, and unto the stranger who sojourns among you. (The Lord doesnt have two ways of Salvation, only one. That is Christ, even as it has always been Christ.)

⁵⁰Thus did all the Children of Israel; as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they. (It was the Word of the Lord, and to disobey meant death.)

⁵¹And 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. (The word armies refers to the fact that the people were organized as they came out of Egypt, which means they did not come out as a rabble. The Lord was their Captain and, through Him, they possessed great power.)