12:1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt:
12:2 This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall
be the first month of the year for you.
12:3 Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this
month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each
household.
12:4 If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its
closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in
proportion to the number of people who eat of it.
12:5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may
take it from the sheep or from the goats.
12:6 You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then
the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at
twilight.
12:7 They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two
doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.
12:8 They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it
roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
12:9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over
the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs.
12:10 You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything
that remains until the morning you shall burn.
12:11 This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals
on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it
hurriedly. It is the passover of the LORD.
12:12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I
will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human
beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute
judgments: I am the LORD.
12:13 The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you
live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague
shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
12:14 This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall
celebrate it as a festival to the LORD; throughout your generations
you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.
Did anyone else notice that the direction is to eat the meal with
the nearest neighbor, not your best friend. What does that say about
our need to share relations with all of our global neighbors, not
just allies? This certainly sounds like a call to inclusiveness to
me. Ogremtb in PA
Bravo to Ogremtb and jpfrombg! There is a need here for
inclusiveness. The passage from Exodus is the inauguration of the
Passover meal. One of the features of the Seder is to drip wine [one
drip for each plague]. It is a sign at there is no animosity toward
Egypt and there is mourning for the loss of the first born children.
Keep the struggle for peace going! That is the answer to the
question: WHY IS THIS NIGHT DIFFERENT FROM ALL OTHER NIGHTS?
Oklahoma Irishman
I find myself wondering about the whole Paschal cycle as a Passover
event. Is it equal to, analogous, or something else all together.
Here on Maui, the first resident rabbi has arrived to minister to
the Jewish community. The celebration of the Seder this year should
be especially meaningful.
Marvin in Maui
I am a very keen student of the Old testament and one of the best
studies I have ever made is on Ex.12.3. It has all the beauty of the
old testament and new testament teaching on salvation, and the other
related topics. If anyone wanted to study this area it is an
excellent idea to study it along with the Festivals of Israel in
Lev.23. It will be an unbeleivable revelation. I had taken a series
of Bible Studies on the Festivals of Israel and if one has to start
the study he has to come to Ex.12 where the first festival Passover
and the Unleavened Bread is explained.
God bless
K.M.David Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Passover, among other things, is a celebration of Liberty and
liberation. It is also a covenant celebration in which we
acknowledge that God is the author of our liberty. We know ourselves
to be people who are meant to be free because our creator is the
author of liberty. This story helps us to know who we are and the
quality of freedom our lives are meant to have. Manzel
The blood shall be a sign for you who shall be saved. This passage,
familiar to us who preach and to those who regularly attend passover
services or Holy week services, yet not easily rendered as a message
which we need to hear in the "almost 21st century". The symbolism is
clear--the rememberance of which holds power to the people of God.
The life saving plan of God for the Hebrew people was truly a means
of freedom from bondage and toward new life.
It is not difficult to adopt this passage as a Christian, and see
its power through the post-resurrection eyes of the Christian
experience. WE all are in bondage to sin and the Blood of
Christ-shed for us brings us new life--new freedom. Through the
blood of the Cross, God has provided a way to restore the weary,
transform the weak and give sight to the blind. We have a covenantal
link to our Hebrew friends, and we too celebrate and remember--as we
break the bread and drink from the cup--we share in the promise, the
truth of new life.
I want to preach on this passage this Sunday, and am just tossing
out some thought to build on--comments are invited--thanks.
Peace--DF in KS
For those of you wanting to pursue the blood theme, Jeff Smith in
"The Frugal Gourmet Cooks with Wine," New York: William Morrow and
company, Inc, 1986, pp. 75-76 has a wonderful discussion about the
blood of the lamb. We are celebrating communion this week so it
works - I used it Maundy Thursday one year, but so few come out for
that service, it bears repeating....Since someone may ask for it,
here is the quote from Jeff Smith: He talks about wine in the
ancient Hebrew tradition as a symbol of friendship, a sign of
commitment, and then as a symbol of adoption. This is where the
blood of the lamb comes in. I quote, "The image of adoption was
connected with the image of blood,...In the old shepherding
communities, all would have understood this image because all knew
the problem of the shepherd. He would check his flock in the morning
and find a new lamb...but the mother had died during the night. In
another portion of his flock he would find a mother, sitting
silently beside her child stillborn during the night. The mother
would die of a broken heart and the orphan would die from lack of
sustenance. All logic would tell you to put the orphan under the
care of the childless mother...but the two would know they were
foreign, and they would not accept each other. The moment of wisdom
came when the old shepherd, this old Jewish philospher and
theologian, would see in this even the nature of our relationship to
the Godhead. We are so separated from God, he said, that God is
dying of a broken heart and we are dying from lack of sustenance.
And it seems that nothing can be done. We are foreigners to one
another. But one thing can be done. It is still being done by
shepherds. If you slit the throat and drain the blood of the dead
baby and wash the orphan in the blood of the lamb, the living mama
smells her own and moves around so that the orphan can suckle, can
come home to the table." I am also doing a baptism this Sunday so
this really works as baptism is the sacrament through which we all
become the adopted children of God.
Caroline in Ct
I am planning to preach on "The Amazing Power of the Blood" --
simply because we United Methodists don't seem to preach on that
much anymore. We left those "bloody" songs out of our hymnal and
seem rather ashamed of the whole concept, as primitive, not within
the realm of "contemporary" understanding. So, I am interested in
the comments of any of you for further understanding ...such as the
fellow who said he was a student of the OT. I plan to begin my
sermon by talking about the aspects of blood in the physical body,
then moving to the religious/spiritual symbolism. Any helpful
insights out there? --- RevKK
Rev.KK, I understand. I'm not sure I would use it as is with my
congregation either. I love what Caroline from Ct. added to this
discussion. Sheep my folks understand, being a rural community!
Another "real" life aspect of the "blood" theme comes from something
I remember from childhood. When we cut ourselves or scraped our
knees, we were encouraged to let it bleed a bit before bandaging.
That would "clean" it out and help it heal. Just rambling. I share
your dilemma with this text. And I too want to use it to continue
the Moses saga. Am grateful for everyone's input! RevMom
Rev. KK, et. al.: Consider that "ruach" is translated "life,"
"spirit," and "blood," as well as others. There were several types
of sacrifice in the O.T. Human sacrifice was practiced, but
generally thought to be discontinued after the near sacrifice of
Isaac. There were animal sacrifices (also into the N.T.) but these
were discouraged by some of the prophets (Amos, and others) who told
the Hebrew people that what God really wanted was not animals, but
the sacrifice of a pure or righteous life - thus the "bloodless"
sacrifice. There is no other religion (of which I am aware) where we
have a "divine" sacrifice - i.e.: God sacrifices God's self on a
cross. All of this is prelude to what happens in that sacrifice.
Blood is released. The idea is not that the animal or the Savior is
killed. The idea is that the animal's or Savior's blood is released,
and the life (Spirit) was believed to be resident in the blood. It
was the life (blood) that was offered to God sacrificially. Thus
when we participate in Communion, we receive the body and blood of
our Savior, and the life is still in that blood. Capice? -- Jim in
Raleigh
