God Institutes Passover
A. Passover instructions.
1. (Exodus 12:1-6) Each household
should take a lamb.
Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron
in the land of Egypt, saying, “This month
shall be your beginning of months; it
shall be the first month of the year to you.
Speak to all the congregation of Israel,
saying: ‘On the tenth day of this month
every man shall take for himself a lamb,
according to the house of his father, a
lamb for a household. And if the
household is too small for the lamb, let
him and his neighbor next to his house
take it according to the number of the
persons; according to each man’s need
you shall make your count for the lamb.
Your lamb shall be without blemish, a
male of the first year. You may take it
from the sheep or from the goats. Now
you shall keep it until the fourteenth day
of the same month. Then the whole
assembly of the congregation of Israel
shall kill it at twilight.’”
a. This month shall be your beginning of
months: The coming deliverance from
Egypt was such a significant act that God
told the children of Israel to remake their
calendar. The new year would now start
with the month of their redemption from
Egypt. It was a dramatic way of saying
that everything was to change.
i. “God is ever the God of new
beginnings in the history of failure. The
ultimate statement is found in the
Apocalypse in the words: ‘Behold, I
make all things new.’” (Morgan)
ii. “Commence a nation’s annals from
its evangelization. Begin the chronicle
of a people from the day when they
bow at the feet of Jesus.” (Spurgeon)
iii. Speak to all the congregation of
Israel: “This is the first occurrence in the
Pentateuch of what was to become a
technical term, describing Israel in its
religious sense… and which underlies
the New Testament use of ekklesia,
‘church’.” (Cole)
b. Every man shall take for himself a
lamb: On the tenth of this first month,
each family — or household — was to take
a lamb, and the lamb was to live with the
family for the four days until Passover (on
the tenth day of this month… until the
fourteenth day of the same month).
i. In this way, the lamb became part of
the family. By the time it was sacrificed
on the fourteenth it was both cherished
and mourned. God wanted the sacrifice
of something precious.
ii. If the household is too small for the
lamb: The rabbis later determined that
there should be at least ten people for
each Passover lamb, and not more than
twenty.
iii. “Passover was a domestic and family
festival, and thus shows its early origin.
It has here no temple, no meeting-tent,
no altar and no priest: but
representation, if not substitution,
is clearly implied.” (Cole)
c. Your lamb shall be without blemish:
The lamb was also to be without blemish.
This sacrifice unto the LORD had to be as
perfect as a lamb could be.
d. You may take it from the sheep or
from the goats: The Hebrew word for
lamb can refer to either a young sheep or
a young goat.
i. “The Hebrew seh is quite a neutral
word and should be translated ‘head of
(small) stock’, applying equally to sheep
and goats of any age. The Hebrews, like
the Chinese, seem to have regarded any
distinction between sheep and goats as
a minor subdivision. Probably because
of this, to ‘separate the sheep from the
goats’ is proverbial of God’s
discernment in New Testament times
(Matthew 25:32).” (Cole)
ii. Israel shall kill it at twilight: “Christ
came in the evening of the world; in the
‘last hour’ (1 John 2:11); when all lay
buried in darkness; in the eventide of
our sin and death.” (Trapp)
2. (Exodus 12:7-11) Instructions for
eating the Passover.
‘And they shall take some of the blood
and put it on the two doorposts and on
the lintel of the houses where they eat it.
Then they shall eat the flesh on that
night; roasted in fire, with unleavened
bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat
it. Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with
water, but roasted in fire — its head with
its legs and its entrails. You shall let none
of it remain until morning, and what
remains of it until morning you shall burn
with fire. And thus you shall eat it: with a
belt on your waist, your sandals on your
feet, and your staff in your hand. So you
shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD’s
Passover.’
a. Take some of the blood and put it on
the two doorposts and on the lintel of
the houses: Before the Passover lamb
could be eaten, its blood had to be
applied to the doorway of the home, to
the top and upon each side the blood was
applied. The only part of this sacrifice
given to God was the blood; the rest was
eaten by each family or discarded (what
remains of it until morning you shall
burn with fire).
i. As the blood was applied to the top
and each side of the doorway, this
blood dripped down, forming a figure of
a cross in the doorway.
ii. The blood on the doorposts showed
that the sacrifice of the Passover lamb
was to be remembered in daily life.
You would see it every time you went
in or out of the house.
b. And thus you shall eat it: Then, the
lamb could be eaten — but only if it had
been roasted in fire, with the lamb itself
coming into contact with the fire, and
with bitter herbs accompanying the meal.
i. “The paschal lamb was not killed in
order to be looked at only, but to be
eaten; and our Lord Jesus Christ has not
been slain merely that we may hear
about him and talk about him, and think
about him, but that we may feed upon
him.” (Spurgeon)
c. Let none of it remain until morning:
The Passover lamb had to be eaten
completely; a family had to totally
consume the sacrifice.
i. The idea behind eating it all was that
you had to take it all then, and not store
up some of the rescue for later. It was
for right then, right now, and you had to
receive all of it without thinking you
could take a bit then and come back to
it later if you pleased. We take all of
Jesus, not just the parts that please us.
d. With a belt on your waist, your sandals
on your feet, and your staff in your hand:
The Passover lamb had to be eaten in
faith, trusting that the deliverance
promised to Israel was present, and that
they would walk in that deliverance
immediately.
i. Faith was essential to the keeping of
Passover: By faith he [Moses] kept the
Passover and the sprinkling of blood,
lest he who destroyed the firstborn
should touch them. (Hebrews 11:28)
e. It is the LORD’s Passover:The Passover
was the LORD’s in the sense that He
provided it:
- As a rescue, to deliver Israel from the
- plague of the firstborn.
- As an institution, to remember God’s
- rescue and deliverance for Israel
- through every generation.
- As a powerful drama, acting out the
- perfect sacrifice and rescue Jesus
- would later provide.
i. By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
Paul made it perfectly clear: For indeed
Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for
us (1 Corinthians 5:7). John the Baptist
drew on a similar image when he said
of Jesus, Behold! The Lamb of God who
takes away the sin of the world! (John
1:29) It seems that Jesus was actually
crucified on Passover (John 19:14).
We see Jesus in the Passover.
- Jesus lived with and became bonded
- to the human family before He was
- sacrificed for them.
- The sacrifice of Jesus has to be
- appropriate to each home, not
- simply on a national or community
- basis.
- Jesus the Passover Lamb was spotless
- — perfectly so, not stained by any sin,
- any moral or spiritual imperfection.
- It was only the blood of Jesus, His
- actual poured-out life that atoned
- for sin.
- In His death Jesus was touched with
- fire, the fire of God’s judgment and
- wrath.
- In His death Jesus received the
- bitter cup of God’s judgment.
- The work of Jesus has to be received
- fully, with none left in reserve.
- The Passover work of Jesus for His
- people is the dawn and prelude to
- their freedom.
3. (Exodus 12:12-13) The protection of
the blood.
‘For I will pass through the land of Egypt
on that night, and will strike 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. Now the blood shall be a sign for
you on the houses where you are. And
when I see the blood, I will pass over
you; and the plague shall not be on you
to destroy you when I strike the land of
Egypt.’
a. When I see the blood, I will pass over
you: For Israel to be spared the judgment
on the firstborn, they had to apply the
blood just as God said they should. The
blood of the lamb was essential to what
God required.
i. If an Israelite home didn’t believe in
the power of the blood of the lamb,
they could sacrifice the lamb and eat
it, but they would still be visited by
judgment.
ii. If an Egyptian home did believe in
the power of the blood of the lamb,
and made a proper Passover sacrifice,
they would be spared the judgment.
iii. Additionally, an intellectual
agreement with what God said about
the blood was not enough; they
actually had to do what God said must
be done with the blood.
b. I will strike all the firstborn in the land
of Egypt: God regarded Israel as His
firstborn, His favored people. If Egypt
refused to release God’s firstborn, then
God required the firstborn of Egypt as a
penalty and judgment.
4. (Exodus 12:14-20) The institution of
Passover and Unleavened Bread
as feasts.
‘So this day shall be to you a memorial;
and you shall keep it as a feast to the
LORD throughout your generations. You
shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting
ordinance. Seven days you shall eat
unleavened bread. On the first day you
shall remove leaven from your houses.
For whoever eats leavened bread from
the first day until the seventh day, that
person shall be cut off from Israel. On the
first day there shall be a holy convocation,
and on the seventh day there shall be a
holy convocation for you. No manner of
work shall be done on them; but that
which everyone must eat — that only may
be prepared by you. So you shall observe
the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this
same day I will have brought your armies
out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you
shall observe this day throughout your
generations as an everlasting ordinance.
In the first month, on the fourteenth day
of the month at evening, you shall eat
unleavened bread, until the twenty-first
day of the month at evening. For seven
days no leaven shall be found in your
houses, since whoever eats what is
leavened, that same person shall be cut
off from the congregation of Israel,
whether he is a stranger or a native of
the land. You shall eat nothing
leavened; in all your dwellings you shall
eat unleavened bread.’
a. Seven days you shall eat unleavened
bread: Passover began on the tenth; on
the 14th they ate the Passover, and this
was the first day of unleavened bread.
Then for the next seven days, they ate
only unleavened bread.
b. So you shall observe the Feast of
Unleavened Bread, for on this same day
I will have brought your armies out of
the land of Egypt: For the first Passover,
the unleavened bread was a practical
necessity — they left Egypt in such a
hurry there was no time to allow for the
dough to rise. After the first Passover, the
Feast of Unleavened Bread was a
testimony throughout your generations.
c. For seven days no leaven shall be
found in your houses: Leaven was also a
picture of sin and corruption, because of
the way a little leaven influences a whole
lump of dough, and also because of the
way leaven “puffs up” the lump — even as
pride and sin makes us “puffed up.”
i. Significantly, God called them to walk
“unleavened” after their initial
deliverance from Egypt. Symbolically,
they were being called to a life in moral
purity before the LORD.
ii. Some suggest there was also a
hygienic aspect in getting rid of all the
leaven. Since they used a piece of
dough from the previous batch to
make the bread for that day, and did so
repeatedly, that harmful bacteria could
take hold in the dough — so it was good
to remove all leaven and start all over
at least once a year.
B. Moses leads the people in the
observance of Passover.
1. (Exodus 12:21-23) Moses tells the
elders to do as God said.
Then Moses called for all the elders of
Israel and said to them, “Pick out and
take lambs for yourselves according to
your families, and kill the Passover lamb.
And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip
it in the blood that is in the basin, and
strike the lintel and the two doorposts
with the blood that is in the basin. And
none of you shall go out of the door of his
house until morning. For the LORD will
pass through to strike the Egyptians; and
when He sees the blood on the lintel and
on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass
over the door and not allow the destroyer
to come into your houses to strike you.”
a. Moses called for all the elders of Israel
and said to them: The elders were
expected to lead the way. Moses
instructed them to observe the Passover,
knowing the rest of the nation would
follow.
b. Take a bunch of hyssop: They used
hyssop to apply the blood to the
doorposts and the lintel. Throughout the
Scriptures, hyssop was often used to apply
blood for the cleansing of sin.
i. In Leviticus 14:6, the ceremony for the
cleansing of a leper used hyssop to
apply blood. In Numbers 19:6 hyssop
was used to make the ashes of a red
heifer for the water of purification. In
Numbers 19:18 hyssop was used to
apply the purification water.
ii. David, in his great Psalm of
repentance, said purge me with hyssop,
and I shall be clean (Psalm 51:7).
Hyssop was always connected with
purification through sacrifice.
iii. Hyssop was even connected with
Jesus’ great sacrifice for sin. John 19:29
points out when Jesus was offered sour
wine to drink on the cross, the sponge
soaked with it was put on a bunch of
hyssop.
c. When He sees the blood… the LORD
will pass over: The LORD looked for blood.
This blood sacrifice was the basis for
sparing people from judgment.
i. Rescue from the angel of death didn’t
happen by a prayer or a fasting or a
good work; it was accomplished by a
life given on behalf of others.
2. (Exodus 12:24-27a) Passover as an
enduring ordinance.
“And you shall observe this thing as an
ordinance for you and your sons forever.
It will come to pass when you come to
the land which the LORD will give you,
just as He promised, that you shall keep
this service. And it shall be, when your
children say to you, ‘What do you mean
by this service?’ that you shall say, ‘It is
the Passover sacrifice of the LORD, who
passed over the houses of the children of
Israel in Egypt when He struck the
Egyptians and delivered our households.’
”
a. An ordinance for you and your sons
forever: The deliverance of Passover was
not only for them, but also for their
children, and all generations to follow.
Passover was the greatest work of
redemption performed on the Old
Testament side of the cross.
i. In the same way Jesus gave the new
Passover, saying that His work on the
cross was not only for that generation,
but should be remembered and applied
to all generations (Luke 22:14-20).
b. When He struck the Egyptians and
delivered our households: In Passover,
there was a two-fold work. First, an enemy
was defeated (He struck the Egyptians).
Second, God’s people were set free and
given a new identity, with new promises, a
new walk, a new life altogether (delivered
our households).
3. (Exodus 12:27b-28) The obedience of
the people.
So the people bowed their heads and
worshiped. Then the children of Israel
went away and did so; just as the LORD
had commanded Moses and Aaron, so
they did.
a. So the people bowed their heads and
worshipped: Rightfully, the immediate
reaction of Israel to this announcement
(before it actually happened) was worship.
They honored the God who said He would
do all this for them.
b. Then the children of Israel went away
and did so: In many ways these were the
most important words of the whole
account. As great as God’s deliverance
was, the people would have never
received it if they had failed to do what
God told them to do.
i. We wonder if any Israelites suffered
under the judgment of the firstborn
because they did not believe and obey.
We wonder if any Egyptians were
spared judgment because they did
believe and obey.
C. The final plague: the death of Egypt’s
firstborn.
1. (Exodus 12:29-30) God slays the
firstborn of Egypt.
And it came to pass at midnight that the
LORD struck all the firstborn in the land
of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh
who sat on his throne to the firstborn
of the captive who was in the dungeon,
and all the firstborn of livestock. So
Pharaoh rose in the night, he, 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.
a. The LORD struck all the firstborn in
the land of Egypt: God told Moses that
Pharaoh would not let them go until he
was forced to by God’s mighty works
(Exodus 3:19-20), and that this work
would somehow touch the firstborn of
Egypt (Exodus 4:21-23). Now the situation
unfolded just as God said it would.
i. To the first born of captive who was
in the dungeon: Dungeon is “Literally,
the ‘pit-house’. Pits were a common
prison. Here the opposite to pharaoh is
not the ‘mill girl’ (Exodus 11:15), but the
prisoner of war in the dungeon.” (Cole)
b. All the firstborn in the land of Egypt:
This plague was directed against two
significant Egyptian gods. First, Osiris was
the Egyptian god thought to be the giver
of life. Second, this was against the
supposed deity of Pharaoh himself,
because his own household was touched
(the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on
his throne).
i. An inscription was found in a shrine
connected with the great Sphinx that
records a solemn promise from the
Egyptian gods vowing that Thutmose IV
would succeed his father Amenhotep II
— whom many believe to be the
pharaoh of the Exodus. This unique,
emphatic promise from the gods that
something so natural would happen —
that the eldest son would take his
father’s place as Pharaoh — was
perhaps because Thutmose IV was not
his father’s firstborn son, and the
firstborn was struck dead at the first
Passover. Therefore, they believed that
the second born son needed special
protection from the gods and the
inscription sought to provide that.
c. So Pharaoh rose in the night, he, all his
servants, and all the Egyptians; and
there was a great cry in Egypt: In dealing
with Pharaoh, God first had to inform his
mind, and then break his will. Pharaoh’s
problem wasn’t that there was insufficient
intellectual evidence; his heart had to be
broken and made soft towards God.
i. Egypt and Pharaoh would not give
God His firstborn — Israel (Exodus 4:22-
23); so God took the firstborn of Egypt.
Finally, Pharaoh knew that the LORD
God was greater than all the Egyptian
gods and was greater than Pharaoh
himself — who was thought to be a god.
ii. A great cry in Egypt: Israel cried to
God for deliverance (Exodus 2:23), and
they cried to Pharaoh from relief
(Exodus 5:15). Now the Egyptians had
reason to cry.
2. (Exodus 12:31-36) The response of
Pharaoh and the Egyptians.
Then he called for Moses and Aaron by
night, and said, “Rise, go out from
among my people, both you and the
children of Israel.And go, serve the LORD
as you have said. Also take your flocks
and your herds, as you have said, and be
gone; and bless me also.” And the
Egyptians urged the people, that they
might send them out of the land in haste.
For they said, “We shall all be dead.” So
the people took their dough before it was
leavened, having their kneading bowls
bound up in their clothes on their
shoulders. Now the children of Israel had
done according to the word of Moses,
and they had asked from the Egyptians
articles of silver, articles of gold, and
clothing. And the LORD had given the
people favor in the sight of the Egyptians,
so that they granted them what they
requested. Thus they plundered the
Egyptians.
a. Rise, go out from among my people:
Pharaoh didn’t simply allow Israel to
leave; now he commanded them to go.
This was just what the LORD told Moses
would happen: When he lets you go, he
will surely drive you out of here
altogether (Exodus 11:1).
b. Bless me also: This shows that now,
Pharaoh knew who the LORD was, the
God who was greater than Pharaoh and
whom Pharaoh must seek for blessing.
Pharaoh only came to this knowledge
through being broken.
c. Egyptians urged the people, that they
might send them out of the land in
haste… they plundered the Egyptians:
The Egyptian people also agreed that the
Israelites must go, to the extent that they
essentially paid the Israelites to leave.
Therefore, the children of Israel left in a
hurry, so quickly that there was no time
to let the bread rise. This is why they had
to eat unleavened bread as the LORD
had commanded.
i. We can imagine that some of the
Israelites did not follow God’s
instruction to get all the leaven out
(Exodus 12:15). Now because of the
haste of their departure they had to do
what God had told them because God
arranged the circumstances so that
they couldn’t use leaven.
ii. In the same way, sometimes God
arranges circumstances to where
obedience is simply made necessary,
even if we would not normally choose
it. For example, God may want a man
to give up friends that bring a bad
influence and the man finds that his
friends leave him first.
D. Israel leaves Egypt.
1. (Exodus 12:37-39) The children of
Israel go out of Egypt.
Then the children of Israel journeyed from
Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred
thousand men on foot, besides children.
A mixed multitude went up with them
also, and flocks and herds — a great deal
of livestock. And they baked unleavened
cakes of the dough which they had
brought out of Egypt; for it was not
leavened, because they were driven out
of Egypt and could not wait, nor had
they prepared provisions for
themselves.
a. The children of Israel journeyed: This
was the moment all the previous chapters
of Exodus anticipated. Israel was now free,
and Pharaoh and his armies did not hold
them back as they traveled from their
center of Rameses to Succoth.
i. Since Succoth means shelters, it may
not describe a temporary encampment
instead of an existing Egyptian city. It’s
easy to imagine the celebrations (and
tension) at Succoth that night.
b. About six hundred thousand men on
foot, besides children: Assembling
together at Succoth, about 600,000 men
(besides children or women) left Egypt.
The count of six hundred thousand men
makes for a total population of perhaps
two million that left Egypt for the
Promised Land.
i. Cole discusses a few ideas that would
make the number 600,000 much less,
such as saying that thousand really
means clan and that 600 extended
family-clans left Egypt. Even so, “By
the time they reached Canaan they
were certainly a sizable horde (to use
the historian’s term), to judge from the
archaeological impact on Canaanite
civilization.” (Cole)
ii. “All attempts to explain elep
(‘thousand’) as ‘clan’ or ‘tribe’ in this
context fail to meet the test of
inconsistency in other contexts.”
(Kaiser)
c. A mixed multitude went up with them:
Not all of the 600,000 were Israelites.
Many Egyptians (and perhaps other
foreigners) went with them because the
God of Israel demonstrated that He was
more powerful that the gods of the
Egyptians.
i. Mixed multitude: “The Hebrew says
‘swarm’, from the same root as that
used in 8:21 to describe the plague of
gadflies.” (Cole)
d. It was not leavened, because they
were driven out of Egypt and could not
wait: Again, God made obedience a
necessity in the case of the unleavened
bread.
2. (Exodus 12:40-42) Passover as a
solemn observance.
Now the sojourn of the children of Israel
who lived in Egypt was four hundred and
thirty years. And it came to pass at the
end of the four hundred and thirty years
— on that very same day — it came to
pass that all the armies of the LORD
went out from the land of Egypt. It is a
night of solemn observance to the LORD
for bringing them out of the land of
Egypt. This is that night of the LORD, a
solemn observance for all the children
of Israel throughout their generations.
a. At the end of the four hundred and
thirty years; on that very same day:
Apparently the Exodus from Egypt
began on the same calendar day as the
430th anniversary of Israel’s time in Egypt.
It’s remarkable evidence that God often
fulfills promises on anniversaries of prior
or prophesied events.
b. It is a night of solemn observance to
the LORD for bringing them out of the
land of Egypt: God intended this event to
be as a memorial of His redemptive work
for Israel. In this sense, the deliverance
from Egypt was the cross-like event of
the Old Testament.
c. Out from the land of Egypt: The phrase
out of Egypt is repeated 56 times in the
Bible after this point. God wanted His
people to remember His deliverance of
Israel from Egypt.
3. (Exodus 12:43-49) Regulations for
Passover.
And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
“This is the ordinance of the Passover:
No foreigner shall eat it. But every man’s
servant who is bought for money, when
you have circumcised him, then he may
eat it. A sojourner and a hired servant
shall not eat it. In one house it shall be
eaten; you shall not carry any of the flesh
outside the house, nor shall you break
one of its bones. All the congregation of
Israel shall keep it. And when a stranger
dwells with you and wants to 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 a native of
the land. For no uncircumcised person
shall eat it. One law shall be for the
native-born and for the stranger who
dwells among you.”
a. No foreigner shall eat it: To share in
the Passover, one had to make
themselves part of the people of Israel.
Receiving the covenant of circumcision
and taking Passover were all part of the
same package.
b. In one house it shall be eaten:Passover
was commemorated on a family level.
Each household celebrated it.
c. Nor shall you break one of its bones:
None of the bones of the Passover lamb
were to be broken. This looked forward to
Jesus, the ultimate Passover Lamb, who
had not one bone broken even in His
crucifixion (Psalm 22:17 and John 19:31-
36).
d. All the congregation of Israel shall
keep it: All who were part of Israel had to
commemorate the Passover redemption.
You couldn’t be part of God’s people and
not share in Passover.
i. In this sense, Passover means all this
and more to Christians: Therefore
purge out the old leaven, that you may
be a new lump, since you truly are
unleavened. For indeed Christ, our
Passover, was sacrificed for us.
Therefore let us keep the feast, not with
old leaven, nor with the leaven of
malice and wickedness, but with the
unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
(1 Corinthians 5:7-8)
4. (Exodus 12:50-51) Departure from
Egypt: The Exodus begins.
Thus all the children of Israel did; as the
LORD commanded Moses and Aaron, so
they did. And it came to pass, on that
very same day, that the LORD brought
the children of Israel out of the land of
Egypt according to their armies.
a. Thus all the children of Israel did: Israel
kept the commandments of God that
Moses delivered. Their faith and
obedience saved their firstborn,
plundered the Egyptians, and set them
free from Egypt.
b. The LORD brought the children of
Israel out of the land of Egypt: When
Israel left Egypt, it was a nation born in a
day. It was as if the 430 years were a
time of gestation when the baby grew
large. The plagues were like labor pains
before birth and now the nation was born.
