EXODUS – GOD’s MIRACULOUS DELIVERANCE of ISRAEL FROM EGYPT – Chapter TWELVE

Contributing commentaries by pastors Sonny Islas, Albert Lopez and James Fire

Complete Study of Exodus by pastor Chuck Smith 

EXODUS 12: “The Night The Destroyer Passed Over” – by Sonny Islas, Facebook video.

INTRODUCTION: The 10th Plague has clear implications for us due to the clear connection to Jesus’ death for our salvation: unlike the first 9 plagues, where GOD directed His judgment at specific Egyptian gods, the 10th plague was directed at the entire Egyptian Pantheon of the gods that these people worshiped (approximately 2,000 plus of those!). It reminds one of the Hindu religion, where they make a god out of everything! 

When the announcement went out regarding YAHWEH killing every first-born Egyptian, the Egyptians prayed and cried out to their Pantheon of deities, and of these 2,000 ‘gods’ – not one of them answered their prayers; no help came.

The LORD was humbling these Egyptians and their trust in these false gods, while also teaching both, the Egyptians, and the Israelites that there is only One True GOD. He says, “I am the LORD”! And it’s the same today – GOD will humble individuals who trade a worship of the true and living GOD and instead, serve something or someone else (mostly themselves!). There is NO GOD like our GOD!

The Passover Instituted –

EXODUS 12:1-2
And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt saying, 2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.

Something really special was happening with the children of Israel. GOD was making a change here! The plagues and the Exodus was so significant that the month that GOD delivered them in, would now become the first month of the year, on the new Hebrew religious calendar. This month was called Abib, also known as Nisan during the Babylonian captivity. These words mean, “the month of redemption” (which falls on our Gregorian calendar in the midway point between March and April). 

The Exodus marked a new life and a fresh start, being saved from Egypt and heading towards the land that GOD promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and this emerging nation of Israel. Just as our regeneration by faith in Christ marks a new life and fresh start for us, Israel becomes a type for us who are of the church of Jesus Christ.

EXODUS 12:3
3 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 the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house:

When you hear the word ‘lamb’, who is the first person you should think of, but the LORD Jesus Christ Himself! This is all a foreshadow of Who Jesus is, and what it is that He did for us! Very clear, simple and direct instructions were given to the Hebrew people regarding the Passover Lamb. Each head of all the families would select a one year old lamb or goat on the 10th day of Abib. They had to obey GOD perfectly – for example, they couldn’t use a female lamb, or a lamb two years of age. 

It had to be exactly what GOD had said. Otherwise, they would be disobedient, and struck by the Destroying angel. By the way, it’s been said that a one year old lamb tastes the best – so it could be that the LORD wanted His people to enjoy some tasty meet before they made their journey in this exodus. There was to be one lamb for each family, entirely without blemish, no blind or crippled lamb or any other kind of defect: no imperfection whatsoever. They were to offer their best, their very best – exactly as the Father offered up on our behalf: His VERY best offering: the LORD Jesus Himself!

This Passover lamb is a type as well, for our LORD Jesus Christ, THE LAMB of GOD, Who takes away the sin of the world (JOHN 1:29)! 

Every household was to kill the lamb on the 14th day of Abib – just four days after selecting it – and the lamb was to be slain at twilight (approximately 6 pm) by every household, all at the same time (not 3 pm or 7pm, but at twilight – 6 pm).

Here you have this cute, cuddly, loveable lamb that would be in the midst of this family, and the children after just four days would fall in love with this gentle creature, probably giving it a name, and then by the fourth day, see it sacrificed. It’s tender little neck slit with a sharp knife, its blood gushing out into a basin and collect. No doubt, the children would be traumatized by the event, and ask the parents why this had to be done to their loving little lamb!

Then they were to take the lamb’s blood and strike the lintels and the door posts of the doorways into their homes (vs. 21-22). This in itself is a picture of how Christ Himself was whipped thirty-nine times, as well as a picture of the cross (blood being strike down along the sides of the doors, then across the top).

They were to eat the flesh of the roasted lamb, which points to us as the body of Christ, ‘eating’ by faith, the Son of man, taking Him into our lives to give us eternal life:

JOHN 6:51-57
51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. 52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? 53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.

“The bread that came down from heaven” the manna, which is representative of The Bread of Life, again, the LORD Himself (JOHN 6:35,48,51). When we partake of this bread of life, we are granted eternal life, being one with our Savior, the author of resurrection, eternal life (JOHN 3:16; 11:25).

Also, the Hebrew people were not to break a single bone of the lamb’s body – yet another reference of Jesus Christ, the LAMB of GOD, slain on the cross at Calvary:

JOHN 19:36
36 For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken. (see also PSALM 34:20, the Messianic prophecy that foretold this; it was customary that those who were crucified would have their legs broken to speed up the death process; yet this was not done to our LORD, because after ‘only’ six hours, He died – a very short period of time as crucifixion takes a long time to kill its victim.

Non-Jews were allowed to partake of the Passover lamb who were not circumcised, that is, those who had not converted to Judaism; likewise no one partakes of Jesus unless they are born again. 

There are theologians that believe this is a foreshadowing of the LORD’s Supper, as well as His baptism, and so on this basis, none should partake of the LORD’s Supper or get baptized unless they are saved, born again by the Spirit of GOD.

Circumcision was a sign given to Abraham as you may remember, to mark him as distinguished from the rest of the world, and all Jews that followed afterwards – a peculiar people (meaning selected, purchased, chosen; EXOD 19:5); just so, we who are born again are marked spiritually and distinguished from the rest of the world, as the body of Christ – and we also are called a peculiar people (1 PET 2:9).

EXODUS 12:12
12 For 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 leftover meat of the lamb was to be burned: none could be left overnight; this dinner was to be eaten in a hurry. YAHWEH spoke: “For I will go through the land of Egypt this night and will strike the first-born in the land”. 

Why the hurry? Because destruction was coming soon! And this reveals to this fallen world that time is short; destruction is on its way! Repent and believe the Gospel, receive the LAMB of GOD before it’s too late and the Angel of Death visits you, to your ruin and damnation! This day is coming very, very close! You might not have the opportunity for salvation tomorrow!
And we who are saved, are saved from GOD’s Holy wrath and judgment (That He took out on His own Son, so that those who believe in Him wouldn’t suffer this from the Living GOD (HEB 10:31))! Jesus saves us from the wrath of GOD!

GOD struck the first born of Egypt because why? Because Egypt held Israel – GOD’s first-born – captive, as slaves. This is a direct (and personal) judgment upon Pharaoh himself and his first-born by GOD Himself! Talk about up-close and personal!

EXODUS 4:21-23
21 And the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go. 22 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn: 23 And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.

Continuing on then in Chapter Twelve:

EXODUS 12:13
13 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 the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

The LORD declared that when He sees the blood (on the door) that He will ‘pass over’ you”. This is Pesach in Hebrew, or “Passover”. The Lamb’s applied blood on the door posts held back the LORD’s Destroying angel. Why? Because an innocent sacrifice died in their place. The theological term for this is Penal Substitutionary Atonement 

 
Jesus took our punishment upon Himself, in our place just as the lambs for these various families had their blood shed and died, rather than the families dying.
Isn’t this amazing, when you think of it? Everything we’ve been reading here in Exodus (as well as the entire Bible), points to Jesus – it’s all about Him! He said so in JOHN 5:39!

EXODUS 12:17-18
17 And ye 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 ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance forever. 18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even.

In the first month, on the 14th day of the month at evening, the Hebrews ate unleavened bread. The same day that the lambs in Egypt were killed and the Feast of Unleavened Bread started – this was the same day that Jesus instituted the LORD’s Supper with His disciples:

MATTHEW 26:17-19
17 Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the Passover? 18 And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at thy house with my disciples. 19 And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the Passover.

We can clearly see here that EXODUS was a foreshadowing of Jesus’ death.
For us Christians, it was as though the LORD Jesus converted the Passover into the LORD’s supper. While unbelieving Jews still celebrate the Passover, to remember their deliverance from Egypt – we partake in the LORD’s Table to remember a far greater deliverance because of the Cross of Christ!

Check out these two references:

1 CORINTHIANS 5:7
7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

Leaven represents false doctrine, and pride and in general, sin. These are things we are to purge out of our lives, to have nothing to do with it, to sweep it out of our homes as well as out of our hearts! Let us rid ourselves of all sin – and by the sacrifice of Christ, and His empowering Spirit, this should be our objective, to cleanse ourselves of filthiness of the flesh and spirit (2 COR 7:1).

MATTHEW 26:27-29
27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; 28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 29 But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.

Remember the words of John the Baptist?

JOHN 1:29
29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

EXODUS 12:25-27
25 And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the Lord will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service. 26 And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? 27 That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped.

It was the responsibility of the parents, particularly the fathers to explain the Passover to their children. “Why do we have to kill this lamb, Daddy?”
“It’s either the lamb of your big brother!” We are to teach our children about the Cross of Christ. “Why did Jesus had to die Daddy?” Because He paid the price for all the sins of the whole world, and now if we have faith and believe in Him, we are saved, and go to heaven!”
At such love and grace, “…the people bow[ed] their heads and worship[ed]”.

One day we will stand before the LORD Himself, as it states in the book of REVELATION, and we will bow down and worship Him!

REVELATION 7:9-12
9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; 10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. 11 And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, 12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. (see also REV 5:14; 11:16; 16:2; 19:4,10).

What is the best way to show your appreciation for the LORD your Savior? I can tell you with one word: obedience. Remember what Samuel the prophet declared:

1 SAMUEL 15:22
And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

EXODUS 12:28
28 And the children of Israel went away and did as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they. 

The children of Israel did what the LORD commanded. We must understand that everyone was under GOD’s judgment and if any Israelite would have disobeyed their first-born would have died also. Israel was guilty of sin as much as the Egyptians. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of GOD (ROM 3:23). For the full details of Israel’s transgressions while they lived in Egypt, read EZEK 20 (esp. vs.6-9). 

Yet GOD bestowed His mercies on Israel, and not on Egypt, for upon whom He shows mercy and on whom He reveals judgment falls upon the sovereignty of GOD (ROM 9:15-16). The LORD GOD made promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in His grace and mercy, and because of this, His grace and mercy was (and is!) extended to the nation of Israel!

So every first-born of the Egyptians died, young and old, and every first-born in between, no exceptions at all. Every family lost one family member, there was no lamb sacrifice provided for them – GOD left the Egyptians to trust in their own worthless gods, and by doing so proved His point: GOD is a God of justice and holiness and is supreme in power, over all.

After seeing all that they had seen – their land decimated, Pharaoh humiliated, the so-called ‘mighty gods of Egypt’ disgraced and shown for what they really were – idols made of gold, silver, bronze and stone (HAB 2:18). 

This world is in for a rude awakening, just as Pharaoh finally woke up to the truth about YHWH (vs. 32); during the time of the tribulation period, the wrath of GOD will be poured out and everyone and everything that people trust in, look to for answers, even pray to, will let them down horribly – for there is hope in only One Name, the Name of the LORD Jesus Christ!

EXODUS 12:31-36
31 And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as ye have said. 32 Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also. 33 And 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. 34 And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading troughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders. 35 And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: 36 And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians.

The Egyptians recognized that their first-born were slain by the LORD GOD of Israel; their best as in their strongest, brightest and preeminent and that being the case, if they didn’t let Israel go, their GOD Who is GOD, would destroy all the land along with all the Egyptians.
These Hebrew slaves ended up leaving Egypt with all the spoils of gold and silver, and raiment, looking more like princes and princesses instead of paupers! From rags to royalty as it were! Yet these blessings were used to forge the false god Apis in the wilderness when Moses was up on Mt. Sinai receiving the 10 Commandments. Later still, they used these blessings appropriately for the construction of the Tabernacle.

EXODUS 12:37
37 And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children.

Israel (Jacob) and sons came into Egypt, numbering 70 souls (and intended on staying only until the end of the famine which was four more years. Instead, they remained in that land for well over 400 years!), and they left numbering two million plus! But they didn’t leave alone:

EXODUS 12:38
38 And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle.

They placed their faith in the GOD of Israel, YHWH! Yet in NUMBERS 11:4 we read that these mixed multitudes instigated trouble in the wilderness wanderings. They started a complaining party against GOD, wishing that they were back in EGYPT, and this encouraged Israel in an evil thing, so that they joined in on the complaining!

EXODUS 12:39-41
39 And 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. 40 Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. 41 And 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.

[Some additional thoughts from James, in wrapping up this extensive and edifying study]

The time of the EXODUS finally arrived – it was on a day appointed and fixed in the mind of GOD. Likewise our own exodus (which means “departure”) is appointed by GOD, and the day and hour is fixed in His mind. However, we don’t know the day or the hour, therefore the LORD instructs us to “watch and pray for [we] don’t know when the time is” (MARK 13:33).

EXODUS 12:42-51
42 It 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. 43 And the Lord said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the Passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof: 44 But every man's servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof. 45 A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat thereof. 46 In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof. 47 All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. 48 And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, 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 that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof. 49 One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you. 50 Thus did all the children of Israel; as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they. 51 And 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 Passover, as mentioned previously, was strictly for the Jewish people, not for Gentiles, unless they were converted.
Likewise, unless a person is converted from an unrepentant life of sin and committed to the LORD Jesus Christ by believing the Gospel by faith, they have no part with the church, no part with communion or baptism, no part of the kingdom of GOD, and with no hope whatsoever of eternal life and the kingdom of GOD.
However, upon believing the Gospel by confession and genuine faith from the heart, one is instantly transferred from the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of our Father’s dear Son (COL 1:13).