Calendars are important. Over the ages there has been a handful of different calendars used by different cultures. The one we use currently and have been using for near a millennia now is called the Gregorian calendar. It was invented in 1582 and named after Pope Gregory VIII. Before this time many used what was called the Julian calendar, but apparently it didn’t keep time well, because important dates in the year kept moving back each year. So in October 1582, when the Gregorian calendar was put into place, they decided the date would have jump ahead a bit in order to catch up, so overnight it went from October 4th to October 15th. The Gregorian calendar, even though it fixed many of the problems of the previous system, didn’t catch on right away, but eventually it would. Many other nations would eventually begin using it as well, down to us today who still use it…at least until someone comes up with another idea.
Long before Pope Gregory VIII signed off on this new calendar, the Church had made and used a calendar to guide their year as well. The church calendar is mainly used by liturgical traditions (smells/bells), and it seeks to center the yearly rhythms around Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. It begins with Advent (preparation for Christmas), followed by Christmas (birth of Jesus), Ordinary Time, Lent (repentance), Holy Week (Passion/Death), Easter (Resurrection), and Pentecost (Holy Spirit), before returning to more Ordinary Time once again. The Bible doesn’t command us to use a certain calendar, at least not in the NT, but it is worth our attention that for millions of Christians, the yearly Christian calendar drove everything.
Why would Christians seek to order their year like this? One reason is that God did this for Israel in the OT. God ordered Israel’s yearly life to follow certain rhythms that emphasized certain truths about Him and certain great works He has done. I mention all of this today because in Exodus 12 (our text for today) we see this begin. So, while all of Scripture is inspired by God and given to us for our great good, certain chapters in the Bible stand out like Mt. Everest. In all of Exodus, chapter 12 is such a chapter, standing out as one of the most important chapters of the book. To it we now turn…
A New Calendar (v1-2)
“The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you.”
Here in v1-2, for the first time in Exodus God tells His people about the importance of specific days in their calendar. At first glance this might not seem all that monumental to you, but Church, this is huge. Why? Because this shows us that even while Israel was in Egypt God was re-ordering their lives.[1] Many people believe (and I’ve even said to you a few times) that God rescued His people out of Egypt and then re-ordered the lives of His people at Mt. Sinai by the Law. Rescue and re-ordering, in that pattern. This is generally true. God does re-order Israel at Sinai by the Law…but some of the changes God wanted to make in Israel didn’t wait until Mt. Sinai, nope, God brought about some of these changes while Israel was still in Egypt. That’s what we’re seeing here in v1-2. Israel, once driven by Egypt’s yearly rhythms, now has a calendar unique to them that begins with a celebration remembering the Exodus event. What does this teach us?
God is not only going to take Israel out of Egypt, He’s going to take Egypt out of Israel.[2] You see that? So much of the Egyptian way of life has been ingrained in the Israelites over their 400 year captivity, BUT, by God’s grace Israel will learn a better way.
This is huge for them! Think of what their calendar was like under Pharaoh’s cruel thumb. When Pharaoh was in charge, Israel’s days became an endless repetition of wearisome toil that seemed to just go one forever. The ideas of past and future slowly morphed into a confused unbearable present.[3] But what happens when God rescues them and saves them? A new beginning occurs! Bright expectation replaces dark resignation, lively hope replaces dead numbness, great celebration replaces wretched toil. The Lord is indeed kind to His people, not only in saving them but in remaking their calendar to begin each year by remembering His great work in the Exodus! That’s what v1-2 is all about.
But what exactly will Israel do to remember the Exodus as each new year begins? They will keep the Passover. That’s what the rest of our text is all about.
A New Ceremony (v3-28)
“Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight. “Then 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. They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. 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 no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.”
v14, “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. On the first day you shall hold a holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. No work shall be done on those days. But what everyone needs to eat, that alone may be prepared by you. And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever. In the first month, from 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 is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats what is leavened, that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land. You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwelling places you shall eat unleavened bread.”
All these instructions can easily become difficult to follow so let’s carefully look at what God is commanding in this ceremony. In v3-4 God commands that each family is to take a lamb for their household. In v5 God commands that this lamb is to be unblemished, a year old, male, and taken from the sheep or the goats. In v6 God commands that the family keeps watch over this lamb until the fourteenth day of the month when they will kill the lamb at twilight. Then in v7 God commands they take the blood of the lamb and put it all over the entrance to their house. God will tell them more about the blood soon, but first He tells them something else.
In v8-11 God commands the family to cook and eat the rest of the lamb, but this meal was to be a meal like no other.[4]Meat was normally cooked in an oven, or in a pan, but not this time, here the lamb is to be roasted over a fire. Normally bread would contain leaven to help it rise, but not this time, here it is to be unleavened bread, coupled with bitter herbs to reflect their bitter slavery. And normally meals were eaten in a relaxed manner, around a table, but not this time, this meal was to be eaten in haste, as they were dressed ready to travel with staff in hand, and their belts and sandals on. Part of the sacred nature of this meal is that it isn’t like all the other meals. Yes it’s a meal, but it isn’t to be like all other meals because of what it represents.
In v11b God gives the ceremony’s name, it is the Lord’s Passover. Why is it called this? v12-13 explain it, “For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. 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 no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.”
Here we see the Passover ceremony is bound up with the tenth and final plague God will bring against Egypt. As we’ve seen, in this plague He will come and put to death all the firstborn in the land of Egypt. This judgment is against the Egyptians and all their gods, and it will bring death to every house in Egypt, every house…except those covered by the blood. The blood will be a sign, so when God comes and sees the blood, He will pass over that house, leaving them safe from death.
All this would’ve been alarming to the Israelites to hear. Not only was God coming in great might to deliver one final blow to Egypt and their gods, but they must prepare for it lest they leave themselves open to suffering the loss of their firstborn along with the Egyptians. Certainly each Israelite family would’ve been sobered as they heard these words. But, can you imagine what it was like for the firstborn child in each family to hear this news? The importance of the lamb was not lost on the oldest children in Israel.[5] The lamb would be their substitute, it’s blood would be spilled to save them, as it would die in their place.
God said more about this moment in v14. There God calls Passover three things: a memorial day (meaning that it serves as a special day set aside to remind them of the Exodus), a feast (meaning a celebration), and a statute forever (meaning something Israel is to keep on doing every year to remind themselves and teach their children what God has done).
In v15-20 God also commands a weeklong feast to be done along with the Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread. These aren’t two separate holidays but rather they form one weeklong celebration. In the rest of the OT this entire week is sometimes referred to as Passover and at other times it’s called the Feast of Unleavened Bread.[6] This feast is all about leaven, and the instructions are specific and strict. Four times God commands Israel to not eat anything with leaven, and twice God says anyone who does will be “cut off” from Israel. Again, normally they can have it, but this week is to be a week in their year that’s unlike all the others, and one way it’s to be different is the lack of leaven.
What’s all of this about?[7] Unleavened bread symbolized a clean break from Egypt. How so? Well, for Israel leaven was a bit of unbaked dough set aside from the day’s baking, kept to be added to the next day’s baking. That little bit of leave once added to the new dough would’ve worked through the whole new batch causing it to rise. For God to command Israel to banish the leaven during this feast symbolized leaving behind all the Egyptian influences working through their whole life to corrupt them more and more.
Thus, I say it again, God is not only going to take Israel out of Egypt, He’s going to take Egypt out of Israel. Paul will even quote this in 1 Cor. 5 to emphasize the holy life God saved us to, calling Christ our Passover Lamb, and warning us against the leaven of the world.
Lastly, in v21-28 we see Moses tell Israel all these instructions. “Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the 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 will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service. And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped. Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.”
Much here is repeated from the previous verses, but notice Moses’ emphasis in v24-27. Here he anticipates the coming day when Israel is settled down in the Promise Land when their children ask them about the meaning of the Passover. How wonderful a thought, right? This is so far ahead of them, yet it is ahead of them! Little do they know how much they’ll have to go through to get there, but by God’s grace they’ll get there! And when they do, as each new year begins and they celebrate the Passover, Moses gives them words to say to their children. When they ask ‘What does this mean?’ a true education is to take place. “This is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, when we remember and celebrate how God passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.”
All of this is the new to Israel here in Exodus 12, but this new pattern was now to be the norm from this point forward.
Conclusion:
This chapter has presented to us with a few massive realities.
A New Era: In this chapter God gave Israel a new way to tell time and keep track of their yearly calendar, and it begins with the celebration of Passover.
A New Substitution: In this chapter God made a way through the blood of the lamb for Israel to safe and secure in the final plague.
A New Feast: In this chapter God instituted a weeklong feast for Israel to maintain each year to remember and teach their children about God’s great work in the Exodus.
Church, all three of these things find their fulfillment in Christ.
A New Era: In Christ the Kingdom of God and the age to come dawned on earth. Meaning, into our darkness God Himself descended to save a people for Himself and re-order their lives by redeeming them.
A New Substitution: In Christ we see the true lamb of God. When John the Baptist saw Jesus he cried out, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Paul also calls Christ “our Passover lamb” in 1 Cor. 5. This Lamb of God is spotless in that He had no sin of His own, yet this Lamb is the substitute for our sins dying in our place, so now all who look to Him in faith are covered by the blood. So on the final day when God judges the world in righteousness and looks out and sees the blood of His Son covering all who believe, His wrath will pass over them, while all who ignore the Son will face His wrath.
A New Feast: In Christ we too have received a new feast to maintain, and like Israel this feast marks a new beginning, and in this feast we remember and teach one another about God’s great work in the gospel. This is the called the Lord’s Supper.
Let me end with this. The Exodus changed everything for Israel, and their calendar reflected this. Church, the gospel changes everything for us, may all our days reflect this!
[1] John D. Currid, Exodus 1-18 - EP Study Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: EP Books, 2014) 230.
[2] Philip Graham Ryken, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory – Preaching the Word Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2015) 311.
[3] Victor P. Hamilton, Exodus: An Exegetical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2023) 179.
[4] Hamilton, 181-182.
[5] Ryken, 301.
[6] Ryken, 307.
[7] Ryken, 311.
