Day 19 – Passover & Exodus - Exodus 12:1-42
We reach the culmination of the battle between God and the gods of the most powerful worldly empire at that time. Remember that Pharaoh himself was considered a god. After the Passover, Pharaoh finally allows the slaves to depart. The nation of Israel
The reading is a mix of narrative with instruction for holding the Passover festival into the future. Actually the passages we skip between today and tomorrow delve much deeper into the later aspect.
The Passover is the most important festival for Jews from this time forward. The entire festival is designed to remind them of their origins and that God is responsible for their freedom.
For Christians the Passover celebration becomes the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. In three of the four Gospels, Passover is also Jesus’ last meal (the Last Supper) with his disciples. (John has a slightly different timing, and places Jesus’ death at the exact time when the lambs are killed for the evening supper, obviously identifying Jesus as the Lamb of God.) Part of what the Lord’s Supper is also designed to do is for us to remember our origins and that God is responsible for our freedom from sin and death as well.
Both have more to them, forward looking elements: Passover as a reminder to the Jews that no matter the situation they face, which was typically not good, God freed them once and will do so again. For us, the Lord’s Supper also has forward looking elements as we also look for to the return of Jesus Christ.
As you read about the Passover, how does this event influence your understanding of the Lords’ Supper?
How does the recounting of the liberation of the Israelites affect your understanding of God’s concern for your present situation, whatever it may be?
In Christ,
Randy
I believe God asks us to do things that make little or no sense to us, he wants us to acknowledge he is Lord. Does putting blood on the door posts make any sense? Today we picture a loving God that wouldn't kill people, yet the 1st born son in each household without the blood was killed. Many people today say the people couldn't have crossed the red sea. It was the reed sea,not the red sea.If the story is to prove God is God and God's people all safely cross and the Egyptians are all drown in the sea. God is doing something to show us it is not human but to show His/ God's power. We at times try to see with our eyes what God is doing.. we need to ask to see through His eyes. Human thinking, & knowledge, are limited. God's power is true power. Because we can't understand only means we aren't God. God can't be totally understood by humans, yet we attempt to make Him as we see.
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