Exodus 12: Learning to Worship Before “We” are “Saved” (Bobby Valentine)
Texts to Know
Deuteronomy 16.1-8
Deuteronomy 26.1-15
Joshua 5.1-12
Psalms 113-118
2 Chronicles 30
1 Corinthians 5.7-8
Matthew 26.17-39
Outline of Section
12.1-27 12.29-39 12.43-49 13.1-16 13.17-14.29 15.1-21
Passover/ Story Passover Firstborn/ Story Worship/
Unleavened Unleavened Moses & Miriam
(Learning to Worship) (Ike & Tina)
Liturgy Encloses the Event of the Exodus in the Book of Exodus
(Outline adapted and modified from Terence Fretheim, Exodus, p. 134)
The Book of Exodus was not written the night of the Exodus. The Book, as part of the Torah, is written for future generations. Thus there is a break in the narration of the story of the signs/wonders with the warning of number ten (11.1-10).
Suddenly the text reveals Yahweh addressing Moses and Aaron and through them the “congregation of Israel” (12.3,6,19,47). Yahweh gives directions on how this event is to become worship forever. This event becomes paradigmatic for the identity of Israel through worship centered on a meal. There is an analogy here with the Last Supper of Jesus. There are specific details that may change in our observance and what took place on that fateful night in Egypt and before the Cross. But in a nutshell, this is our Story. It is the story of the Gospel. It is an event not just for them but a redemptive act that flows forward into history of the future people of God. Israel truly is “the people I formed for myself to declare my praise” (Isaiah 43.21).
The Passover 12.2 New time reckoning. Month (Nisan/Abib, Deut 16.1, one a Canaanite name and the other a Babylonian name). It is the first or chief of months (most important). It is in a very real sense the “birthday” of Israel which shows up in the word “congregation” (used first here in Exodus 12).
12.3, Lamb/goat (“the sacrifices that we offer to Yahweh, our God are offensive to the Egyptians,” 8.26; “I will exercise judgment on all the gods of Egypt,” 12.12). Lambs/goats/rams were linked to Amun and Khnum is iconographically depicted as a goat/ram and was a sacred symbol of Amun-Ra.
Jewish traditions on the lamb and Egyptian gods can be found in such places as Shemot Rabbah 16:2; Talmud (Shabbat 87b); etc.
Note that either a lamb or goat could be used in the Passover.
12.4 “join with your neighbor.” The Passover is a “memorial” (older translations) or “day of remembrance” (NRSV) and a “celebration.” Passover is not somber. You have been set free from death! Saved from annihilation. And it is also communal. Passover cannot be celebrated by oneself. The very minimum is the a family. And if your family is to small to eat everything in a single night, get the nearest neighbor and celebrate. You eat in haste but you feast in that haste.
12.6 the lambs in the land of Egypt are not slaughtered at the temple (of course). The whole “congregation of Israel” in a synchronized moment slaughter their lambs at the same time “at twilight” or “between the two evenings.” Israel is both diverse and one at the same time over geographical distance (and through time at the table).
12.12 “I will strike down …” Somber words. Death has hovered over the Book of Exodus from the beginning. Pharoah claims the authority and the right to steal the life of powerless people. The Egyptians participate in this horror in the Story.
– Israel does not lift a finger against Pharoah nor any Egyptian
– The Passover remembers God’s deliverance by grace and his gracious judgment on the gods of Egypt. BUT it makes no provision for relishing the punishment of Egypt. Jewish tradition testifies to the sorrow of God in exercising judgment. In the tradition Yahweh tells the angels to cease their praise by God himself as he weeps, “The work of my hands has drown in the sea and shall you chant songs” (Talmud, Megillah 10b and Sanhedrin 39b). See Ezekiel 18.23; 33.11.
– “a sign for you.” The blook on the door posts and lintels are a sign, for you. This functions very much like the “sign” that God placed in the clouds after the flood in Genesis (9.13). It is a visible mark of the promise of God to Israel (again almost like circumcision too).
12.26 “when the children ask, what does this mean …” Israel’s worship is remarkably inclusive and egalitarian. Children are the future of the people of God. They do not need to know just WHAT is done but why it matters. What is the meaning (see Deut 6.20-25). The meal is a vehicle – sacrament – to proclaim the mighty acts of the Hesed of Yahweh. The meal baptizes the children into the story, all future children are now Israel, part of those set free on that fateful night.
And they bowed their heads and worshiped (v.27).