In this week’s post we are looking at answers to the study questions for Exodus chapters 11-13. We have taken a short break from our apologetics’ topics to use a question and answer format for this series. However, embedded in these questions and answers will be references to some of the tough questions often asked by skeptics.

In this week’s study we are looking at the events of the Passover and, as Christians, this is one of the most significant events that we should study as it foreshadows Jesus and His ultimate fulfillment of God’s Covenant Promise to the world. Watch Amir Tsarfati’s presentation on the Passover Lamb. Amir is a native Israeli and former Major in the Israeli Defense Forces. He is the founder and President of Behold Israel–a nonprofit ministry providing access to news and information about Israel from a Biblical and prophetic standpoint.

Overview Notes From the Class Presentation

The Book of Exodus Study Questions and Basic Answers for chapters 11 – 13:16

a. As God describes the last plague to Moses, what did he tell Moses to have the people of Israel ask their Egyptian neighbors for, and why?

• In verse 2 God says to Moses, “Speak now in the hearing of the people that each man ask from his neighbor and each woman from her neighbor for articles of silver and articles of gold.”
• This was to fulfill the prophecy God gave to Abraham back in Genesis 15:13-14 “God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. . But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve and afterward they will come out with many possessions.”
• Note: This can also be seen as “wages paid” for the years the Israelites served Egypt for free.
• Additionally, these items will eventually be used, at least in part, to build the Tabernacle while they are in the wilderness for forty years – see Exodus 25:1-8…

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Tell the sons of Israel to raise a contribution for Me; from every man whose heart moves him you shall raise My contribution. This is the contribution which you are to raise from them: gold, silver and bronze, blue, purple and scarlet material, fine linen, goat hair, rams’ skins dyed red, porpoise skins, acacia wood, oil for lighting, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, onyx stones and setting stones for the ephod and for the breastpiece. Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them. According to all that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture, just so you shall construct it.   Exodus 25:1-8 (NASB)

b. What did God say would happen at about midnight, and why?

Moses said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘About midnight I am going out into the midst of Egypt, and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of the Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the millstones; all the firstborn of the cattle as well. Moreover, there shall be a great cry in all the land of Egypt, such as there has not been before and such as shall never be again. But against any of the sons of Israel a dog will not even bark, whether against man or beast, that you may understand how the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’ Exodus 4:4-7 (NASB)

• In addition, all of the plagues had been designed to humiliate and disgrace the Egyptian gods, and specifically the worship of the Pharaoh and his firstborn – heir and successor to the throne, and ultimately the next god to be worshipped.

c. Going Deeper: Why did God have the people of Israel plunder the Egyptians, and what was the plunder eventually used for? (Cross-reference Genesis 15:13-14 and Exodus 25:1-8)

• (Read the Cross-references and then review the answer in 1a)

2. (Exodus 12:1-30) In this section of the chapter God prepares Israel for their quick departure from Egypt in the middle of the night known as the “Exodus.”

a. What was the purpose of the “Passover Lamb” and what were God’s specific instructions concerning what the people were to do with the lamb and its blood?

• The lamb was to be a perfect and innocent sacrifice
• The lamb was to be kept in the house alive for 3 full days on the fourth day it was to be killed
• They were to put some of its blood on their doors, specifically the lintel and the two doorposts, so that God would have the destroyer “pass over” that house
• They were to roast and eat the lamb that same night, and burn any of the leftovers
• They were to eat it “dressed and ready to flee”

Now the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall be the beginning of months for you; it is to be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their fathers’ households, a lamb for each household. Now if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house are to take one according to the number of persons in them; according to what each man should eat, you are to divide the lamb. Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight. Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that same night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with its entrails. And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall burn with fire. Now you shall eat it in this manner: with your loins girded, 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 go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against 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 live; 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.  Exodus 12:1-13 (NASB)

b. What was the “Feast of Unleavened Bread” and what was its purpose?

• It commemorates the LORD bringing His people out of Israel
• It was to be a memorial feast to celebrate God saving them, and bringing them out from bondage
• It was to be remembered, and celebrated, through the generations (v.24 forever) by following specific guidelines
• God took it so seriously, because He said…

‘Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses; for whoever eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. On the first day you shall have a holy assembly, and another holy assembly on the seventh day; no work at all shall be done on them, except what must be eaten by every person, that alone may be prepared by you. You shall also 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 permanent 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. Seven days there shall be no leaven found in your houses; for whoever eats what is leavened, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is an alien or a native of the land. You shall not eat anything leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.’”  Exodus 12:14-20 (NASB)

The Passover and the importance of “Remembering”

And when your children say to you, ‘What does this rite mean to you?’ you shall say, ‘It is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but spared our homes.’” And the people bowed low and worshiped.  Exodus 12:26-27 (NASB)

So many times in the Old Testament (227 times in the NASB), God tells the people of Israel to “remember,” and Jesus gives us a similar command in the New Testament (to remember Him, and we do this through the “Communion”):

“When the hour had come, He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him. And He said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.” And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.””  Luke 22:14-20 (NASB)

How important is it for us as Christians today to use this same principle of “remembrance” with our children and neighbors concerning what Jesus did for us?

c. Discuss: What foreshadowings of Jesus do you see in the “Passover” event? (Make a list of all the things you see)

• The importance of the Firstborn: God says to Moses in 13:3 “Sanctify to Me every first born, the first offspring of every womb among the sons of Israel, both of man and beast; it belongs to Me.” God was shows us that Jesus was God’s firstborn, and the firstborn of those resurrected from the dead (Colossians 1:8 and Revelation 1:5).
• The importance of the shedding of blood: Blood is where the life is (today we know it is where the DNA is!).
• Adam and Eve were told that if they ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they would die, and the only way we can be redeemed (from the Fall) is by the shedding of the blood of an innocent; Jesus ultimately and forever, but the representation of that would be in the purity (without blemish) of the sacrificial lamb required here at Passover.
• The crucifixion happened on the Passover – Christ is the final Passover Lamb
• The requirement was given for the lamb to live with the family and become part of the family, and then they had to kill it – the pain of losing something/someone close represents what God lost at the crucifixion of His Son – the giving of life to save a life.

“I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.”  Zechariah 12:10 (NASB)

• Exodus 12:46 and Numbers 9:12 tells us that when they eat of the Passover they cannot break any of the lamb’s bones, and Psalm 34:20 speaks to this fulfillment in Christ:

“He keeps all his bones, not one of them is broken.”

3. (Exodus 12:31 through 13:16) In this section we find Israel fleeing Egypt as the Egyptians were mourning and burying their dead.

a. Pharaoh directed Moses and Aaron to depart from the land immediately. Who went out that night, was it only the Hebrews? Discuss: How might this affect the people of Israel later on?

• 12:38 tells us, “A mixed multitude also went up the them, along with flocks and herds, a very large number of livestock.”
• This mixed multitude could have been Egyptians and others (there were other people in Egypt, probably in servitude) who were drawn to the Hebrews by God’s mighty works.
• This mixed multitude will most likely be influential in some of the grumbling, trouble and rebellion by the people against Moses later on.

b. What were some of the restrictions and regulations the LORD put on future Passovers, and why?

• They were to observe it “throughout all the generations”
• No foreigner, sojourner or hired servant can eat of it
• Slaves that have been purchased and circumcised may eat of it
• It is to be eaten in a single house and not brought outside
• No bones are to be broken
• All the congregation of Israel are to celebrate this
• No uncircumcised person may eat of it

c. In chapter 13, what did the LORD tell Moses the people were to do concerning the firstborn of every womb, and why?

• 13:1-2, “Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Sanctify to Me every firstborn, the first offspring of every womb among the sons of Israel, both of man and beast; it belongs to Me.””
• 13:12-15, “you shall devote to the Lord the first offspring of every womb, and the first offspring of every beast that you own; the males belong to the Lord. But every first offspring of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck; and every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. And it shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ then you shall say to him, ‘With a powerful hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. It came about, when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that the Lord killed every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. Therefore, I sacrifice to the Lord the males, the first offspring of every womb, but every firstborn of my sons I redeem.’”

The meaning of sanctifying or consecrating the firstborn male to the LORD was a form of sacrifice by devoting them to the service of the LORD. Its purpose was threefold:

1. It served as a reminder of how God had spared their firstborn sons from death and freed them from slavery
2. It showed God’s high respect for human life in contrast to the pagan gods who, their worshippers believed, demanded human sacrifice (death)
3. It looked forward to the day when Messiah (Jesus) would buy us back by paying the price for our sins

d. Going Deeper: What do some of the Jewish people still do today to commemorate the event of the Exodus, and specifically the Passover?

• The Passover, and the feast of Unleavened Bread, is observed and celebrated by most Jewish people still today, just as the LORD had said
• Traditional Jewish celebrations will follow the ordinances in ritual detail, with special meaning in each food item or setting, for example:

The Seder – each food is symbolic for an aspect of Passover (note: variations exist within Judaism):

• The Haggadah (sets forth the order of the Seder) is read throughout the meal.
• A roasted shank bone represents the Pescah (lamb) sacrifice (As a mark of respect for the memory of the temple sacrifices, the eating of a whole roasted lamb on Passover is forbidden by the code of Jewish law called Shulhan Arukh, which was first printed in Venice in 1565; Jews who strictly interpret this rule will not eat roasted meat or poultry of any kind for their seder).
• An egg represents spring and the circle of life.
• Bitter herbs represent the bitterness of slavery.
• Haroset (an applesauce-like mixture with wine, nuts, apples, etc.) represents the mortar used by the Jews in Egypt.
• Karpas (or greens, often parsley) to represent spring.
• Three pieces of matzah — a cracker-like unleavened bread — that represent the bread the Israelites took with them when they fled Egypt.
• Salt water to represent the tears of the slaves.
• The Torah commands that (at least) four symbolic cups of wine be consumed during the Passover seder.
• One extra kiddish cup at the table for the prophet Elijah whose spirit visits on Passover.
• On the chairs, there may be pillows because on Passover you are supposed to recline at the table as a symbol of being free.
• There is a specific section of the Seder called the four questions, where the youngest person at the table asks about the different Passover symbols and the elders explain – (remembrance).
• Not featured during the meal are leavened foods made of grain known as “chametz” which is prohibited during Passover.

Note: The meal’s menu will differ depending on family tradition. Traditional dishes include matzo ball soup, gefilte fish, beef brisket, chicken and potatoes.