EXODUS LESSON 22

    We will still be looking at the passover in this lesson.  We will
begin in Exodus 12:11  "And thus shall ye eat it; [with] your loins
girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye
shall eat it in haste: it [is] the LORD'S passover."

    We see that God was telling these people to be prepared to leave.
These were traveling clothes.  His reason for them eating it in haste,
was because they did not know at what moment they would be ready to go.
He reminded them in the last part of this verse, that even though they
ate it hastily, they must not take it lightly.  This was a special
feast that would free them from the bondage of hundreds of years.  This
passover would always be a most holy feast with these Hebrews.

    Exodus 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."

    We see the answer to the plagues (against all the gods of Egypt).
God discredited these false gods, one by one, in the plagues.  You
remember, the death of their firstborn was just punishment for all the
Hebrew children they had killed.  Because animal worship was
prevalent in Egypt, God would kill the firstborn of them, as well.  God
did not have to tell them that He had the right.  He is the LORD.

    Exodus 12:13 "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."

    Death comes to all those who are not covered in the blood of the
Lamb, whether then, or now.  The blood of the Lamb is what brings life.
God would quickly recognize the Israelites, when He saw the blood.  The
blood was their protection.  The blood is our protection, as well.  We
sing a song here at Wildwood called "Somewhere Underneath the Blood".
The song states that our sins are underneath the blood of Jesus.  It
says, you can search on and on forever, you can turn your search light
on, but you will not be able to find the sin; because it is somewhere
underneath the blood.  God looks down to sinful man, and does not see
the sin.  He sees the shed blood of His Son, which does away with the
sin.

    Exodus 12:14 "And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and
ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye
shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever."

    We see by this, that this Passover Feast was not initiated for
just this one occasion, but was to be remembered forever and
celebrated as long as there were Israelites.  We will see as we go
along that not just the physical Israelites would remember this, but
the spiritual Israelites (Christians), as well.  Jesus celebrated
Passover and was, in fact, the Passover Lamb that was sacrificed for
us, the Christians (spiritual Israel).

    Exodus 12:15 "Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the
 first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever
 eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that
 soul shall be cut off from Israel."

    Remember, we are looking at the spiritual side of this.  Leaven
symbolizes sin.  We can see, here, if we continue to sin, we will be
cut off from our inheritance.  "Seven" means spiritually complete.  We
see that these seven days away from leaven symbolizes the
justification we have in Jesus.  We are just as if we had never
sinned, because we have partaken of Jesus, our Passover Lamb, and kept
sin out of our lives.  These seven days symbolize completeness in God.
We see, from this, the importance of walking as near a sinless life, as
possible.  If you sin, repent quickly and begin to walk sinless, again.
Christians should not desire to sin.  Communion should always be taken
with unleavened bread to show that Jesus was sinless.  (The bread
symbolizes His body.)

    Exodus 12:16 "And in the first day [there shall be] an holy
convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation
to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save [that] which
every man must eat, that only may be done of you."

    It seems, that from April 15th until April 22nd would be a time of
absolute rest for the Hebrews. It is, probably, associated with 6 days
of work and on the seventh, a sabbath of rest.  The only two
celebrations that the Hebrews have of seven days duration are the
Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Tabernacles.  We see, here,
that the only type of work that can be done was feeding the family.
These holy convocations meant a worship service.  It would begin with
worship and end with worship.

    Exodus 12:17 "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 for ever."

    We read here, on April the 15th, God would bring His people out.
The Christians celebrate Easter about this time of year.  The Jewish
calendar is different from the Julian calendar, and our date falls on
various days, but the Jewish calendar is set up on the full moon
change.  This would be actually the evening before Jesus rises from
the grave.  We see in all of these celebrations of these Israelites
that Jesus fulfills their celebrations, when He is crucified and
resurrected.  The Feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread were fulfilled
in Jesus' crucifixion.  We see Fristfruits practiced when Jesus rose
from the grave and brought captivity captive with Him.  Firstfruits
was the day after sabbath, or the Sunday after crucifixion.

    Exodus 12:18  "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."

    This would be April 14th on the Jewish calendar.  As we said, this
Feast of Unleavened Bread and Passover really were the same. They were
to eat unleavened bread (be completely rid of sin) these seven days.
As I said before, "seven" means spiritually complete, so these seven
days were the correct time in God's plan to make sure there was no sin
(leaven).  Jesus was crucified on the first day of Unleavened Bread, or
Passover; Jesus was the Passover Lamb.  Jesus, also, is the Bread of
Life.  He is free from sin (then and now).  He fulfills the unleavened
bread, as well, making us spiritually justified in Him.  This 14th
would have been a Friday.  The THIRD day He arose, Sunday the 16th.
You see, Firstfruits in His resurrection.  God is exact.  "Bethlehem"
means house of bread.  Jesus was born in Bethlehem, and He is the
Bread. John 6:35 "And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he
that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me
shall never thirst." None of this is coincidence.  God has everything
planned exactly.

    Exodus 12:19 "Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your
houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul
shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a
stranger, or born in the land."

    We know that through Abraham, we, Gentiles, as well as the Hebrews,
are Israelites.  The Hebrews are physical Israel, and we, Gentile
believers, are spiritual Israel because of our faith.  We have faith
like Abraham's, and we are spiritually the descendants of Abraham.
Galatians 3:6 "Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted
to him for righteousness." Galatians 3:7 "Know ye therefore that they
 which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham." Galatians 3:8
"And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen 
through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, [saying], In thee
shall all nations be blessed.   "Galatians 3:9 "So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham."

    We see, whether we are physical, or spiritual Israel, we must do
away with sin in our lives and live in the salvation that Jesus
purchased for us all.  If we continue in sin, after Jesus has cleansed
us and made us righteous, then we will be condemned.

    Exodus 12:20 "Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your
habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread."

    Here, again, is a re-emphasis on how important the removal of sin
(leaven) is.  This eating of the unleavened bread is symbolic of the
taking of Jesus (The Word of God) into our bodies.  This, again, is why
I am so dogmatic about using unleavened bread in the communion.  The
bread we take in communion is symbolic of the body of Jesus Christ
(the sinless one).  It must be free of sin (therefore unleavened).
Jewish people still practice the Feast of Unleavened Bread today.

    Exodus 12:21  "Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and
said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your
families, and kill the passover."

    This was Moses telling them it was time to go and kill the passover.
Notice the elders, here.  When the Passover Lamb (Jesus Christ) was
crucified, the elders were standing by, also.

    Exodus 12:22 "And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip [it] in
the blood that [is] in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two
side posts with the blood that [is] in the basin; and none of you
shall go out at the door of his house until the morning."

    The only protection these Hebrews had that night in Egypt, and the
only protection we, Christians, have now is the shed blood of the Lamb.
The destroyer did not enter in where the blood of the Lamb was.  The
hyssop was used, many times, in ministering to lepers.  It was believed
to have purifying powers.  This "hyssop", here, was used like a mop, so
that the blood would not be handled.  The hyssop was not the
protecting power here, the blood was.  The hyssop was just used to
spread the blood.  If the Hebrews left the covering of the blood, they
were not protected, and would die just like the Egyptians.

    Exodus 12:23 "For the LORD will pass through to smite the
Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two
side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the
destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite [you]."

    We see, here, that this was the Lord God who was directing the
destruction of the firstborn.  The Lord told the destroyer which
house he (the destroyer) might enter.  Anyone, or any animal, not in the
house with the blood covering would lose their firstborn.  Notice, this
was not Satan doing this.  It was God.  Just as God had made a
separation between the Israelites and the Egyptians in the plagues,
this tenth plague was no different.  God destroyed the firstborn of
Egypt, and spared the Israelites.  It is hard to separate exactly who
was doing the killing, whether it was God, Himself, or a death angel.
Whatever was the case, God was in control of the killing.  It was God's
will that they be killed.

    Exodus 12:24 "And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to
thee and to thy sons for ever."

    We see, in this, that God did not want them to quickly forget
this night.  God expected them to remember, and thank God forever.









                          Exodus 22 Questions


1.  How were these Israelites to eat the passover?
2.  What does this mean?
3.  Why must this be holy to them?
4.  What would He do as He passed through Egypt?
5.  God would execute judgement against whom?
6.  What did God call Himself in verse 12?
7.  What did God do to Egypt's gods?
8.  Why did God choose to kill the firstborn as Egypt's tenth plague?
9.  When God saw "what", the destroyer would pass over the house?
10. Who smites the land of Egypt, Satan or God?
11. Who does eternal death come to?
12. How can God recognize His own?
13. How long shall the Israelites remember Passover?
14. Who were Israelites?  Explain.
15. How many days should they eat unleavened bread?
16. What would happen to those who ate leaven during that time?
17. What does leaven symbolize?
18. What do the seven days symbolize for Christians?
19. Why should communion always be served with unleavened bread?
20. On the holy days, what is the only work that can be done?
21. Abib is April on our calendar.  What day would this Unleavened
    Bread be?
22. What are Israel's only two feasts that last seven days?
23. What were holy convocations?
24. What Christian holiday occurs about the time of Unleavened Bread?
25. When Jesus was crucified and resurrected, what Jewish feast was He
    fulfilling?
26. What day was the Feast of Firstfruits?
27. What day of the first month were they to begin and end the Feast
    of Firstfruits?
28. What two feasts are covered in the same time element?
29. What day did Jesus rise from the grave?
30. What does "Bethlehem" mean?
31. Who is the Bread?
32. Through what man are we Gentile believers made Israelites?
33. What was counted to Abraham as righteousness?
34. Who are blessed with Abraham?
35. What is leaven symbolic of?
36. The eating of unleavened bread is symbolic of what?
37. What is the communion bread symbolic of?
38. What were they to do with the lamb?
39. What were they to use to apply the blood to the door posts?
40. Why were the Israelites not to leave the house?
41. What is the only protection Christians have against the devil?
42. Who would pass through the land that night?
43. What separation was made between the Egyptians and the Israelites?