Prior to the tenth, and the most dreaded plague, God tells Moses and Aaron the list of laws that the Israelites must follow. God has foresight. He knows that man does not always understand or even listen and it seems very plausible that He is preparing them for their journey out of Egypt. Because God is taking them out of a country they have lived in for over four hundred years and have been slaves in that country, to the Egyptian master, for a little less than 200 years, He wants them to know they will be responsible to Him in their behavior.
Today we use the term, “Freedom is not free.” With freedom comes responsibility. Without responsibility and rules we would end up in anarchy. Following God’s laws will be their responsibility. You can probably imagine what the very first law God gave to Moses was before they left Egypt, it was the law of celebrating Passover.
God said, “This month shall mark for you the beginning of the months. It shall be the first of the months of the year for you.” This month that God is talking about is Nisan. Which is the spring month that includes Passover. It is celebrated as a time of rebirth, renewal, new beginnings, and the Creator of the world. It would be their first “Happy New Year”.
But actually, the Jewish calendar has two different first months. The other is called Tishrei, the autumn month that includes Rosh Hashanah, which is also the New Year. In the Jewish Torah, they celebrate two New Years. Passover takes our minds to when Jesus Christ said, “You are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” He continued by saying, “Whoever sins is a slave of sin.”
That concept is as true today as it was at the time of Moses, and all throughout history. Freedom is a process, not a destination. It is a promise from God’s Word. Maintaining your freedom requires good choices. Once set free, good choices help us remain free. God wanted those Israelites to know they would be responsible for their own freedom. He would set them free but they would have to keep their own freedom. God will not take them out of Egypt until they reaffirm their connection with Him. Then they will only remain free by worshipping God and following His rules. It is a requirement that the Israelites will worship their God.
That all begs the question, “How does one worship God?”
Yes, we can do it corporately in a religious service, but the Bible continually tells us that we worship God with our ethical behavior. Micah 6:8 makes it clear when it says, “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.”
The Law is actually there to remind the Israelites they are being liberated from Egypt in order to serve God. After that reminder, God tells them that in order to worship, it requires a sacrifice. In ten verses God outlines the law of the Paschal sacrifice. The first thing we have to know to keep the law is that the word Paschal is nothing more than the Hebrew word for Passover. The entire community must partake of this celebration. On the tenth day of each month every family, or every household shall take a lamb. The only exception is if a family is too small for a lamb, they may share it with another family.
With understanding we can know that the requirements God places on His people are not frivolous, they are an object lesson to teach even the dumbest of His chosen, and they are even meant to teach the Egyptians and anyone else who cares to learn. The lamb was one of many animals worshipped as gods by the Egyptians. So now the Israelites must slaughter a god of their oppressors. If we remember our first lesson on the plagues, we learned the plagues were not an attack on the people but an attack on the false Gods. The plagues were to prove God was more powerful than their false Gods. Today some people tend to believe the sacrifice of those animals was inhumane. But If anyone objects to the sacrificing, or killing, of these animal we must just remember the sacrificed animals were eaten.
That begs the question, “Who are we to object to eating unless you are a vegetarian. Added to that is the fact that it is an object lesson for Christians. Scripture says, “Jesus Christ is the lamb of God that was sacrificed for our sins.”
Of course we know that sacrificial lamb had to be spotless, without blemish, a male that was taken either from the sheep or from the goats. It must be watched over until the fourteenth day of the month. God’s orders are to be followed precisely. How much easier we have it today. To please God all we have to do is believe in Jesus Christ.
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