From “We Were Once as You Are”
Our pleasure and our duty,
Though opposite before;
Since we have seen his beauty,
Are joined to part no more:
It is our highest pleasure,
No less than duty’s call;
To love him beyond measure,
And serve him with our all.—John Newton, Works
The front of the U-Haul is highly organized. It’s the back that’s in such a state of pandemonium you’re terrified to upon the door to unload. One might think we’ve come to the back of the U-Haul as the Israelites prepare to move, but God is packing, and the last items are a perfect fit. The tail isn’t loose and dangerous, nor are odds and ends haphazardly smashed in. These aren’t random leftovers. Note God’s fine packing skills, His organizational genius.
First, Exodus 11:1–13:16 concern the last wonder and their exodus. Where has the emphasis been? Not on how Israel was saved by judgment, but how she was saved from judgment. The emphasis isn’t on the judgment that falls on Egypt so much as the feasts of commemoration centering on how Yahweh saved them from the same judgment. So the end of this section emphasizes again what has been emphasized. The ending fits the same pattern of organization at the front of the U-Haul.
Second, another repeated pattern is that Yahweh speaks (v. 1) and then Moses speaks (v. 3). When Moses speaks he speaks what Yahweh spoke. See, packing skills displayed undiminished all the way through.
Third, both Unleavened Bread and the lambing, kidding, and calving of their livestock are spring events. They mark fruitfulness. Lambs are being born, wheat is being harvested (13:4). The God who slew the firstborn of Egypt, both man and beast, is the God who made Israel fruitful in Egypt and redeemed them. Further both the consecration of the firstborn and the feast are to be perpetuated from father to son, and God gives a sample liturgy tying both to the exodus (13:8–10, 14–15). Also, the further instructions are concerning how these things are to be observed in the land (13:5, 11).
Finally, these rites remind us these events are not just to be read historically, but theologically. By ending this section with the consecration of the firstborn and the redemption of Sons, great clarity is given as to the meaning of God’s redemption of Israel as His firstborn (Exodus 4:22–23). God provides a substitute for His people that He does not for Egypt. He purchases his son back unto Himself out of judgment by the shedding of a representative’s blood.
Jesus is the firstborn of many brothers. Jesus, the firstborn, represents the family. But for Him there was no substitute. He didn’t need one. We did. He is the substitute. Jesus is as the firstborn of Egypt that we might be as the adopted firstborn of Israel.
God packed these last so that they’d figuratively be the first things unpacked when they got to the promised land. God isn’t tired, haphazardly throwing in a few last odd shaped items. As they leave, they leave with feasts and rites to be perpetuated so they’ll remember His redemption.
Exodus Moving Company: Family owned and operated. Father, Son, and Spirit expertly moving souls out of the bondage of Egypt, paying the full price for the move in an unmatched display of glory.
From “Looking at the Cross
With pleasing grief and mournful joy,
My spirit now is filled;
That I should such a life destroy,
Yet live by him I killed.—John Newton, Works
Why the additional Passover instructions trailing the report of the Exodus (12:43–51)? To understand one reason, dial these digits: 600000 (12:37). Add in estimates for women and children and we’ve got a nation of approximately 2 million leaving Egypt.
Attempts are made to shrink this number, even by conservative evangelicals who own up to all that’s proceeded. The best efforts demonstrate how the word for thousand here is translated a variety of ways including cattle, clans, divisions, families, and tribes. Indeed. Then they pontificate what we really have is six hundred divisions of fighting men; thus bringing the estimated total down to a manageable thirty five thousand. It’s funny to see a scholar deal so deftly with this text, but then so dumbly with Exodus 38:26 where we get the more exact figure of 603,550. Their prime retort being to quietly mumble “I dunno?” They have an even harder time with the census figures in Numbers 1, 2 and 26 where Moses shows his work and teases this out in greater detail.
Israel left big and they left big just as their big God had promised. God had promised Abraham descendants as the sand and stars (Genesis 13:16; 15:5). God told Jacob that it was in Egypt that He would make him a great nation (Genesis 46:3). Exodus begins by telling us “the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them (Exodus 1:7).” Pharaoh tries to stomp the vine of Yahweh to death, but he only plants more seeds. “But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel (Exodus 1:12). It’s laughable to see one own up to a river turning to blood, frogs covering the land, dust turning to gnats, flies filling houses, livestock dropping dead, boils tormenting flesh, hail devastating crops, locusts finishing off what was left, darkness terrifying for three days, and the firstborn being stricken dead, but then choke on the number 600,000. The point of the big number is to show us again God’s big faithfulness and big sovereignty by making Israel a big nation.
But how does this relate to the Passover? This big group leaving Israel wasn’t solely comprised of ethnic Israelites. “A mixed multitude also went up with them (Exodus 12:38).” The new Passover material concerns who may partake of the Passover. While no foreigner may (vv. 43, 45) a slave, stranger, or sojourner who wishes to, may, if he is circumcised identifying with the people of Israel. This isn’t racial bias, it’s religious bias. This is a feast for Israel (cf. Romans 2:29), the people of God, and thus, it is a feast for the nations.
Centuries later a centurion would express faith in Jesus. Jesus responded, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 8:10–12).” When foreigners were excluded from the Passover it wasn’t ethnic prejudice. When Israelites are barred from the feast of the kingdom, it’s not ethnic prejudice. A great host from every tribe, language, people, and nation is being redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. This isn’t biased prejudice, it is gracious election, and it is big because our God is big.
From “The Name of Jesus”
Weak is the effort of my heart,
And cold my warmest thought;
But when I see thee as thou art,
I’ll praise thee as I ought.—John Newton, Works
From “Ask What I Shall Give Thee”
Thou art coming to a King,
Large petitions with thee bring;
For his grace and pow’r are such,
None can ever ask too much.—John Newton, Works
The Passover is a sacrifice-feast. No one would contend that it’s not a feast. Besides the eating, it’s explicitly called a feast twice in Exodus 12:14. Thus, no one contends that the Passover isn’t a feast, but some do want to say that it’s not a sacrifice. While no one could argue that Passover isn’t a feast, no one should argue that it’s not a sacrifice. The feast looses it’s significance if it isn’t a sacrifice-feast. Blood isn’t just drained so as to prepare a meal to eat. It is smeared and applied. The blood is a sign. Further, the Passover is explicitly called a feast in Exodus 12:27.
You can be certain that those who toy with the shadow do so because they hate the One who casts it. Academics and theologians revise the historical Passover because they hate the Passover Lamb who fulfilled it. They might say they like Jesus, but they’ve revised Him too. Why do they exert such mental muscle to cook up a Passover that’s nothing more than a commemorative meal celebrating deliverance? Not because they hate the idea of Passover as sacrifice, but because they hate the idea of the cross as sacrifice.
In 1993 at a “Protestant” conference one speaker said, “I don’t think we need a theology of atonement at all; I don’t think we need folks hanging on crosses and blood dripping and weird stuff.” Others say penal substitutionary atonement is “a form of cosmic child abuse.” Drain the blood, on the with the feast.
R.C. Sproul was once invited by a Quaker community to lecture on the relation of the Old and New Covenants. As he was unfolding the curse motif of the Scriptures and spoke of how Christ, as a substitutionary sacrifice bore the curse, someone in the back of the room yelled, “That’s primitive and obscene.” Stunned he asked, “What did you say?” With great hostility he repeated, “That’s primitive and obscene.” Sproul recollects, “At that point, I had recovered from my surprise, and I told the man I actually liked his choice of adjectives. It is primitive for a blood sacrifice to be made to satisfy the justice of a transcendent and holy God, but sin is a primitive thing that is basic to our human existence, so God chose to communicate His love, mercy, and redemption to us through this primitive work. And the cross is an obscenity, because all of the corporate sin of God’s people was laid on Christ. The cross was the ugliest, most obscene thing in the history of the world. So I thanked the man for his observation. But my point is that the man was extremely hostile to the whole idea of the atonement.”
Why do men hate it so? It isn’t because of refined and enlightened tastes. This isn’t like those who lash out against blood and gore in film and video games. The same chap who loves those games can hate the idea of the cross as sacrifice. Why do they hate it so? Because the Passover as sacrifice, pointing to the cross, undermines all human pride and gives all glory to Christ.
“The Lord Will Provide”
Though troubles assail
And dangers affright,
Though friends should all fail
And foes all unite;
Yet one thing secures us,
Whatever betide,
The scripture assures us,
The Lord will provide.The birds without barn
Or storehouse are fed,
From them let us learn
To trust for our bread:
His saints, what is fitting,
Shall ne’er be denied,
So long as ’tis written,
The Lord will provide.We may, like the ships,
By tempest be tossed
On perilous deeps,
But cannot be lost.
Though Satan enrages
The wind and the tide,
The promise engages,
The Lord will provide.His call we obey
Like Abram of old,
Not knowing our way,
But faith makes us bold;
For though we are strangers
We have a good Guide,
And trust in all dangers,
The Lord will provide.When Satan appears
To stop up our path,
And fill us with fears,
We triumph by faith;
He cannot take from us,
Though oft he has tried,
This heart–cheering promise,
The Lord will provide.He tells us we’re weak,
Our hope is in vain,
The good that we seek
We ne’er shall obtain,
But when such suggestions
Our spirits have plied,
This answers all questions,
The Lord will provide.No strength of our own,
Or goodness we claim,
Yet since we have known
The Savior’s great name;
In this our strong tower
For safety we hide,
The Lord is our power,
The Lord will provide.When life sinks apace
And death is in view,
This word of his grace
Shall comfort us through:
No fearing or doubting
With Christ on our side,
We hope to die shouting,
The Lord will provide.—John Newton, Works
Words (parenthesis) more words.
Parenthetical statements explain and clarify. Exodus 11:1–10 has an opening parenthetical statement (vv. 1–3) and a closing one (vv. 9–10). These two parenthetical statements hug the declaration of the tenth wonder as tightly as, well, parenthesis.
Following the ninth plague of darkness, Pharaoh calls for Moses and commands Israel to leave, but without their livestock. No deal. Pharaoh erupts and tells Moses to be heedful not to see him again lest he die. Moses retorts they indeed won’t see one another. What follows explains why Moses could say this with confidence. The parenthetical statement in vv. 1-3 takes us back before Moses appeared in Pharaoh’s court.
The LORD said to Moses, “Yet one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will drive you away completely. Speak now in the hearing of the people, that they ask, every man of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor, for silver and gold jewelry.” And the LORD gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people.
End the first parenthesis. Resume closing salvo against Pharaoh. Moses declares the last of the wonders before Pharaoh (Exodus 11:8–9). Moses knew the end game from the beginning (Exodus 4:21–23). He knew multiple wonders were God’s want-to, not His have-to, and that the death of the firstborn would be the finale. Now he’s learned that God wishes to round things out at ten. God’s judgment is no mindless rage, but poetic justice. The emphasis, the stress, the accent of God’s poetry weighs on this, His glory.
The closing parenthesis (11:9–10) are just that, half, or the closing of a parenthesis. The first half came in 7:3–4 just before the first sign was done.
But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment.
Exodus 7:3–4 and 11:9–10 together form what Bible scholars call an inclusio. Think of them as a kind of verbal parenthesis, using similar language to mark off a large section. Note the similarity of the closing half to the opening.
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land.
I have no fear of being as repetitive as the Bible. Medicine often is repetitive. We need radical healing in our souls. The total sovereignty of God is a big pill to swallow and we need to swallow the whole thing—daily. This is not a drug with a score down the middle so that you can cut it in half. The Bible isn’t perforated such that you can take a half-sovereign and pretend you’ve ingested the a whole. So again, and without trepidation, these multiple wonders are not a have-to because of Pharaoh’s hardness, Pharaoh is hard because multiple wonders are God’s want-to. In redemption God is totally sovereign. This sovereignty expresses both God’s justice and His grace without compromising either. By these mighty acts God makes distinction (Exodus 11:7). In the tenth wonder God will reveal how He can make this distinction. Both Israel and Egypt deserve this tenth wonder, but for His people, He provides a sacrifice. Distinction by sacrifice; this is the gospel of the sovereign Lord.
The natural weakness of man is conspicuous in his most important undertakings: having no fund of sufficiency in himself, he is forced to collect all from without ; and if the greatness of his preparations are not answerable to the extent of his designs, he has little hopes of success. Farther: when he has planned and provided to the utmost of his power, he is still subject to innumerable contingences, which he can neither foresee nor prevent ; and has often the mortification to see his fairest prospects blasted, and the whole apparatus of his labour and care only contribute to make his disappointment more conspicuous and painful.
The reverse of this is the character of the wonder-working God. To his power every thing is easy; he knows how to employ every creature and contingence as a means to accomplish his designs; not a seeming difficulty can intervene but by his permission, and he only permits it to illustrate his own wisdom and agency in making it subservient to his will. Thus, having all hearts and events in his hands, he fulfills his own counsels with the utmost ease and certainty; and, to show that the work is his own, he often proceeds by such methods as vain men account weak and insignificant, producing the most extensive and glorious consequences from small and inconsiderable beginnings. Thus the Lord of hosts hath purposed to stain the pride of human glory. —John Newton, Works
No Other Boast 