Day 1072: Brought near - Exodus 12 vs 37 - 51

37-39 And the people of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds. And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves. 40-42 The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. It was a night of watching by the Lord, to bring them out of the land of Egypt; so this same night is a night of watching kept to the Lord by all the people of Israel throughout their generations.

43-45 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat of it, but every slave that is bought for money may eat of it after you have circumcised him. No foreigner or hired servant may eat of it. 46 It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones. 47-49 All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.” 50 -51All the people of Israel did just as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron. And on that very day the Lord brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts. Exodus 12:37-51 English Standard Version

We see in today's reading that over the four hundred plus years the descendants of Abraham had been in Egypt, they had multiplied abundantly! That shouldn't surprise us, for did God not take Abraham outside of his tent and say to him: “Look up at the sky and count the stars - if indeed you can count them. So shall your offspring be.” (Genesis 15:5) What were they to do so that the very day they were led out of Egypt would always be remembered? (vs 40-42)

They were to keep a 'watch night'. They were to turn their eyes to the One who had watched over them, and rescued them out of their sorrowful situation. It was the very night they had applied the blood of a lamb to their door lintels, and their firstborn had been spared. There's a sense in which every time Christians partake in 'the Lord's supper', we are looking to Him who saw us in the bondage of sin, and saved us through the shed blood of Christ, the Lamb of God.

In vs 43-49 God gave instructions regarding who could share in the future Passover feasts, and a distinction was made between the circumcised and the uncircumcised. God was separating a people to be His own. But we see that provision was made for 'outsiders' who wanted to share in the feast, and become part of His people. Was this perhaps a glimpse of what would become very true through the gospel?

Over a thousand years later the apostle Paul wrote to gentiles who had responded to the gospel, and said: “Remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth, called 'uncircumcised' by those who call themselves 'the circumcision', that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:11-13) The descendants of Abraham would come from the gentile world as well! A last thought. What was said of the passover lamb in vs 46?

Not only was it to be consumed indoors; none of it's bones were to be broken! A seemingly insignificant point. But the apostle John tells us that, when the Roman soldiers came to break the legs of the three crucified people, they saw that Jesus had already died, so they just pierced His side instead. John writes: “These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: 'Not one of his bones will be broken,' and, as another scripture says, 'They will look on the one they have pierced.'” (John 19:36-37) Passover and Calvary were not accidents of history. They were the determined plan of God in separating a people for His own possession. Brought near through the blood of the Lamb.