Torah portion: Exodus 12:21-51 and Numbers 28:16-25

Pesach 1

Pesach (Passover): the night when the Lord would ‘pass over’ His Israelite people and lead them out of Egypt; the night when they would finally be freed from the grip of Pharaoh's government; the night for which they had groaned for so long as slaves in captivity, had finally arrived!

Pestilence and plague had befallen Egypt, with one awful judgment after another until eventually the people could bear it no longer. Their firstborn sons lay dead - all had died that same night. Pharaoh had heard but repeatedly refused to obey the command of God, "Let My people go!". And so his firstborn son had also died, according to the word of the Lord spoken through Moses, while the Israelite children were spared by the blood of the lamb on their doorposts.

Now, finally, "Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites!" Pharaoh commanded Moses and Aaron. The Egyptian people also urged the Israelites to hurry and leave the country. They took their dough before the yeast was added, carried it with them and left according to the command of God, with Pharaoh barking out his compliance. At the end of 430 years, to the very day, all the Lord's divisions left Egypt.

God’s Perfect Timing

Each Israelite household had kept a year-old lamb, without defect, for four days before it was killed at twilight at the start of Passover, roasted, then eaten in haste. That night, the people had to be ready to go at any moment, as soon as they heard the word. It would have been useless trying to go the next week or month, or even the next day. They had to be ready at the divinely appointed moment of exodus.

The Lord's timing was crucial. Likewise, the time would soon come for the Israelites to move on from the desert and take possession of their Promised Land. They needed to be ready to move with the Lord, in His timing. Yet by then, only two of the leaders of the people were willing. The rest held back in fear - and so began 40 long, hot, dry years of wandering in the wilderness.

Our Response

Mercifully, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Christ, the Lamb of God, whose blood was shed at exactly the moment of Passover, coinciding with the Jewish celebration which took place each year as God had instructed, was crucified on our behalf: that we can be forgiven, freed from sin and saved from eternal death.

Today it is our turn to respond in faith - however the word of the Lord is directing us in these last days of upheaval (yet opportunity), before He returns for His bride. May we respond in His timing and find His grace for the race that is set before us.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2)

Author: Sally Bolton