Bible Study for April 5, 2012 (Maundy Thursday)

Exodus 12:1-4, 5-10, 11-14

Passover!  The most significant service in Judaism.  It is the theme of todays lesson.  It has two reasons given for being done:  (1) the deliverance of the first-born males of the Hebrew people from plague (vv. 7, 13), and in 22-23 we read it is to remember the deliverance of the Hebrew people from slavery in the exodus from Egypt (vv. 14, 24-27).  Today's reading is the set of instructions for observing that celebration, given by God to Moses and Aaron. 

Although ancient Israel's religion is credited to Moses it is clear that his brother Aaron places a role in its formation too.  According to the call of Moses, Aaron was drafted by God as Moses' auxiliary after Moses repeatedly protested as being inadequate, and the subsequent instructions were addressed to "Moses and Aaron."  Both leaders are addressed through out the Pentateuch.

The Egyptian Passover was the inauguration of the perennial Israelite Passover, which was to become the most important rite in the Jewish liturgical calendar which was centralized in the Temple in Jerusalem.  This Passover theme will transfere into Christianity. 

Spring, the season in which Passover occurs, marks the start of the Jewish liturgical calendar.  At this time, Moses and Aaron are to "tell the whole congregation of Israel" of the Passover instructions.  A lamb was to be taken by each family for commemoration.  The lamb is to be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat it and how much they will eat.  The lamb is to be a year old male without blemish.  The offering is to be for wrongdoings and to secure divine favor.  The day is not as important as the sacrifice for wrongdoings and to secure divine favor.  It is evident that the haste of preparation is reflective of the Exodus event. 

The grim judgment executed on the night of the Passover is not simply against the hardheartedness of Pharoah and the Egypcian people; it is also against "all the gods of Egypt."  The interpretation here is theological and not political:  The Hebre people are freed not because of slavery (it was not considered a bad idea in the days Exodus was written), but because God has chosen them for a divine mission.  Slavery interferes with God's mission.  It made the Hebrew god look indifferent and ineffective.  The Passover was understood as an act of divine  grace.