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| 1 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses and unto Aaron, in the land of Egypt, saying, |
In the land of Egypt – Satan's dominion of sin and death. R5643:1, R5273:1; F458
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| 2 'This month [is] to you the chief of months it [is] the first to you of the months of the year; |
The beginning of months – The Passover was the first feature of the Law given Israel as a typical people. R839:1
The new year always began with the appearance of the first new moon after the spring equinox. R1289:3
The new moon which came closest to the spring equinox was reckoned as the beginning of the ecclesiastical year, the first day of the month Nisan. R5642:2, R3961:2
The nearest new moon about or after the equinox, but not much before, was chosen as the commencement of the year. R4127:2, R5191:2, R2270:3
Knowing when to expect the equinox, the Elders of Israel accepted the appearance of the new moon whose full would be about the harvest time, and after the equinox. R2429:5
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| 3 speak ye unto all the company of Israel, saying, In the tenth of this month they take to them each man a lamb for the house of the fathers, a lamb for a house. |
In the tenth day – The choosing of the lamb on the tenth day foreshadowed our Lord Jesus' presenting himself to Israel at the close of his ministry as their king. R2918:2, R5191:4, R1289:4, R839:2, R465:5
Showing that if Israel would be recognized as the Church of the first-born in the antitypical passover, they must accept Jesus then, five days before that Passover feast and four days before his crucifixion. R5191:4
A lamb – Each lamb represented the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29) F460
"Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us." (1 Cor. 5:7) F463
For an house – Each house of Israel represented the household of faith, the Lord's new household. In celebrating the last Passover supper, which was to be kept by each family apart, the Lord met with his 12 apostles as a separate family--separate from all of their connections and his. F460, F589
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| 4 '(And if the household be too few for a lamb, then hath he taken, he and his neighbour who is near unto his house, for the number of persons, each according to his eating ye do count for the lamb,) |
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| 5 a lamb, a perfect one, a male, a son of a year, let be to you; from the sheep or from the goats ye do take [it]. |
Lamb – Paul tells us that Christ is our Passover lamb, slain for us. (1 Cor. 5:7) R4966:6
Jesus, the Lamb of God-spotless, pure, holy, harmless, undefiled. R5273:5
The man Christ Jesus was the antitype of the Passover lamb slain by the Israelites. R5847:1
Without blemish – Showing the perfection and purity of Christ, our lamb. R211:5*, R1186:6
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| 6 'And it hath become a charge to you, until the fourteenth day of this month, and the whole assembly of the company of Israel have slaughtered it between the evenings; |
The fourteenth day – The day in which the Paschal lamb was to be killed and eaten. R5191:4
Foreshadowing the fact that, in God's plan, Jesus was to die at that time. R465:3
The moon was at its full at the time of Christ's crucifixion. R2270:6, R5191:3
The moon is the symbol of the Law covenant and of the people who were under it. Christ's crucifixion at the full of the moon, and the fact that the moon immediately began to wane, foreshadowed Israel's national decline. F481; R1289:3
The 12, and sometimes 13, lunations symbolize the tribes of Israel. After the crucifixion it immediately began to wane, and waned for as long as it had previously increased. So Christ's death was the turning point between the two equal parts of Israel's history. R2270:6, R5191:3, R1289:3
Shall kill it – The eating of the supper on the night preceding our Lord's death, and yet the same day, was made possible by the Jewish custom that began each day in the evening. F462
In the evening – See marginal reading. On the fourteenth day, between the evenings, between six p.m., where the day began, and the next six p.m., where it ended. R2918:2, R5191:3, R1289:4, R839:2, R465:3, R2115:5
The Jews had two evenings, one from noon to 3 o'clock, and the other from 3 o'clock until sunset. It was between these two evenings that the Paschal lamb was to be slain, and so was Jesus, the antitype. R2953:5*
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| 7 and they have taken of the blood, and have put on the two side-posts, and on the lintel over the houses in which they eat it. |
Take of the blood – A striking figure of giving "life for life" – the requirement of divine justice before the condemned could be justified. R1321:6*
Not the eating of the unleavened wafers and roasted lamb, but because of the blood, they were passed over. R3454:2*
Strike it on the – The striking was a symbol, commanded at the beginning. Q524:4
The sprinkling of the lamb's blood symbolizes the imputation of the merit of the death of Jesus to the entire household of faith. R5640:5, R3959:5
The sprinkling of the blood indicated that all of the household of faith must believe in the precious blood of Christ. SM561:1; PD33/44
The sprinkling of the blood on the door-posts in the type implied public confession of the precious blood of the Lamb of God. SM561:2
The sprinkling of the door-posts of the heart with his blood: "Having their hearts sprinkled from a consciousness of evil." (Heb. 10:22) F463
Of the houses – Not merely upon the first-borns, but upon the house, indicating the household of faith. R5273:5
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| 8 'And they have eaten the flesh in this night, roast with fire; with unleavened things and bitters they do eat it; |
They shall eat the flesh – Jesus' sacrifice, the merit of his earthly perfection, was to be eaten, or appropriated, in the mind. R4703:4
We each have appropriated his flesh, his human nature, which is sacrificed on our behalf. We are hoping to be passed over on account of the blood without and the lamb within, as members of the Church of the first-born. R4966:6
As in the antitype, the Passover lamb was for their deliverance from Egypt, so our Lord delivers his people from Satan's yoke of bondage to sin. R5847:1
The shedding of the blood gives life, but we need more--strength for the journey of life, through heavenly food. R1321:6*
The eating of the lamb typified our appropriating justification from sin. SM562:2
In that night – This entire Gospel age is the antitype of that night. R3996:3, R4875:3, R4996:6, R5273:1, R17:4; SM559:3; Q693:8; CR471:2; PD33/44
The 6000 years in which sin and death have held sway are a night time. R5273:1
Unleavened bread – Truth, in its purity. R208:1
It symbolized the precious promises which come to us from the Heavenly Father through Christ. R2918:3, R4703:4
Leaven is a type of sin, and the symbol declares that our Lord Jesus was free from sin. R5192:4; T98
Symbolically, without the corruption (leaven) of human theory, blight, ambitions, selfishness, etc. F464; T98
With bitter herbs – Bitter experiences and trials which the Lord prepares for us, and which help wean our affections from earthly things and give us increased appetite to feed upon the Lamb and the unleavened bread of truth. R5870:4, R4703:4, R2116:1, R208:1, R17:4; F460
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| 9 ye do not eat of it raw, or boiled at all in water, but roast with fire, its head with its legs, and with its inwards; |
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| 10 and ye do not leave of it till morning, and that which is remaining of it till morning with fire ye do burn. |
Nothing of it remain – Signifying that the privilege of participation in the Lord's sacrifice is confined to the Gospel age. R2116:4, R212:5*
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| 11 'And thus ye do eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand, and ye have eaten it in haste; it is Jehovah's passover, |
With your loins girded – Loins girt about with truth. (Eph. 6:14) R212:2*
Shoes on your feet – Your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. (Eph. 6:15) R212:2*
Staff in your hand – As pilgrims and strangers. F461; R4703:2, R208:1
Ready for the journey, with full expectancy that the Lord would make the Egyptians willing to let them go and that they would share in this calamity were it not for the blood upon the door-posts and lintels. R5640:3
Passover – The term Passover signifies to pass by, or spare from an affliction. R1657:2
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| 12 and I have passed over through the land of Egypt during this night, and have smitten every first-born in the land of Egypt, from man even unto beast, and on all the gods of Egypt I do judgments; I [am] Jehovah. |
This night – Symbolizing this Gospel age, a time of darkness on the earth. R4875:3, R4966:6, R5273:1, R3996:3; SM559:3; Q693:8; CR471:2; PD33/44
Firstborn – The first-born of Israel typified spirit begotten ones now saved from sin and death as the Church of the firstborn. R4966:6
The gods of Egypt – The princes of Egypt, elohim. R1410:3
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| 13 'And the blood hath become a sign for you on the houses where ye [are], and I have seen the blood, and have passed over you, and a plague is not on you for destruction in My smiting in the land of Egypt. |
See the blood – The blood of Christ must be ever recognized in our hearts and confessed, manifested, and declared outwardly to others. R3996:6
I will pass over you – Faith in the precious blood is the only ground of acceptance with God. R3996:1
The Passover lamb and its blood preserved, "passed over," the first-born ones only, typical of the Church of the first-borns. R4384:3
To destroy you – Only the first-born were in danger, typifying that in the present time only the Church of the first-born has sufficient knowledge to be in danger of the Second Death. R3995:5
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| 14 'And this day hath become to you a memorial, and ye have kept it a feast to Jehovah to your generations; a statute age-during; ye keep it a feast. |
For a memorial – The followers of Jesus are to celebrate the antitype yearly, as the Israelites had done, but now in remembrance of the reality and not of the type. R1657:5
Keep it a feast – What Jesus commemorated was the killing of the Passover lamb and not the "Feast of the Passover" which followed it for seven days. R208:2
It was not the intention of our Lord to commemorate the Feast of the Passover, which began the 15th of Nisan, but merely his death on the 14th. R1942:6
Typical of both the deliverance of spiritual Israel from the bondage of sin and the ultimate deliverance of all who love righteousness from Satan's bondage by his complete overthrow during the Millennium. R2379:6
An ordinance for ever - An event so widely observed for so long a time (more than 3300 years) must have a foundation in fact. R3959:2
To be observed yearly as a memorial of God's goodness and because it typed a still greater blessing to come. R4703:2
The Lord's Supper takes the place of the Passover supper as a Memorial of the antitype, a remembrance of the fulfillment of the antitypical Passover. F463
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| 15 Seven days ye eat unleavened things; only in the first day ye cause leaven to cease out of your houses; for any one eating anything fermented from the first day till the seventh day, even that person hath been cut off from Israel. |
Ye shall put away – Anything containing leaven or putrefaction-bones, crusts, everything. So we must " put away the old leaven" of anger, malice, hatred, strife. R5193:3
Leaven – Symbol of corruption, sin. R5192:4, R2399:6; F464; T98
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| 16 'And in the first day [is] a holy convocation, and in the seventh day ye have a holy convocation; any work is not done in them, only that which is eaten by any person it alone is done by you, |
First day ... seventh day – On the 15th day the Passover Feast began, lasting seven days, the first and seventh days observed as specially holy, as Sabbath days or "high" days. R2270:5, R5191:3
Holy convocation – Some claim that the Jews had an abrupt beginning of weeks with the beginning of the Passover which was always counted a sabbath and the new start of a cycle. R2115:5
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| 17 and ye have observed the unleavened things, for in this self-same day I have brought out your hosts from the land of Egypt, and ye have observed this day to your generations a statute age-during. |
Observe the feast – By rejoicing in, and partaking of, the good things of God. R1800:3
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| 18 'In the first [month], in the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, ye do eat unleavened things until the one and twentieth day of the month, at evening; |
The fourteenth day – A picture of the passing over of the Church of the first-born. Q525:1
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| 19 seven days leaven is not found in your houses, for any [one] eating anything fermented that person hath been cut off from the company of Israel, among the sojourners or among the natives of the land; |
No leaven – A reminder (1) of the haste with which they fled, not having time to wait for the bread to rise; and (2) of their sufferings in Egypt, hence called "the bread of affliction" (Deut. 16:3); but (3) primarily to sign R1800:2, R5390:2
Although no command to fast 40 days of " lenten season," those who voluntarily fast and pray will be blest according to their faith. R2116:4
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| 20 anything fermented ye do not eat, in all your dwellings ye do eat unleavened things.' |
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| 21 And Moses calleth for all the elders of Israel, and saith unto them, 'Draw out and take for yourselves [from] the flock, for your families, and slaughter the passover-sacrifice; |
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| 22 and ye have taken a bunch of hyssop, and have dipped [it] in the blood which [is] in the basin, and have struck [it] on the lintel, and on the two side-posts, from the blood which [is] in the basin, and ye, ye go not out each from the opening of his house till morning. |
Bunch of hyssop – Symbol of purging, cleansing. R1872:5; T109
None of you shall go out – If any abide not under the covering of the blood of Christ he must surely perish. R1657:2, R131:5
None of the nominal first-born shall be passed over and become members of the Church in glory except those who, during this night, abide under the blood. R2272:5
Until the morning – And so the deliverance of spiritual Israel comes in the Millennial morning. "God shall help her, early in the morning." (Psa. 46:5, Margin) R2918:3
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| 23 'And Jehovah hath passed on to smite the Egyptians, and hath seen the blood on the lintel, and on the two side-posts, and Jehovah hath passed over the opening, and doth not permit the destruction to come into your houses to smite. |
The blood – Symbolizing the application of the merit of the death of Jesus to the entire household of faith. R3959:5, R5640:5
By faith the merit of Jesus' sacrifice, his blood, is to be sprinkled on the door-posts of our hearts. R4703:4
The blood sprinkled on the door-posts typed faith in the blood of Christ. PD33/44; SM561:1
Pass over the door – The Passover night typified this Gospel age, during which the Church of the first-borns are to be specially saved. PD33/44; R4966:6
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| 24 'And ye have observed this thing, for a statute to thee, and to thy sons unto the age; |
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| 25 and it hath been, when ye come in unto the land which Jehovah giveth to you, as He hath spoken, that ye have kept this service; |
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| 26 and it hath come to pass when your sons say unto you, What [is] this service ye have |
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| 27 that ye have said, A sacrifice of passover it [is] to Jehovah, who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt, in His smiting the Egyptians, and our houses He delivered.' |
The LORD'S passover – The first feature of the Law. OV74:T, B47
Represented the death of Jesus and the passing over of his people during this age. Q525:3
The passing over will be the resurrection. CR471:3
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| 28 And the people bow and do obeisance, and the sons of Israel go and do as Jehovah commanded Moses and Aaron; so have they done. |
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| 29 And it cometh to pass, at midnight, that Jehovah hath smitten every first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh who is sitting on his throne, unto the first-born of the captive who [is] in the prison-house, and every first-born of beasts. |
The firstborn – Only the first-borns, the Church of Christ, are now being passed over; only these are in danger of the destroying angel. R5870:2
The special object in confining the plague to the first-born was to show that only the first-born of the Hebrews were spared or passed over. R3995:5
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| 30 And Pharaoh riseth by night, he and all his servants, and all the Egyptians, and there is a great cry in Egypt, for there is not a house where there is not [one] dead, |
Pharaoh – Typifies Satan. R5273:2, R5419:5; F458
In the night – The Gospel age is the antitype of that night. R3996:3, R4875:3, R4966:6, R5273:1; SM559:3; Q693:8; CR471:2; PD33/44
The Egyptians – Typifying Satan's servants who have oppressed God's people during the night of sin and death. R5273:2, R5643:1, F458
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| 31 and he calleth for Moses and for Aaron by night, and saith, 'Rise, go out from the midst of my people, both ye and the sons of Israel, and go, serve Jehovah according to your word; |
Get you forth – As in the first exodus, so in the next exodus, apparently some pressure will suddenly be brought to bear upon the nations which will result favorably to Israel. D554[D553]
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| 32 both your flock and your herd take ye, as ye have spoken, and go; then ye have blessed also me.' |
And bless me also – Doubtless representing a changed attitude at the close of the time of trouble of some who now oppress the poor. A336
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| 33 And the Egyptians are urgent on the people, hasting to send them away out of the land, for they said, 'We are all dead;' |
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| 34 and the people taketh up its dough before it is fermented, their kneading-troughs [are] bound up in their garments on their shoulder. |
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| 35 And the sons of Israel have done according to the word of Moses, and they ask from the Egyptians vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and garments; |
Borrowed – Misleading translation of the Hebrew word shaal. The Israelites did not borrow, but asked for (as in R.V.), as just payment for past services. R1657:6, R2911:5, R3996:3
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| 36 and Jehovah hath given the grace of the people in the eyes of the Egyptians, and they cause them to ask, and they spoil the Egyptians. |
So that they lent – Gave. R2911:5
Spoiled the Egyptians – This was quite proper anyway, as the equivalent of back pay due the Israelites. R2911:6
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| 37 And the sons of Israel journey from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, apart from infants; |
About 600,000 on foot – Possibly 600 groups, families or tents. (This idea rebutted in a letter on R5355:4*.) R5277:2
In a somewhat similar case, 400,000 Tartars left Russia under cover of a single night. R3997:1
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| 38 and a great rabble also hath gone up with them, and flock and herd very much cattle. |
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| 39 And they bake with the dough which they have brought out from Egypt unleavened cakes, for it hath not fermented; for they have been cast out of Egypt, and have not been able to delay, and also provision they have not made for themselves. |
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| 40 And the dwelling of the sons of Israel which they have dwelt in Egypt [is] four hundred and thirty years; |
Now the sojourning – From the covenant with Abraham to the exodus. B46
Who dwelt In Egypt – For a portion of the period, and who previous to that time sojourned in the loins of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, even as Levi paid tithes to Melchizedec while yet in Abraham's loins. B47
Not that they sojourned in Egypt 430 years, but the sojourning of the people who dwelt in Egypt was that many years. HG104:3
Was 430 years – One-half of 430 years. R2482:2*
The statements of Moses and Paul (Gal. 3:17) refer to precisely the sahe Law. B47; R2482:3*, R1980:2; HG44:2
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| 41 and it cometh to pass, at the end of four hundred and thirty years yea, it cometh to pass in this self-same day all the hosts of Jehovah have gone out from the land of Egypt. |
The selfsame day – Illustrating the accuracy of Bible chronology. B48
All the hosts of the LORD – During the night the Israelites were still in bondage, waiting for the deliverance which could come only after the passing over of the first-borns. SM560:T
Went out – Typifying the ultimate deliverance of the world. CR471:3
Egypt – Satan's dominion of sin and death. R5643:1, R5273:1; F458
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| 42 A night of watchings it [is] to Jehovah, to bring them out from the land of Egypt; it [is] this night to Jehovah of watchings to all the sons of Israel to their generations. |
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| 43 And Jehovah saith unto Moses and Aaron, 'This [is] a statute of the passover; Any son of a stranger doth not eat of it; |
This is the ordinance – The beginning of the Law. B47; OV74:T
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| 44 and any man's servant, the purchase of money, when thou hast circumcised him then he doth eat of it; |
When thou hast circumcised – The Passover stood in a certain relation to circumcision, as the second sacrament of the Hebrew church. F484*
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| 45 a settler or hired servant doth not eat of it; |
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| 46 in one house it is eaten, thou dost not carry out of the house [any] of the flesh without, and a bone ye do not break of it; |
In one house – In other sacrifices, the body was cut into various pieces, showing Christ and the Church. Thus this represented Christ alone in his sacrifice. SM559:2
Break a bone thereof – "A bone of him shall not be broken." (John 19:36) R198:2
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| 47 all the company of Israel do keep it. |
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| 48 'And when a sojourner sojourneth with thee, and hath made a passover to Jehovah, every male of his [is] to be circumcised, and then he doth come near to keep it, and he hath been as a native of the land, but any uncircumcised one doth not eat of it; |
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| 49 one law is to a native, and to a sojourner who is sojourning in your midst.' |
Unto the stranger – The Mosaic Law was 32 centuries ahead of its time. A50
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| 50 And all the sons of Israel do as Jehovah commanded Moses and Aaron; so have they done. |
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| 51 And it cometh to pass in this self-same day, Jehovah hath brought out the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt, by their hosts. |
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