March 31, 2002

THE PASSOVER & FIRSTFRUITS

Exodus 12

   "This shall be unto you the beginning of months," said the LORD to Moses in Egypt (Exodus 12:2), and then proclaimed the tenth plague in Egypt from which there would be no exception, even in Israel . He further proclaimed the details of the Paschal Lamb by which their firstborn could be spared. And when Moses relayed the same to the elders of Israel , "the People bowed the head and worshipped" (12:27).

   God said, "When I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you..." (12:13). "We all know the story, do we not? Well, we think we do--how God passed through the land in judgment, and how when He came to the blood-sprinkled door He passed it over, instead of entering in to slay the first-born. But what if we should find that this is not at all what the record teaches?" (pg. 28, FOR US MEN, Sir R.A.).

   The Hebrew word for "passover" appears as a verb, an action word, only seven times, three of these in Exodus 12:13, 23, & 27. A careful study of the other four appearances will "confirm that the meaning usually given to this word is really foreign to it" (ibid. p. 29).

   In 2 Samuel 4:4 it is translated "became lame," a rendering whose use in 1 Kings 18:26 may serve to explain for there we read that the prophets of Baal leaped about their altar. But their action was not "a religious dance," but resembled the gyrations of demon-possessed men who had worked themselves into a state of frenzy, as they leaped around their altar. In verse 21 of this same chapter, it is translated "halt," a meaning indicating lameness rather than the idea of "stopping." But its final appearance in Isaiah 31:5 is the best of all. "As birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem ; defending also He will deliver it, and passing over, He will preserve it." But how does a bird defend its nest?" by passing over it; or by fluttering its wings above it? Surely the latter is the case and this is exactly what the LORD did that fateful night in Egypt . Instead of passing over the blood sprinkled doorposts, He stood sentry defending and guarding to "not let the destroyer come in" (12:23). Who but God, acting in love and mercy, could protect one from God in wrath and judgment?

Ivan L. Burgener