EXODUS: The Long Walk Home
Exodus 12
1 While the Israelites were still in the land of Egypt, the Lord gave the following instructions to Moses and Aaron: 2“From now on, this month will be the first month of the year for you. 3 Announce to the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each family must choose a lamb or a young goat for a sacrifice, one animal for each household. 4 If a family is too small to eat a whole animal, let them share with another family in the neighborhood. Divide the animal according to the size of each family and how much they can eat. 5 The animal you select must be a one-year-old male, either a sheep or a goat, with no defects.
6“Take special care of this chosen animal until the evening of the fourteenth day of this first month. Then the whole assembly of the community of Israel must slaughter their lamb or young goat at twilight. 7 They are to take some of the blood and smear it on the sides and top of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the animal. 8 That same night they must roast the meat over a fire and eat it along with bitter salad greens and bread made without yeast. 9 Do not eat any of the meat raw or boiled in water. The whole animal—including the head, legs, and internal organs—must be roasted over a fire. 10 Do not leave any of it until the next morning. Burn whatever is not eaten before morning.
11“These are your instructions for eating this meal: Be fully dressed, wear your sandals, and carry your walking stick in your hand. Eat the meal with urgency, for this is the Lord’s Passover. 12 On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn son and firstborn male animal in the land of Egypt. I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt, for I am the Lord! 13But the blood on your doorposts will serve as a sign, marking the houses where you are staying. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. This plague of death will not touch you when I strike the land of Egypt.
14“This is a day to remember. Each year, from generation to generation, you must celebrate it as a special festival to the Lord. This is a law for all time.
TAKE OFF YOUR SANDALS
Last week, Moses was told to stop, notice, surrender, and receive.
This week, Israel is told:
Put your sandals on.
There is a time to stop.
There is a time to go.
THE MEANTIME
Between God's call and Israel's deliverance:
Moses obeys.
Pharaoh resists.
The people suffer.
God remains faithful.
Obedience does not always produce immediate results.
Sometimes faithfulness waits.
Sometimes faithfulness walks.
GOD SAVES
The Passover begins with God's action.
Israel does not save itself.
Grace comes first.
The lamb.
The blood.
The meal.
The sandals.
Israel's actions are responses to what God is already doing.
We don't put our sandals on to earn our freedom.
We put them on because God is setting us free.
THE FIRSTBORN
Israel is God's firstborn son.
Pharaoh has treated Israel's children as disposable.
YHWH claims them as God's own.
The Passover is deliverance—but it is also judgment.
And the judgment of Egypt is difficult.
Warning comes before judgment.
Again and again:
Let my people go.
A MEAL FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE LEAVING
Lamb.
Bitter greens.
Unleavened bread.
Sandals.
Walking stick.
This isn't simply dinner.
It is a meal for people in transition.
They eat while they are still in Egypt.
They receive God's deliverance and prepare to walk.
The table is nourishment for the journey.
THE LONG WALK HOME
God delivers Israel in a night.
But learning to live as a free people takes much longer.
Egypt is behind them.
The Promised Land is ahead.
But the wilderness is where they learn who they are.
Deliverance is a beginning, not an ending.
REMEMBER
“This is a day to remember.”
Remember:
We were slaves.
God heard us.
God came for us.
God claimed us.
God delivered us.
Remembering where we came from teaches us how to live on the way.
PUT YOUR SANDALS ON
Receive the grace.
Remember who you are.
Trust the God who goes before you.
Take the next step.
It's a long walk home.
Questions to Consider:
- Where is God giving you a new beginning?
- What do you need to receive from God?
- What is God calling you to do?
- What do you need to remember?
- Where is God sending you?
