Exodus-Chap-12-1-27

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Remember the following truth from our beloved Torah!

Ye shall NOT ADD TO THE WORD which I command you, NEITHER SHALL YE DIMINISH FROM IT, that ye may keep the commandments of יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם - the LORD your Eloleichem, which I command you”. Davarim - Deuteronomy 4:2. (JPS-1917).

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 “Exodus Chapter 12:1-27”

Part One..

With Rabbi, Dr. Reuven Ben Avraham-Goossens, PhD.

Introduction:

Exodus 12:1-27 serves as the blueprint for the Passover (Pesach) offering and the eternal memorial of our liberation. While the previous chapters focused on the struggle between Moses and Pharaoh, here the focus shifts inward to the Israelite home. Before the physical exit from Egypt can occur, a spiritual exit must take place. אֱלֹהִים - Elohim (God) establishes a new calendar, making the month of our freedom the “head of months”, signifying that our time truly begins only when we are free to serve the Almighty!

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Below are the verses from Exodus Chapter 12, verses 1 to 27: with Explanations located directly below the verses..

1. And יְהוָה - the LORD spoke unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying: 2. ‘This month shall be unto you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.

Explanation: Verses 1-2: אֱלֹהִים - Elohim speaks to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, declaring that this month (Nisan) shall be the first month of the year. This establishes the Hebrew concept of sacred time.

3. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying: In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household; 4. and if the household be too little for a lamb, then shall he and his neighbour next unto his house take one according to the number of the souls; according to every man's eating ye shall make your count for the lamb.

Explanation: Verses 3-4: The command is given for every household to take a lamb on the tenth day of the month. If a family is too small, they are to share with a neighbour, ensuring that the entire community is unified and nothing is wasted.

5. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year; ye shall take it from the sheep, or from the goats;

Explanation: Verse 5: The lamb must be without blemish, a male of the first year, representing the best of the flock.

6. and ye shall keep it unto the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at dusk.

Explanation: Verse 6: The lamb is kept until the fourteenth day, at which point the entire assembly of Israel slaughters it at twilight.

7. And they shall take of the blood, and put it on the two side-posts and on the lintel, upon the houses wherein they shall eat it. 

Explanation: Verse 7: This is the specific instruction to take the blood and strike it upon the two side-posts and the lintel of the houses where they eat it. This acted as a sign of protection and distinction.

8. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; with bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; its head with its legs and with the inwards thereof. 10. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; but that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. 11. And thus shall ye eat it: with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste it is יְהוָה - the LORD’s Passover.

Explanation: Verses 8-11: Instructions on how to eat the meal: roasted over fire (not raw or boiled), with unleavened bread (Matzah) and bitter herbs. They were to eat in haste, dressed for travel shoes on feet and staff in hand, symbolising their readiness for immediate redemption.

12. For I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, and will smite all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am יְהוָה - the LORD. 13. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and there shall no plague be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

Explanation: Verses 12-13: אֱלֹהִים - Elohim explains the “Passover”: He will go through Egypt to smite the firstborn, but He will pass over the houses marked by the blood. The blood was not for אֱלֹהִים - Elohim to “see” (as He knows all), but for us to see and it demonstrated our faith and public commitment.

14. And this day shall be unto you for a memorial, and ye shall keep it a feast to יְהוָה - the LORD; throughout your generations ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever. 15. Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; howbeit the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses; for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel16. And in the first day there shall be to you a holy convocation, and in the seventh day a holy convocation; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done by you. 17. And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt; therefore shall ye observe this day throughout your generations by an ordinance for ever. 18. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even. 19. Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses; for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a sojourner, or one that is born in the land. 20. Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread’.

Explanation: Verses 14-20: These verses establish the eternal statute of the seven-day festival. Leaven (Chametz) must be removed from the home, and the first and seventh days are declared ‘holy convocations’ where no work is permitted.

21. Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them: 'Draw out, and take you lambs according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb. 22. And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two side-posts with the blood that is in the basin; and none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. 23. For יְהוָה - the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side-posts, יְהוָה - the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.

Explanation: Verses 21-23: Moses summons the elders to implement these instructions. He adds the detail of using a bunch of hyssop to apply the blood and commands that no one leave their house until morning.

24. And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. 25. And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which יְהוָה - the LORD will give you, according as He hath promised, that ye shall keep this service. 26. And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you: What mean ye by this service? 27. that ye shall say: ‘It is the sacrifice of יְהוָה - the LORD’s Passover, for that He passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when He smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses’. And the people bowed the head and worshipped.

Explanation: Verses 24-27: The passage concludes with the command to keep this service when they enter the Promised Land. Crucially, it anticipates the questions of future children, instructing parents to explain: “It is the sacrifice of יְהוָה - the LORD’s Passover, for that He passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt”.

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My Closing Message:

The essence of these 27 verses is identity and preparation. By marking their doors with blood and eating the sacrifice in haste, we the Israelites made a choice to separate themselves from Egyptian culture and trust in אֱלֹהִים - Elohims promise. The blood on the doorposts was an outward sign of an inward change. As we reflect on this, we learn that redemption requires our active participation, we must “prepare our staffs” and be ready to move when the call to freedom comes.

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For Elohim is the One who gave us our ... Life!”

May the שָׁלוֹם - Shalom = Peace of צְבָאוֹת- יְהוָהthe LORD of hosts, be with you, and please always uphold our blessed שַׁבָּת - Shabbat, as well as the מוֹעֲדִים Mo’a’dim - Feasts, and continue saying your daily תְּפִלָּה - Tefeelah’s - Prayers and regular בְּרָכָה Be’ra’chah’s - blessings before food and drinks, etc!

שָׁלוֹם עֲלֵיכֶם Shalom Aleichem - Peace be with you!

Rabbi, Dr. Reuven Ben Avraham-Goossens, PhD.

 

 

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