Ready to Move?
Opening Prayer
As you start this series, ask God to remind you of your relationship with him and strengthen it as you study.
Read Exodus 12:1-13
[1] The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, [2] “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. [3] Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. [4] If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. [5] The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. [6] Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. [7] Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. [8] That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. [9] Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire-with the head, legs and internal organs. [10] Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. [11] This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the LORD’s Passover. [12] “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. [13] The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt. Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
What was the purpose of this harsh judgment (12)?Time, measured by the Israelite calendar, starts here (2). But not on dramatic Passover night, as you might expect. Each year’s first ten days pass by uneventfully before an animal is selected (3) and another four days before it is slaughtered (6). There’s time to reflect on what God is saying before responding by killing an animal and daubing its life (for that’s what blood symbolized to the Israelites) around the doorways of their houses (7). My guess is that God works that way in most of us; there’s usually time for a growing consciousness of God to develop, and opportunities to respond in a variety of ways. And, just like for us, the new life the Israelites are called to isn’t about ease and comfort, about Master Chef cooking and leisurely lunches. The food they eat is food for travelers, for pilgrims (9), and they’re to be ready to move as soon as they finish it (11). And, again like us, they’re supposed to be looking out for their fellow travelers; to join with other pilgrims in extended families so that the resources they might need on the journey aren’t wasted (4).
Apply
How do you make and take time to reflect on God’s words and work around you? Do you need more?
Closing prayer
Help me, God, to be ready to move with You, and to encourage those around me on this pilgrimage we call life.
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