Exodus 11-12 Devotional Bible Study

Exodus 11-12 Chapter Summary

God told the Israelites to ask the Egyptians for articles of gold and silver, and He made the Egyptians want to give them. Then God told Moses about the final plague on Egypt, and Moses announced it to Pharaoh:

“This is what the Lord says:

‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt.

Every firstborn son in Egypt will die,

from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne,

to the firstborn son of the female slave, who is at her hand mill,

and all the firstborn of the cattle as well.’”

- Exodus 11:4-5

 

Then God instructed that each Israelite family should sacrifice a year-old male sheep or goat (sharing with another family if need be) and smear the blood on the doorframes of their houses. They were to “eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast,” then burn up any leftover meat. It was to be called the Passover because:

 

“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.”

- Exodus 12:13

 

The Israelites were to celebrate the Passover Festival for seven days henceforth, eating no bread with yeast in it because the people had to flee Egypt in haste, not having time to let their bread dough rise.

 

At midnight, the Lord went through Egypt and killed every firstborn. Pharoah summoned Moses and Aaron during the night and told them to take the Israelites out of Egypt. There were 600,000 Israelite men who marched out of Egypt, besides Israelite women and children. Many non-Israelites also went with them.

 

The Israelites had lived in Egypt for exactly 430 years.

 

Regarding the Passover meal, only converts to Judaism were to eat it. For males, this included being circumcised. The bones of the sacrificial lamb were not to be broken.

 

Always Be Ready

Exodus 12:11

“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.”

The Israelites had to eat this first Passover dinner quickly because at any moment, it would be time to leave Egypt.

This teaches us two things: Be ready, because at any moment, it could be our time to leave this world. Jesus said His coming would be unexpected, and whereas there will be signs leading up to it, just like the plagues on Egypt led up to the Exodus, it all could happen very quickly for us. We need to be ready.

We also need to be ready to take action in this life when our Heavenly Father tells us to. At any moment, He may call on you to do something. He wants you to be ready, prepared to act, not fumbling around looking for your “sandals” like the Israelites would have been if they hadn’t been ready to go.

Be ready to move when the Lord says to move.

 

Recognize What Has No Value

Exodus 12:15-20

“For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel.

“For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And anyone, whether foreigner or native-born, who eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel. Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat unleavened bread.”

It’s interesting that baker’s yeast – like this passage is talking about, versus modern nutritional yeast – has practically no nutritional value. Yeast is for texture and shape only. It adds nothing to the bread. It’s extra.

What in your life has no practical value? What adds nothing to your life? Cut it out! Make time for those things that do benefit you.

In the best-case scenario, those things are neutral. They neither benefit nor harm you, like yeast. Yeast isn’t bad for you; it just doesn’t do anything for you. In the worst-case scenario, those “extra” things you add to your life actually harm you. Jesus compared yeast to sin and false teaching, which we need to cut out of our lives so that we can take in only what is pure and beneficial.

In this life, we need to travel light – not adding anything extra – so that we’ll always be available and ready to do the work the Lord has called us to.

 

Passover is Coming

Exodus 12:21-23

Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning. When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.”

Passover is coming. A time is coming when our Heavenly Father will pass through the earth and cut off those who continue to rebel against Him, but He will spare those who have accepted His offer of peace through His Son Jesus. To be spared in this Passover, we need to surround our lives with the blood of Christ, just as the Israelites surrounded their doorways with the sacrificial blood of the lamb.

Join me in this prayer:

Jesus, surround and permeate every part of my life. By myself, I cannot stand under God’s judgment. I need You to cover and protect me. Thank You for willingly dying for me to take my punishment.

Father God, thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus the Christ, to be my righteousness.

Thank You, Holy Spirit, for softening my rebellious heart and drawing me to belief.

 

Many Others

Exodus 12:37-38

The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Sukkoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. Many other people went up with them, and also large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds.

I don’t know that the Israelites did much evangelizing. Can you imagine them going up to their Egyptian slavemasters and saying, “Have you heard of the God of the Hebrews?” Yet, when they left Egypt, many other people went up with them. Why?

I think it’s because Moses and the Israelites were very open about the fact that it was the LORD who was acting on their behalf. Can we do this? Can we let people know it’s our Heavenly Father who is acting for us in our lives, blessing us, delivering us, empowering us, encouraging us? If so, we may find many other people coming with us.

 

The Lord Keeps Vigil

Exodus 12:40-42

Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the Lord’s divisions left Egypt. Because the Lord kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt, on this night all the Israelites are to keep vigil to honor the Lord for the generations to come.

The Lord kept vigil. We know that our God doesn’t sleep. He’s always aware, always knows everything – even before it happens. But I love the poetry of the sentiment of the Lord keeping vigil, the Lord staying up all night to see the Israelites safely out of Egypt.

What are you going through right now? Do you believe that the Lord is staying awake, watching over you through this time? He will never slack off, never fall asleep on you. The Lord will keep vigil for you, just like He did the Israelites. You are part of His people now.

 

Salvation = Commitment

Exodus 12:43-45

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “These are the regulations for the Passover meal: “No foreigner may eat it. Any slave you have bought may eat it after you have circumcised him, but a temporary resident or a hired worker may not eat it.”

What were the requirements for eating the Passover meal? You had to convert to Judaism! You couldn’t be a foreigner or a temporary worker. You couldn’t stay uncircumcised if you were a man. You had to commit to God’s covenant with Israel. You had to become a citizen of the People.

It’s the same thing today. People cannot be saved under the New Covenant in Jesus unless they commit to following Him. Part-time, temporary, minimal Christians will not be saved. You have to be all in. You have to renounce your citizenship in the World and become a citizen of the Kingdom.

Are you ready to do that today? I’ll do it with you.