Exo 12-14 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Exod 12:1-30: 12:1-30 The Lord gave Moses instructions for the Passover meal and the Festival of Unleavened Bread (12:14-20 ), and Moses and the people observed the first Passover (12:21-30 ).

Summary for Exod 12:1-30: 12:1-30 ^a The Lord gave Moses instructions for the Passover meal and the Festival of Unleavened Bread (12:14-20 ^b), and Moses and the people observed the first Passover (12:21-30 ^c).
12:2 ^d This month was the month Abib (13:4 ^e; 23:15 ^f; 34:18 ^g; Deut 16:1 ^h; later called by the Babylonian name, Nisan, Neh 2:1 ⁱ; Esth 3:7 ^j), which falls within the months of March and April. Many cultures held festivals about this time of the year, celebrating the renewal of plant life. Israel’s festival celebrated the historic event in which God defeated death and rescued his people from bondage in Egypt.
12:5 ^k with no defects: We must give God our best, just as he gave us his best: “the sinless, spotless Lamb of God” (1 Pet 1:19 ^l).
12:6 ^m the whole assembly of the community: Both the benefits and the responsibility of a relationship with God are realized in community.
12:7 ⁿ blood: God could not simply exempt his people from this plague as he had preserved them from the other plagues. Death reigns in the world because of sin, and in light of God’s justice, sin cannot be ignored; it must be either punished or atoned for. Since the blood represents life (Lev 17:11 ^o), it alone is acceptable for the forgiveness of sins (Heb 9:22 ^p). As Deut 6:9 ^q suggests, doorframes represent the totality of life as the place of going in and coming out.
12:10 ^r Since this was not a regular meal, none of the meat was to be saved for another day.
12:11 ^s Be fully dressed: The Israelites were to be ready to depart at a moment’s notice.
12:12 ^t The plagues were primarily the Lord’s judgment against all the gods of Egypt (see also Num 33:4 ^u).
12:14 ^v The Jewish people still commemorate Passover, since it was instituted as a law for all time.
12:15 ^w without yeast: Israel needed unleavened bread for traveling (see 12:34 ^x, 39 ^y), which the festival commemorated. Later, yeast was seen as an image of sin, probably because it is an agent of fermentation (“Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees,” Matt 16:6 ^z).

• cut off from the community: This means either death or expulsion from the community.
12:22 ^aa Hyssop is a small bush with stiff, compact branches that can serve as a brush (see also Ps 51:7 ^ab and study note).
12:25 ^ac The land the Lord has promised to give you refers to the land of Canaan, which God had promised to Abraham (Gen 12:7 ^ad; 13:14-17 ^ae).
Summary for Exod 12:26-27: 12:26-27 ^af In the future, the Passover celebration would be a memorial reminding future generations of Israelites of God’s grace in providing them a way of escape from death. For more than 3,000 years the Jewish people have celebrated this great formative event in their history.
Summary for Exod 12:28-30: 12:28-30 ^ag The predicted plague was fulfilled. Just as death exempts no one, so no one in Egypt, from Pharaoh to the lowest prisoner, escaped the effects of Pharaoh’s pride.
Summary for Exod 12:31-42: 12:31–14:31 ^ah The Lord delivered on his promises and rescued Israel, bringing them out of Egypt.
Summary for Exod 12:31-33: 12:31-33 ^ai The same Pharaoh who had said that Moses would never again see his face and live (see 10:28 ^aj) now asked for Moses to come and see him. Just as God had predicted, Pharaoh then ordered the Israelites to leave his land. He implicitly recognized the Lord’s power as he asked Moses to bless him. He never formally admitted that the Lord is God and that he, Pharaoh, was not.
12:35 ^ak they asked the Egyptians: See 3:22 ^al; 11:2 ^am.
12:37 ^an Succoth is usually identified with Tell el-Maskhutah.

• 600,000 men: See Num 1:46 ^ao. This large number implies about 2.5 million people in the community as a whole, which raises logistical problems: (1) The area of encampment would be 400 sq. mi.; (2) A column of people 1,000 across would be nearly a mile wide and would take 20 hours to pass a single point; (3) As best we know, there were no other armies nearly so large in the ancient Near East at that time. As a result, scholars have proposed two viable alternatives: (1) The number might be symbolic, communicating not an actual number but the fact that God had greatly blessed Israel. While this use of a number seems strange to us, it would be acceptable in the ancient world. (2) The Hebrew word for “thousand” (’elep) might have been confused with the word for “troop” (’allup). If so, the original would have read “600 troops of fighting men.” With a troop size of approximately 100 men, the total population would be significantly reduced. But despite the logistical difficulties, it is possible that there were in fact 2.5 million Israelites.
12:38 ^ap A rabble of non-Israelites: Some of these people later became disaffected and led the Israelites into complaining about their difficulties (see Num 11:4 ^aq). We are never told their motivation for joining with the Israelites. Perhaps some had come to faith in the Lord as a result of the plagues. Others probably saw it as an opportunity for a better life elsewhere.
12:40 ^ar According to the Septuagint and the Samaritan Pentateuch, 430 years would cover the full period from the promise to Abraham (Gen 12 ^as; 15 ^at) until the Exodus. Cp. Gal 3:17 ^au; see further Exodus Book Introduction, The Date of the Exodus.
Summary for Exod 12:43-50: 12:43-50 ^av These additional instructions for the observance of Passover relate primarily to outsiders (12:43 ^aw) and foreigners (12:48 ^ax). Perhaps the presence of the non-Israelite rabble (12:38 ^ay) in the community prompted these instructions. The key factor was whether or not the person was willing to become fully identified with Israel and with the Lord by submitting to circumcision.
12:46 ^az do not break any of its bones: The apostle John makes reference to this instruction regarding the Passover lambs when reporting that Jesus’ legs were not broken on the cross (John 19:36 ^ba).
12:51 ^bb The Israelites left Egypt like an army, with the Lord as their commander-in-chief.

‏ Exodus 13

Summary for Exod 13:1-16: 13:1-16 ^bc Like the Passover celebration, the practice of dedicating the firstborn memorialized what God did in the Passover event. Because he spared the firstborn, they now belonged to him and must be redeemed. The annual sacrifice and eating of the lamb symbolized what God would do in providing a substitute in his Son, Jesus Christ; we who deserve death must be redeemed with a price, the life of the Son.
Summary for Exod 13:1-10: 13:1-10 ^bd This rehearsal of the customs surrounding Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread sets the stage for discussing the dedication of the firstborn (13:11-16 ^be).
13:5 ^bf A land flowing with milk and honey refers to a land that was agriculturally rich, where there was pasturage for cattle and crops with blooms from which bees could make honey.
13:9 ^bg The annual celebration of the Passover was a visible sign to identify oneself as the Lord’s possession. It was a mark of his ownership, the physical reinforcement of a spiritual reality.

• Let it remind you always to recite this teaching of the Lord: The second part of the verse may be interpreted either as a statement to be recited (as in the NLT text) or simply as a description of the Lord’s work.
13:13 ^bh A firstborn son had to be bought back, or redeemed. He could not be sacrificed to the Lord, as child sacrifice is condemned throughout Scripture (see Lev 18:21 ^bi; 20:2 ^bj; Ezek 23:37-39 ^bk).
13:16 ^bl Like the annual Passover celebration (13:9 ^bm), dedicating the firstborn to the Lord was like a mark, a visible way to identify oneself as the Lord’s possession.
Summary for Exod 13:17-14:4: 13:17–14:4 ^bn The Lord’s redemptive power was demonstrated as he brought Israel into a place where they were completely helpless and had to either rely on him for rescue or die. Although at the time it must have seemed completely foolish, Israel would thank God for the rest of its history for maneuvering them into such a spot (see Ps 106:7-12 ^bo; cp. Isa 12:2-6 ^bp).
Summary for Exod 13:17-18: 13:17-18 ^bq faced with a battle: The Israelites had not yet seen God fight on their behalf. Even though they left Egypt like an army ready for battle (13:18 ^br; see also 12:51 ^bs), it was only an appearance. Until they experienced the Lord as fighting for them (14:14 ^bt) in the crossing of the sea, they were not ready to face enemies in the Promised Land.
13:18 ^bu roundabout way: There is disagreement among scholars about the identification of some of the sites mentioned (13:20 ^bv; 14:2 ^bw), so there is little consensus about the precise route the Israelites took.

• Red Sea: Literally sea of reeds. The Red Sea proper is too far south. The Sea of Reeds was part of the Red Sea, probably located at the northern end of the Gulf of Suez.
13:19 ^bx Joseph had recognized that God would not leave his people in Egypt indefinitely because he had promised Canaan to them (see Gen 50:24-25 ^by).
13:20 ^bz The locations of Succoth and Etham are uncertain, although the reference to the edge of the wilderness suggests that they were in the region southeast of the Nile delta toward the Gulf of Suez.
13:21 ^ca The pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire were to be the Israelites’ constant companions for the next forty years.

‏ Exodus 14

14:2 ^cb The precise locations of Pi-hahiroth, Migdol, and Baal-zephon are unknown.

• the sea: See study note on 13:18.
14:4 ^cc know that I am the Lord: This event was the climactic demonstration of the Lord’s character and power in the Exodus. Rescue for humans is by means of God’s self-revelation as he incarnates himself in our life and experience.

• as they were told: In this part of the book, the Israelites were obedient to God’s commands (12:35 ^cd, 50 ^ce). Unfortunately, this was not their continued pattern after the crossing.
Summary for Exod 14:5-14: 14:5-14 ^cf Because there was no real repentance on the part of Pharaoh and his officials, once the immediate terror of their experience had worn off, their self-interest reasserted itself and they determined to recapture their slave labor.
Summary for Exod 14:6-7: 14:6-7 ^cg chariot: At this point in history, the Egyptian light chariot was the ultimate weapon. Pulled by three horses, it was swift and highly maneuverable. Sometimes it was manned by only one person, but some ancient illustrations show a driver with a warrior. The reference to a commander may indicate such two-man teams. The greatest military power in the world of that day was being marshaled against the Hebrews.
14:9 ^ch Even though today we don’t know exactly where these events took place (see study note on 14:2), there is no question that the narrator and his readers did. We need not conclude that this account is literary fantasy.
Summary for Exod 14:10-12: 14:10-12 ^ci This complaint is the first occurrence of what was to become a sad refrain over the next forty years. Instead of believing that the God who had demonstrated his power so overwhelmingly could now save them, the Israelites turned on their rescuer. The cry of the unsurrendered heart is always, “Give me the security of slavery rather than the risk of faith.”
Summary for Exod 14:13-14: 14:13-14 ^cj One person, at least, had learned the lesson of the plagues and applied it to this crisis of faith. Moses did not know what God would do, but in one of the great statements of faith in the Bible, Moses declared his confidence in God. It was not the Lord who would fail, but the Egyptians.
Summary for Exod 14:15-31: 14:15-31 ^ck The escape through the Red Sea was the climactic moment of rescue.
14:17 ^cl My great glory: The Hebrew word translated “glory” (kabod) connotes weightiness, significance, and reality. God demonstrated his authenticity while showing that all the political, military, and material glory of one of the greatest human cultures was only the thinnest of veils.
Summary for Exod 14:19-25: 14:19-25 ^cm Whereas the Hebrews had been in a panic the night before, now the highly disciplined Egyptian army was thrown into disarray. They knew they were dealing with something far beyond their ability to comprehend or control.
14:22 ^cn As with the plagues, naturalistic explanations for this event are beside the point. A strong, steady wind blowing across a relatively shallow, contained body of water can change its depth dramatically, but that does not produce dry ground, with walls of water on each side. The Lord can intervene in nature and do with it as he wishes.
14:25 ^co He twisted their chariot wheels: The ancient versions differ on the translation of this phrase. Perhaps there was deep sand where the water had been, and this broke the light wheels of the chariots. At any rate, the Egyptian charge through the sea failed, and they became terrified.

• The Lord is fighting for them: Certainly by this time everyone in Egypt was aware of the special relationship between the Lord and his people.
14:31 ^cp Finally, the people of Israel were moved to put their faith in the Lord: Sadly, it was very short-lived (see 15:24 ^cq; 16:3 ^cr).

• To be the Lord’s servant is a position of high honor (see Isa 42:1-4 ^cs; Matt 12:18 ^ct).