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same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening....

And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts, and on the upper door-post of the houses wherein they shall eat it.

And they shall eat the flesh in that night; roast with fire, and unleavened bread, and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof.

And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning and that which remaineth of it until the morning, ye shall burn with fire.

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 the LORD'S passover.

2

For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast and against áll the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment; I am the LORD.

And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where you are and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for

ever.

Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover.

And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side-posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.

For

For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians: and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel and on the two side-posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your 'houses to smite you.

And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee, and to thy sons for ever.

And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the LORD will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service.

And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service?

That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD'S passover, who 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.

And the children of Israel went away, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.

ANNOTATIONS AND REFLECTIONS.

Though the Israelites were not presumptuous or profane, like the Egyptians, they were yet sinners, and having, as such, incurred the penalty of death*, they had no claim to divine favour, neither could they redeem themselves. But God graciously determined, of His own bountiful mercy, before the foundation of the world, to pardon all those who would repent of their sins, believe, fear, and trust in Him, and obey his Divine commands; and ordained that the promised seed of the woman should satisfy His justice, and make atonement for the sins of the whole race of mankind, by submitting to a voluntary death for their redemption.

*Rom. vi. 23.

The

The time for this sacrifice was yet at a very great distance, when Israel was about to be delivered from Egyptian bondage; but as that deliverance was designed to be a type of the greater deliverance from the bondage of sin; and also a pledge to assure his faithful servants of the certainty of it; the LORD instituted the passover, as a representation of the great sacrifice to be made in the fulness of time.

It was a very significant regulation, that in respect to ecclesiastical affairs, every succeeding year should commence with the solemnization of a rite which intimated a redemption from death, through the mercy of God.

The passover was instituted about the beginning of our March, which prefigured, that the Redeemer of the world should suffer in that month: before the institution of the passover, the Israelites began to date the new year from the middle of September, and still continue to do so in civil concerns.

It was required that every houshold should kill a lamb for itself, that each individual might have an opportunity of expressing his faith in God's promises, by joining in that divine ordinance, which was a token of his intended mercy to them.

A Lamb without blemish was a fit emblem of a Saviour who would live a life of perfect innocence and holiness. The LORD's commanding the Lamb to be slain, indicated, that He, having appointed death to be the punishment of sin, it was necessary, for the satisfaction of divine justice, that this penalty should be paid by the Redeemer, of whom the Lamb was a type or representation; and the sprinkling of the blood served at once to testify the faith of the Israelites, and to intimate the efficacy of the blood of the REDEEMER.

The paschal lamb was slain before Israel was delivered

out

out of Egypt, to signify, that the Saviour must suffer before mankind could be delivered from the bondage of sin. It was killed before the law of Moses, or the sacrifices of Aaron were enjoined, to shew, that deliverance comes to the human race only through the REDEEMER.

The manner in which the Israelites were required to eat the passover, was calculated to bring to their remembrance, in future, the situation they were in when they eat it the first time.

The lamb was roasted with fire, to denote (as is supposed) the dreadful pains which the REDEEMER would suffer. Unleavened bread was an emblem of sincerity and truth, as bitter herbs were of repentance and mortification.

This rite was to be observed for ever, that is to say, as long as the Mosaic dispensation should last; we shall find by the New Testament, that it was no longer obligatory after Christ was slain.

It is needless to enlarge farther on the subject of the Jewish passover, as the rite is abolished; CHRIST, the true paschal lamb, has been slain for the redemption of the world, through whom alone Christians are to look for salvation; but it may be useful to us to reflect on the wonderful goodness and mercy of GoD, in appointing a mean whereby atonement might be made for sin, and an interest in the blood of the REDEEMER secured, long before He came to lay down his life as a ransom for mankind.

It is observable, that the Israelites were commanded to instruct their children in the meaning of this rite, from whence may be inferred, that it is the duty of christian parents to explain to their children the meaning of that institution, which is now substituted in the

* 1 Cor. v. 8.

place

place of the passover. Yet how many are suffered to grow up in total gnorance of that Holy Sacrament, which was ordained to keep up a constant remem→ brance of what has been done for them!

L

SECTION LXVII.

THE DEPARTURE OF THE ISRAELITES.

From Exodus, Chap. xii, and xiii.

And it came to pass that at mid-night the LORÐ smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh that sat on his throne, unto the first born of the captive that was in the dungeon; and alf the first-born of cattle.

And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his ser vants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead.

And Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel: and go, serve the LORD, as ye have said.

Also take your flocks, and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone, and bless me also.

And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people that they might send them out of the land in haste: for they said, We be all dead men.

And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading-troughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders.

And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment.

And

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