Page:An Exposition of the Old and New Testament (1828) vol 1.djvu/306

274 was the destruction of the Egyptians, and the deliverance of the Israelites by it; God herein made himself taken notice of. (2.) The ordinances of that night, in the annual return of it, were to be carefully observed; This is that night of the Lord, that remarkable night, to be celebrated in all generations. Note, the great things God does for his people are not to be only a nine days' wonder, as we say, but the remembrance of them is to be perpetuated throughout all ages; especially the work of our redemption by Christ: this first passover-night was a night of the Lord, much to be observed; but the last passover-night, in which Christ was betrayed, (and in which the first passover, with the rest of the ceremonial institutions, was superseded and abolished,) was a night of the Lord, much more to be observed, when a yoke, heavier than that of Egypt, was broken from off our necks, and a land, better than that of Canaan, set before us. That was a temporal deliverance to be celebrated in their generations; this an eternal redemption to be celebrated in the praises of glorious saints, world without end.

43. And the said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof: 44. But every man's servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof. 45. A foreigner and a hired servant shall not eat thereof. 46. In one house shall it be eaten: thou shalt not carry forth aught of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof. 47. All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. 48. And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof. 49. One law shall be to him that is home-born, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you. 50. Thus did all the children of Israel: as the commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they. 51. And it came to pass, the self-same day, that the did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies.

Some further precepts are here given concerning the passover, as it should be observed in times to come.

1. All the congregation of Israel must keep it, v. 47. All that share in God's mercies should join in thankful praises for them. Though it was observed in families apart, yet it is looked upon as the act of the whole congregation; for the lesser communities constituted the greater. The New-Testament passover, the Lord's supper, ought not to be neglected by any who are capable of celebrating it. He is unworthy the name of an Israelite that can contentedly neglect the commemoration of so great a deliverance.

2. No stranger that was uncircumcised might be admitted to eat of it, v. 43, 45, 48. None might sit at the table but those that came in by the door; nor may any now approach to the improving ordinance of the Lord's supper who have not first submitted to the initiating ordinance of baptism. We must be born again by the word, ere we can be nourished by it. Nor shall any partake of the benefit of Christ's sacrifice, or feast upon it, who are not first circumcised in heart, Coloss. 2. 11.

3. Any stranger that was circumcised might be welcomed to eat of the passover, even servants, v. 44. If, by circumcision, they would make themselves debtors to the law in its burthens, they were welcome to share in the joy of its solemn feasts, and not otherwise. Only it is intimated, (v. 48.) that those who were masters of families must not only be circumcised themselves, but have all their males circumcised too. If, in sincerity, and with that zeal which the thing requires and deserves, we give up ourselves to God, we shall, with ourselves, give up all we have to him, and do our utmost that all our's may be his too. Here is an early indication of favour to the poor Gentiles, that the stranger, if circumcised, stands upon the same level with the home-born Israelite. One law for both, v. 49. This was a mortification to the Jews, and taught them that it was their dedication to God, not their descent from Abraham, that entitled them to their privileges. A sincere proselyte was as welcome to the passover as a native Israelite, Isa. 56. 6, 7.

4. In one house shall it be eaten, (v. 46,)for good-fellowship-sake, that they might rejoice together, and edify one another in the eating of it. None of it must be carried to another place, or left to another time; for God would not have them so taken up with care about their departure, as to be indisposed to take the comfort of it, but to leave Egypt, and enter upon a wilderness, with cheerfulness, and, in token of that, to eat a good hearty meal. The Papists' carrying of their consecrated host from house to house, is not only superstitious in itself, but con trary to this typical law of the passover, which was, that no part of the lamb should be carried abroad.

The chapter concludes with a repetition of the whole matter, that the children of Israel did as they were bidden, and God did for them as he promised; (v. 50, 51.) for he will certainly be the Author of salvation to them that obey him.

CHAP. XIII. In this chapter we have, I. The commands God gave to Israel, 1. To sanctify all the first born to him, v. 1, 2. 2. To be sure to remember their deliverance out of Egypt, (v. 3, 4.) and, in remembrance of it, to keep the feast of unleavened bread, v. 5..7. 3. To transmit the knowledge of it with all possible care to their children, v. 6..10. 4. To set apart unto God the firstlings of their cattle, (v. 11..13.) and to explain that also to their children, v. 14..16. II. The care God took of Israel, when he had brought them out of Egypt. 1. Choosing their way for them, v. 17, 18. 2. Guiding them in the way, v. 20..22. And their care of Joseph's bones, v. 19.

ND the spake unto Moses, saying, 2. Sanctify unto me all the first-born, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine. 3. And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the brought you out from this place: there shall no leavened bread be eaten. 4. This day came ye out, in the month Abib. 5. And it shall be, when the shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with