The subjoined illustration is a great symbol of ancient Egypt. We have ventured to call it Egypt’s royal arms. It was graven over the entrance to every temple, and Israel knew it well. Each worshipper, who entered a temple, passed under the shadowing wings, the serpents, and the sun. In the shadowing wings is the emblem of dominion and protection. The serpent betokens wisdom and majesty; the sun’s disc, supremacy. We can but admire the conception of the sun as most grand and noble. England may bear upon her royal arms the figure of the king of beasts, France that of the king of birds, but lion and eagle must yield their claims to the mighty ruler of the sky. Egypt’s shadowing wings, in her glory, covered the known world – she was the queen of nations, the ruler and the guardian of all. And the intelligence which gave her this great power was centered in the serpent, her sign of majesty. On either side of the doorways of Egypt’s temples were engraved pictures of conquerors, and the gods to whom the honor of the victories were ascribed. Thus, on passing into and out of these great buildings, the worshippers stood under an archway reared in honor of the deities under whose protection Egypt dwelt secure. In the temple of Kom Ombos – a picture of which is given on the next page – we have an admirable instance of this great sign of ancient Egypt.
In the controversy between Jehovah and the gods of Egypt, their powers had proved of none effect. Effective indeed they were to hold Egypt in thrall, ineffective altogether to shelter the people from the finger of God.
To Israel, “in the land of Egypt,” in the midst of the corruption of the truth, God gave His great sign of deliverance, and the sign unmistakably points to His redemption which is in Christ. The token of divine deliverance was death the death of the sacrifice. “The blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are” (Ex. 12:1313And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye 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. (Exodus 12:13)). Being about to bring His people out of the land of bondage, Jehovah would do so in a way to the glory of His own righteousness, and by a sign which was never to be forgotten in Israel’s generations. The plagues sent upon Egypt had accomplished their purpose in relaxing the grasp of the oppressor, but, by the Passover, Israel learned God’s way of their redemption and His righteous requirements in judgment in relation to themselves. The sign of God’s deliverance was upon the lintel and the door posts of every house, and thus Israel could dwell secure in the hour of judgment under God’s sheltering wings.
From the manner of Moses before Pharaoh on the occasion of his last interview with the king, it is evident that he was fully aware the time of Israel’s bondage was practically past.
Upon Pharaoh declaring to Moses he should die, if he dared to see his face again, Moses replied, “Thou hast spoken well, I will see thy face again no more,” and he continued, “Thus saith the Lord, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt: and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts. And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none ‘like it, nor shall be like it any more. But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.” We can almost see his stern countenance, as facing the court, he proceeded, “And all these thy servants shall come down unto me...saying, Get thee out, and all the people that follow thee: and after that I will go out” (Ex. 10:29; 11:4-829And Moses said, Thou hast spoken well, I will see thy face again no more. (Exodus 10:29)
4And Moses said, Thus saith the Lord, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt: 5And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts. 6And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more. 7But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. 8And all these thy servants shall come down unto me, and bow down themselves unto me, saying, Get thee out, and all the people that follow thee: and after that I will go out. And he went out from Pharaoh in a great anger. (Exodus 11:4‑8)). And then, in great anger, Moses left the king.
All in that assembly had had sufficient evidence to be assured of the certain realization of Moses’ terrible words what had been foretold would be fulfilled, and fear must have paralyzed them. Jehovah, Israel’s Almighty God, under the power of whose words all Egypt had trembled, Jehovah Himself, was about to go through their land to destroy the pride of every family, and to fill every house with unexampled lamentations. Neither could any power arrest the decree or change the sentence. There was no escape, no hope. At the beginning of the controversy with Egypt, God had spoken gently then He had warned Pharaoh, that should he disobey Him, his firstborn should die; opportunities at the beginning bad been freely given, but now the day of repentance was past, the hour of divine judgment had come.
There is no consideration for the human heart more solemn than that of coming judgment. Right through the history of man, God has linked disobedience with punishment, and His judgments, though delayed, have ever fallen as foretold, upon the guilty and the rebellious. And what has been will be. Indeed, as is frequently observed, there seems in the foretelling of the book of Revelation, an echo of the fulfilling of the judgments which fell on Egypt in the days of Israel’s exodus from that proud and serpent-worshipping land. In the end it will be found that the only shelter for man is the blood of the Lamb and the shadowing wings of Jehovah, which protect all who obey Him.
As the day of these terrible tidings to Egypt wore away, all Israel was engaged in slaying the lamb for the Passover. It was the eve of their national birthday.
The people were assembled together in order, according to their tribes and families, the chief mass of them being located in the city Rameses (Num. 33:33And they departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the passover the children of Israel went out with an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians. (Numbers 33:3)). Their elders and heads were all at their posts. For three days they had been engaged in preparing for the Passover, and now on the fourth, the last day, the word came to them as a nation and as individual families, both to “the whole assembly of the congregation” (Ex. 12:66And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. (Exodus 12:6)) and to each house, (vs. 21) to kill the lamb, and to strike its blood upon their houses. Emphatically, this sacrifice was the common salvation of all, as it was the personal confidence of each. In it and in nothing else was safety. Whether rich or poor, whether having mingled in the idolatries of Egypt, or having rejected them at all cost, whatever the character of the life or the habit of any, all found in the blood of the lamb, and in that alone, their safety. Jehovah was about to pass through Egypt, and His angel would look not within the house, but outside it – not at the class of people within, but for the proof of their obedience, as written upon lintels and doorposts without. The express word was, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you” (ver. 13).
The scene of striking the blood upon lintel and doorposts is represented in our picture. It was “between the two evenings,” the sun was sinking into its band of gold upon the horizon, as the heads of all the families of the Israelites came out from their houses with the sacrificial blood, and with the bunch of hyssop – this being a very common growth and to the hand of all. Close in the front is the house of a Hebrew. The father is attended by his eldest son, who holds the basin containing the victim’s blood, and as the father strikes lintel and side posts with the sign of deliverance, he lays his hand upon his firstborn’s head, as if to say, “The lad is safe, the lamb has died in his stead.”
The stately Egyptian gentlemen, and the children of the street, may look on and wonder. They may say, “What do the Hebrews now? What mean they by this act, and what is the signification of this blood?” Or, it may be, that on hearing of the impending judgment some betook themselves to their gods to pray and to bring offerings to the priests for sacrifice in the temples. In the distance is a throng of people passing into a temple, under the sign of the sheltering wings, the serpents, and the sun. But their hopes are vain, “the great day of His wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?”
The picture suggests the inquiry of ourselves, What is my hope, wherein shall I find shelter from the wrath to come? And Scripture supplies the answer to such as obey the gospel, “Ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold... but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:18-1918Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: (1 Peter 1:18‑19)).
Having done as God bade them, the Israelites returned to their houses, shut the doors and waited. Whether they had strong faith, or, whether fears filled them, they were equally secure, for the salvation they had was of God. To them the blood, not the sense of security, was “for a token,” yet it was a sign they could not see, for their doors were shut, and they were within. It was without the house for Jehovah’s eye, and when He saw it He passed over the house.
After a short twilight, darkness falls swiftly upon Egypt. The nation over which the sword of Jehovah hung slept. All seemingly was rest, when suddenly came the awful awakening; death was in every house!
Pharaoh’s palace rang with the cries of lamentation; his firstborn was dead. And the woe and terror of the king were the woe and terror of all his people. For Jehovah “smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle” (Ex. 12:2929And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle. (Exodus 12:29)). One common anguish was upon every heart.
Even Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in the night, and they heard his pitiful words as he bade them be gone, children, flocks, and herds, and they listened to his prayer to them for a blessing on himself also.
The customs of the country gave an intensity to the woe. Even in our own times a “great cry” arises in parts of Egypt when death enters a house; the wail is taken up by the friends of the bereaved, and the loud lamentations borne upon the still air can be heard afar off: In those old days, on death entering a house the members of the family would rush into the streets, cast dust upon their heads and beat their breasts as they uttered piercing cries. Friends and relations joined the melancholy throng, and added to these were the professional mourners as here portrayed, uttering their shrill screams. Such services would not be required, even if they were rendered, on the midnight of the Passover, for grief and terror, only too real, were in every house, and prevailed in every street.
At the present day it is customary for the mourners to call upon the deceased, according to the relationship that existed between them, as, “Oh, my glory,” “Oh, my father!” but in the night of the great cry in Egypt the wail that filled the land was for the firstborn, “Alas, my firstborn. Alas, my firstborn!” This we may well picture to ourselves, for the customs of the country where the people are removed from European influence are so marvelously like those portrayed upon the monuments, that those old pictures seem paintings of the life of today.
To add intensity to the dismay, the hand of Jehovah was heavy also upon “all the gods of Egypt” (Ex. 12:1212For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. (Exodus 12:12)). This act of His in executing judgment upon their deities probably the living emblems of their gods must have wrought terror in every temple. The divine vengeance falling upon the deities of the land evidenced Jehovah’s Supremacy over “all” powers men worshipped, and explains to the Christian the real significance of the Egyptian religion. There was not one god in the land who was not opposed to Jehovah, not one sacrifice or prayer offered in any temple, or before any shrine, through any priest, that was not rendered to a demon! King, priests, and people were alike utterly confounded. Besides, the discriminating hand of Jehovah in smiting the firstborn only, whether of man or of cattle, showed forth His power in such a way that all Egypt dreaded death, and, to save themselves, besought Israel to be gone, lest all should die as the firstborn had died.
While Egypt was in the streets, and the night rang with its shrill wailing cry, the Israelites within their doors were eating the Passover. The people were ready to depart, but they were in haste. They stood to eat, and stood shod and girded, prepared at any moment for their call. Egypt, that had been the land of bonds to them, was no longer their home; as pilgrims they partook of the supper, their last meal in Egypt; the morning and liberty were at hand.
Their lamb, which was without blemish, was roast with fire, whole and unbroken, and that which could not be eaten was consumed with fire; none of it was left until the morning.
God gave them minute instructions, not only for their obedience, but for ours, to teach us in our days truths respecting “Christ our Passover,” who “is sacrificed for us (1 Cor. 5:77Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: (1 Corinthians 5:7)). He is the Lamb of God, He is perfect in His holiness, without blemish and without spot. He was sacrificed for us, and was subjected to the fire of divine judgment on our behalf, and He was wholly offered to God. The Passover was “to the Lord” (Deut. 16:22Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the Lord thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the Lord shall choose to place his name there. (Deuteronomy 16:2)), as well as for Israel. Christ “offered Himself without spot to God” (Heb. 9.14), and by “the blood of His cross” peace has been made (Col. 1. 20), and by its virtue the passing over occurs. He is spiritually fed upon as the Lamb who has been slain. No one can partake of Him save as the One who died for sinful men, and this He Himself proclaims (John 6:5353Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. (John 6:53)). Apart from His atoning death we cannot be associated with Him (John 11:2424Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. (John 11:24)).
The attitude of Israel when partaking of the Passover also. teaches us spiritual lessons. The night is far spent, the morning is about to break, and the feast, therefore, is a supper, the last not the first of the day. “Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning” (Luke 12:3535Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; (Luke 12:35)), are the words of the Master.
The people were to cast out leaven – that invariable scriptural type of evil – from their houses. “Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Cor. 5:88Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Corinthians 5:8)).In the midst of Egyptian idolatry, Israel was to witness that holiness becomes God’s people forever.
Old and young, all partook of the lamb, for it was the common portion. And they ate it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. There was to be a glorying in a holiness, which was God’s gift, and yet also the lowliness of self-condemnation. As Israelites, they were no better than the Egyptians, but God had redeemed them out of Egypt; He had bought them froth its bonds by blood, and He redeemed them Himself. They needed to feel what they were; they needed to gather the bitter herbs and to taste their bitterness.
We may be very sure that unless there be true penitence before God our religion is vain. No one who really puts his whole trust in the blood of Christ does so without a sense of his own sins, the exceeding sinfulness of which called for the Redeemer’s death. A shallow religion is vain. God alone knows what the fire of divine judgment is; the lamb was roast with fire, and that which could not be eaten was burned. But though we cannot fully know what the fire is, we can know practically the bitterness of our own ways.
The feast was of a family character. All partook of it according to their several appetites. Throughout Scripture we frequently have eating presented as a symbol of communion. In the East such is still the case. The Israelites partook, according to their eating, of the lamb, whose blood was their common salvation. But not in their feeding upon the lamb, their communion concerning the sacrifice, did their security lie, but in the blood outside their doors. Communion with God about Christ follows our salvation by God’s Christ, but not by spiritual capacity are we saved; our salvation lies in the value of the sacrificial blood upon which God rests, even as His eye rested upon the blood which was outside the houses of Israel. The order is, first the shelter of the blood, then the joy of feasting upon the Lamb whose blood has been shed for us. The salvation of Israel was written in blood upon their houses; the communion of Israel was one with another before Jehovah in the lamb, whose blood had been shed for them; the attitude of Israel was readiness, preparedness for their journey.
Israel did not leave Egypt poor. God bade His people, who had toiled so long without wages, to demand of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of bold, and raiment. And the terror of Jehovah lent generosity to the Egyptians. The captive people became laden with the captors’ spoils. Israel spoiled the Egyptians. Never was the “night of the Lord” to be forgotten.