Jan 6 - Wednesday

Exodus 12

E: THE PASSOVER (ch 12)

in what follows - less bout telling us history .... more about giving instructions for the sacred festivals

passover description

instructions written as if moses is giving them to israel.... BUT also - mindful that this will form a family tradition for Israel

Exodus 12:1–2 NRSV

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you.

beginning of the year... Abib

occured in March / april in their calendar

after the exile - this month was named...Nisan

naming of the calendar - just another way of getting a clue as to when things were written down

EXAMPLE: use of the word COVID in the culture.

Word was around - but not popular (world-wide) until now.

If you see COVID.. you know - probably written after March of 2020

Bible teachers spend a lot of time studying this sort of thing

Exodus 12:3–5 NRSV

Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household. If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats.

every family gets an animal

if families are too poor - they share

slaughtered at twilight

blood put over the lintel

eat it dreassed for a journey

keep it this for all generations...

again - the concern is how future generations will celebrate this festival … and what they will take away from it

cement’s the permanency of this important festival....

Exodus 12:14 NRSV

This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.

this is for all time ... there will never be a time when you shouldn't do this

1. The Feast of Unleavened Bread

weeklong celebration

clean out the yeast from your house

hold a religious gathering on the first and last day of the week

no one eats unleavend bread...

IF THEY DO - THEY WILL BE OUTLAWED FROM THE COMMUNITY

HARSH!1

2. Injunctions related to the passover

and again ... we get another injunction about the passover

this was likely from another source

two things for us to think about...

FRESH StARTS - the value of them

i often look for the hidden wisdom in God's laws

can't help but do so from a modern perspecitve

breadmaking - a bit like sour-dough starter

cultures, mothers, starter yeast

reserved back form the previous time

understand there has been a big resurgence of making sour dough - because people are more at home

would have been difficult to remove the yeast..

have to start over again

never knowing how long it wojld be before you had a good "mother"

not a biologist... but i wonder if there isn't some value in starting over from time to time (yearly?)

in communion - we use unleavened bread - sign that we are starting over

leaving our past behind....

beginning fresh again

HOW RITUAL CONNECTS US TO WHERE WE COME FROM

we have just finished a period of time - from Thanksgiving thru New year that is often ritual laden

people do things the same way - year after year

one of the big frustrations - that we can't both stay safe and keep the traditions