Seder 52: Exodus 12:15---What do you mean, "Shall be cut off"?

 In Exodus 12:1-28 the biblical narrative is temporarily interrupted with instructions on the first month of the calendar that God designed for Israel.  Included are directions for the first Passover, which would be observed on Israel's last night in Egypt.  

But much more is covered.  In future years the celebration of the Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread would commemorate Israel's liberation from Egypt.  

Everyone would participate in these festivals, with no one allowed to "opt out."  In verse 15 God says, "Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.  On the first day you shall remove the leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel."  

Refusal to observe the Days of Unleavened Bread is one of several offenses for which one could be "cut off from Israel" (Ge 17:14; Ex 30:33, 38; 31:14; Lev 7:20, 21, 25, 27; 17:4,9,14; 19:8; 20:17-18; 22:3; 23:29; Num 9:13; 15:30; 19:13, 20).  In these cases, God is not telling the Israelites to punish the offender.  Instead, he is saying that he will take care of the situation.  

Douglas Stuart in his NAC commentary on Exodus explains that such a person would be "cut off from God's benefits to Israel in the near future and cut off from eternal life with them in the ultimate future," since that person "had by his actions shown clearly that he did not desire to keep covenant with the true God" (p. 285).  

Seder 52: Exod 11-12---Departing with Treasure

 After nine plagues Egypt was reeling, but Pharaoh still pretended to himself that he was in control.  He threatened Moses when Moses would not agree to his demands, as if somehow Moses were his real problem (Exod 10:28-29).  

Moses announced that there would be one more plague.  At midnight God would kill all of the firstborn of people and livestock in Egypt, and then Egypt would beg the Israelites to leave (Exod 11;4-8).  

In preparation for leaving, the Israelites were to ask the Egyptians for their silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing.  Israel would then leave Egypt with great wealth.  This is a detail that the Bible mentions several times.  It was even prophesied to Abraham generations earlier.  (Gen 15:14; Exod 3:21-22; 11:2-3; 12:35-36)

Scholars refer to this event as the "despoliation of Egypt".  Why was it important?  There are several lessons that we can learn from it. 

1.   God is in control of history and keeps his promises (Gen 15:14; Exod 12:35-36).
2.   God is a God of justice.  The Egyptians had exploited the Israelites as slaves and were required to pay wages or reparations at the end.
3.   God was also requiring Eygpt to keep the Torah, which specifies that masters should provide servants with some financial help when they set them free (Deut 15:2-4).  
4.   God is consistent.  There is a pattern here.  Abram left Egypt with wealth (Gen 12-13).  Jacob left Laban with wealth (Gen 31:17-19).  The Philistines returned the ark of the covenant with golden treasure (1 Sam 6:8,11).  When Jews return from exile in Babylon, King Cyrus gives them gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem (Ezra 1:7-11).  Finally, the prophets envision a future exodus from exile when those who afflict Israel "shall become plunder for those who served them " (Zech 2:9: 14:4).  

In a sermon on Seder 52 at Church of the Messiah on April 17, 2021, Kyle Kettering observed that the real treasure leaving Egypt were the people from Israel and the nations (Exod 12:37-38).  God's purpose is to use Israel to bring blessing to all nations, and the Exodus is one step in that program.  

A further step occurred at the Cross.  Kyle made a connection between Exod 11:1 and Jesus' statement on the Cross:  "It is finished" (John 19:30)  Since the time of Jesus, God has been claiming treasures from the nations for himself.  They leave slavery behind.  

As Paul envisioned it, the time had come for the nations to come to God.  They were not to convert to Judaism, but to walk alongside the Jews in following God.  This has been happening ever since.

Seder 52: Psalm 97---Proclaiming God's Universal Rule

 Psalm 97 declares God's reign over all the earth and looks ahead to the time when God's Kingdom will come in its fullness.  

God's rule is good news for everyone (v 1) because "righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne" (v 2).  

Psalm 97 describes a theophany, the coming of God to rule.  This is a Day of the Lord, a time of God's intervention in world affairs leading up to the final one. Such times are described in the Bible in terms familiar from the Exodus.  Verse 2 says that "clouds and thick darkness are all around him," reminding us of the Exodus plague of darkness.  We see such imagery also in the Day of the Lord prophecies in Joel 2:2 and Zeph 1:14-15.  

God's coming is accompanied by fire, lightning, and earthquakes (Ps 97:3-5), as at Mount Sinai.   All of the heavenly beings worship him, their creator, and so how much more should all the inhabitants of the earth (vv 6-9).

God brings light and joy (v 11), as in Isa 60:1-3.  We are blessed already, but more lies ahead.  We rejoice in God's mighty works in past, present, and future---that's what God's name connotes (v 12).