Exodus 12:24-28: Remember

I am a Rotarian and this week I am speaking at one of the Rotary clubs in town. While thinking about this I was reminded of  a harrowing story I heard at the Swift Current club about a family vacation that Dave, one of the members, took in Acapulco in 1968:

Dave and his wife are on holiday down in Mexico. They check into their hotel. They are near the ground floor and there are these little lizards - Geckos or something else – climbing all up the walls; so they speak to the hotel and ask to be moved as far away from the lizards as they can, up to the top floor. They do move up to the top floor. This turns out to be a mistake. In the middle of the night, they are woken up as people are running through the halls screaming. Some girls from Quebec tell them what is happening: the hotel is on fire. The stairs, they are concrete for the top few floors and then wood beneath and the wooden stairs are ablaze. The girls from Quebec jump over the railing from the 10^th storey or more up and plunge all the way down. Dave and his wife and his two sons, aged six and nine, are trapped. Without thinking they run to the elevator but the door closes with people inside it just before they get there. Actually I think Dave may have even gotten his hand in the closing door but they don’t catch the elevator, which is good because we know what happens to people in elevators in a fire. Dave and his family are trapped. They try to tie sheets together to scale down the outside of the building but as Dave is heading over a balcony, it is good that he has an arm linked through the railing because someone unties the sheets. He then climbs down the side of the balcony and swings onto the balcony below. His wife then drops one of his children for him to catch and then the other and then she scales down as far as she can, then falls and Dave catches her legs and pulls her in. They do this until the third story or so of the building when they run out of balconies. Dave then throws one child down onto a straw thatched roof, hoping that will break his fall. He sees the boy fall through the roof and run away; so he throws the other son down who makes a new hole as he crashes through the thatched roof. He runs to safety. His wife jumps next and Dave is able to scale a palm tree to the bottom. They are injured but they survive. It was quite a tale to hear recalled. They survived by the grace of God but others on their floor who leapt over the railing or who took the elevator did not.

What had happened was, apparently there was a dispute between two ownership groups – one local and one foreign – the foreign group was residing in the hotel on that day and some local people had attacked the hotel with Molotov cocktails – hoping to collect insurance, I believe.

It was quite something to hear this story. There is more to his story here too. One of  Dave’s sons had a piece of the thatched roof he fell through stuck into his foot. The other had a twig protruding from his neck with blood spurting out. They were okay though. There was another miracle in this story. (Dave and his wife recognize this as a miraculous salvation.) When Dave and his wife were climbing down the balconies to escape the flames, they left somewhere her straw purse with their passports, money, plane tickets, and the like. The next day Dave went back and began looking in this burned out hotel building for this straw purse. God saved it for them. It was on a balcony on a burned out floor but this straw purse with its contents was still there. It was fine. God protected it and God protected them. God was there for them in the midst of this ordeal.

It is the same with the Hebrews in our text today. A few months ago Sarah-Grace preached a sermon for us here on the stories of the plagues in Exodus. They are quite something with each one becoming more awe-inspiring than the previous one.[1]

1. The Nile turning to blood (7:14–25)
2. Plague of frogs (7:25–8:11)
3. Plague of lice or gnats (8:12–15)[2]
4. Plague of flies or wild animals (8:20–32)
5. Plague of pestilence (9:1–7)
6. Plague of boils (9:8–12)
7. Plague of hail (9:13-35)
8. Plague of locusts (10:1–20)
9. Plague of darkness (10:21–29)

I still remember vividly the closest thing to a plague of darkness that I have ever experienced and that was in Swift Current in 2017. I can still recall the dread that came over us all as at noon, in the middle of the day, this darkness just swept over a corner of the city: it was really quite something. I have not seen anything like that before. It was an ominous, fear-provoking experience as that blackness approached: you could see blue skies fleeing from its presence. There was a tornado warning. When it came, we were driving to pick up Rebecca, who was in her elementary school, for lunch. The school had announced that the children were not to go outside. Some students, of course, were pressed up against the windows to see what was happening, others were in tears hiding safely under their desks. These feelings of fear and awe, of terror and wonder, that we were experiencing on that day are probably a reflection of the intensity of the emotions that would have been swirling around the Israelites through the first nine plagues of Exodus, as they are experiencing the power of God in a metaphorical funnel cloud of awe and terror preparing for the final plague, the tenth plague: The Angel of Death (11:1–12:36).

It is in the context of the children of Israel huddled in their houses preparing for Death’s arrival that our pericope today is found. In the opening 13 verses of this chapter, God tells Moses and Aaron exactly what is about to happen. Just like Tsunami alert, like we still hear tested here: ‘Get ready’, God warns them, ‘the Angel of Death is coming’.

Now there has already been a lot of flooding and states of emergency declared across this country and here we have been very thankful for the rain as we prepare for fire season. And just like we have emergency disaster plans that we are to follow in the city and in The Salvation Army when disaster strikes, God here is giving Moses and Aaron their instructions as to how to save themselves and their families when the Angel of Death strikes at Goshen, in Egypt. I don’t know if anyone here remembers the Tsunami of 1964 or if you have ever huddled in a storm cellar or was forced to take shelter or head beneath deck on a boat being tossed about in a storm but I imagine that it is the same feeling. The people take all the right steps and now they are just waiting and hoping, and praying for Death to pass.

I have binders and binders full of the Army’s and others’ plans of what we need to do in the event of a major disaster:  flood, fire, tsunami. God in Exodus here gives Moses and Aaron a disaster preparedness plan to share with the Hebrews in Egypt for the impending strike by the Angel of Death. It looks like this. Picture with me - you and your family – you have received your disaster preparedness plan from your leaders. Disaster is going to strike, you are fearful (like the school children hiding under their desks awaiting a tornado) and you are in awe as you await the Angel of Death who is coming to claim many from your country on this very night. On this very evening as Death is approaching; this is the plan:

1. You are to take a lamb or a kid to share as a meal with everyone in your household. If there aren’t enough of you in a household to eat a whole lamb, you must share it with your closest neighbour (12:3-4);
2. The animal must be 1 year-old and without defect (v.5);
3. You have already been taking care of the animals for 14 days in preparation for this day – now everyone in town is to go and slaughter the lamb at twilight (v.6);
4. You will then – this is important – take some of the blood and put it on the sides and the tops of the doorframes of the houses where you will eat the lambs (v.7);
5. Then you will eat the meat roasted over a fire with bitter herbs and bread without yeast and you must eat it all. You may not leave any of it until morning! If there are leftovers, you must burn them (vv. 8-10);
6. When you are eating this meal, you are to eat it with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on, and your staff in your hand (v. 11). In our language today: you are to have your coats, hats and shoes on and your car keys in your hand. You are to be ready to go. You are to eat it in haste because it is the LORD’s Passover.

God tells Moses and Aaron that as the people follow this plan they will survive the impending strike by the Angel of Death. Then God tells them, ‘You must never forget this night. You must remember how I saved you.’ I imagine this evening must be as clear to those who experienced it as the images were to Dave and his wife of that night climbing down the side of the building – and Dave’s wife, she is afraid of heights. I imagine that every time they think about this night, they remember every feeling that was racing through their heart and mind and I imagine that they’ll never forget it.

I remember when I was in Nipawin and the building exploded right behind The Salvation Army Ministry Centre downtown. My office shook. It felt like a truck had struck it. With others, I headed outside to see what had happened, I saw injured or dead or dying people lying on the ground as the flames began to engulf part of the downtown. My children and everyone else around on that day have stories surrounding those moments. I imagine each of us have had times like these that will never leave our minds.

The thing with events like these is that as real as they are to us, they are not as real to people who don’t actually experience them and as time passes people tend to forget the important lessons that come from them. We recently marked the 75^th anniversary of D-Day. I had the honour of speaking at the 70^th D-Day memorial on the prairies five years ago. For those hundreds and thousands of soldiers present on June 6, 1944, as long as they live, D-Day is a day they will never forget; but if I were to guess I would say that less people across this country officially attend ceremonies to remember the anniversary than lost their lives on the beaches on that day in 1944. Remembrance Day and the Legion remind us of the horrors of war, lest we forget. It is no coincidence that as the Cold War ended and more and more of our veterans pass away, that there are more wars in our world than ever before. Did you know that from end of the cold war -1989 or 1991, until the end of the twentieth century there were more wars in that one decade than there were in the whole rest of the century prior. People forget and then another generation experiences the same horrors. 

As the Israelite families of our pericope today are sitting in their houses awaiting the impending calamity, God tells Moses that they are never to forget this day.[3] They are to remember it forever. They are to tell their children and their children’s children. This should a permanent feature in the school curriculum, so to speak. It is to be like our annual Remembrance Day ceremonies in that there are some elements that must be observed. As far as the Passover remembrance ceremonies for the Israelites, they are to incorporate some of their Emergency Disaster Preparedness Plan into a ceremonial dinner and they are not have any yeast in the house at all for seven days prior and they are to eat only unleavened flat breads. Then God tells them, Exodus 12:24-27:

“Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’” Then the people bowed down and worshiped.

One reason that the people were to remember this was so that they would not forget what the Lord had done for them in the past. This is so important: a people that forget their past forfeits their future.

We were in Ottawa for Canada's 150th Celebrations. We met friends there which made it quite fun but the official events were a really big disappointment. They made Canada seem like a country with no culture, no history, no past. A recent Canadian survey shows that we Canadians know little and care less about our accomplishments, history and traditions. These seem to be increasingly removed from the things that we direct the greatest value at… Canadians between the ages of 18 and 24 are more likely to take pride in the Toronto Raptors, who recently won the [US based] NBA Championship, than [Canadian] Confederation… [The Raptors] They've given us something to celebrate," The survey conclusion stated about the team. "They're champions, so they're more current.” The monarchy, Confederation, and noted Canadians are neglected and forgotten.[4]

One reason Canadians need to remember our past is so that we will continue to exist in the future. One reason that the people of God were to remember the Passover was so that they would not forget what the Lord had done for them in the past and another reason is to wait for a future deliverance. As this Passover ceremony developed over the generations, it came to incorporate an act of ceremonially ‘looking for Elijah’. This is because tradition later stated that Elijah must return before the Messiah is to come.

Now Elijah does return and Jesus the Messiah does come and when he does and as Jesus is celebrating this very important Passover remembrance with his disciples, Jesus the Messiah utters the very important words, “Do this in remembrance of me.” This is, I think, a big reason why God wanted the Passover ceremony etched so deeply in the minds of humanity for so long because just as when the Egyptians gave up their firstborn sons, God saved His people through the blood of the Passover lamb; so when God gives up His firstborn son –Jesus Christ – He also saves us; His people, all His people, He saves through the Blood of the Lamb.[5]

This is the most important event in the whole history of the world: The death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. God, through the giving of His only begotten son has made it – just like with Exodus and the Angel of Death – so that none of us need to perish but all of us can have salvation in Christ Jesus our Lord. This is important to remember.

This is why we come to church, this is why we go to Bible studies, this is why we pray and this is why we read our Bibles; this is why we have our Mercy Seat and this is why we commemorate Good Friday and Easter Sunday/Monday every year. That is why we are here today: because just as God offered salvation to all His children from the passing over of the Angel of Death and the preceding plagues; so too He offers salvation to all of us, this very day, from Sin and Death and from everything that is plaguing us. As that is the case, it is my hope and my prayer that if any of us have not yet implemented our eternal disaster preparedness plan, that you would delay no longer and that we would all experience that salvation both today and forever more.

I am going to invite everyone up to the Mercy Seat or Holiness Table on this Canada Day Eve to take a card with a verse on it, in remembrance of Christ and what He has done for this nation and what He has done for us. There are three cards (you can take 1, 2, or 3 of them):

·        One with John 3:16 –the ultimate Passover verse- on it,  “For God so loved the world, that He gave his Only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

·        One with Hebrews 11:16, the verse from the Order of Canada, “But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for He hath prepared for them a city.”

·        And one card with the verse from Canada’s Motto, Psalm 72:8, “He [The LORD] shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.”

These are God's promises for us as Canadians that we are not to forget. Of the Passover, Jesus says, “do this in remembrance of me.” God asks us to remember what He has done for us: how God has saved us all from Death, just like He saved the Hebrews so many years ago. Our Lord tells us not to forget, so I encourage each of us to come forward to the Mercy Seat, take a card back to your seat, mediate and pray about it and today when you leave put it in your wallet or somewhere else and every time you see it this week, I encourage you to remember what the Lord has done.

 thank the Lord for His mercy and for the price He paid on our behalf.

In Jesus’ Name, Come.

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[1] Cf. Walter C. Kaiser Jr., The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Exodus/Exposition of Exodus/I. Divine Redemption (1:1-18:27)/E. The Passover (12:1-28)/1. Preparations for the Passover (12:1-13), Book Version: 4.0.2. for more detailed list.

[2] R. Alan Cole, Exodus: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1973 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 2), S. 113: In the evening: literally ‘between the two evenings’. Jewish scholars are not agreed as to the exact meaning. The phrase is also used of the time for the regular evening sacrifice (Exod. 29:39) and of the time for lighting the lamps in the meeting-tent (Exod. 30:8). The orthodox piety of Pharisaic Judaism understood the meaning as being between the time in the afternoon when the heat of the sun lessens (say 3 or 4 p.m.) and sunset. Other groups preferred the time between sunset and dark, or other similar explanations.

[3] Thomas W. Mann, “Passover: The Time of Our Lives.” Interpretation 50, no. 3 (July 1, 1996): 240-250. ATLASerials, Religion Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed June 28, 2012), 241-242: The Passover narrative is arguably the most important section of the entire book because it is primarily here that the experience of exodus is communicated not simply as a moment in historical time (in the past) but as a perennially recurring moment in the present life of those for whom the story is sacred.

[4] Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press. Published Friday, June 28, 2019 4:27AM EDT. Cited from CTV News: https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/canadians-more-likely-to-take-pride-in-the-present-than-history-poll-1.4486436

[5] Norman Theiss, "The Passover Feast of the New Covenant." Interpretation 48, no. 1 (January 1, 1994): 17-35. ATLASerials, Religion Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed June 28, 2012), 17: In the eyes of the first three evangelists and Paul, Jesus construed his last supper with the twelve disciples as the fulfillment of God's plan to inaugurate a new Passover meal. In this new meal, Jesus interpreted his death as a new Exodus in which the new people of God were liberated from all that enslaves them and freed to serve God in holy living.

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