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REFLECTIONS.

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ET us be thankful that Christ our passover was sacrificed for us. He is the Lamb of God, without blemish and without spot. Let us rejoice in his sacrifice. The sprinkling of the blood of Jesus was designed to purge our consciences, and so save us from the wrath to come.

2. Let us keep the christian feast in a gospel manner; not with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity; mingling sincere repentance with our joy; and whatever we do, do it heartily as unto the Lord.

3. Let us do what we can to transmit the memory of this transaction from generation to generation. If it was reasonable for the Israelites to teach their children the meaning of the passover, much more should we teach ours the nature and design of gospel ordinances. Children should ask parents the meaning of Baptism and the Lord's Supper; and parents should labour to understand them, and be careful to explain them, and do it frequently, that they may know the obligations they are under, and be brought to join themselves to the Lord in the bonds of an everlasting covenant, never to be forgotten.

CHAP. XII. 29, to the end.

We have here the last and most dreadful plague of Egypt; Israel's departure; and some further directions about the passover.

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ND 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, his son and heir, unto the firstborn of the captive that .[was] in the dungeon, the house of the pit, that is, the drawers of water; and all the 30 firstborn of cattle. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for [there was] not a house where [there was] not one dead, where there was any firstborn son.*

31

And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said,, Rise up, [and] get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as ye 32 have said. Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also, pray for me that I may 33 not perish. And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for

This was at midnight, when asleep, and they thought themselves secure. They expected some comfort after the three days of darkness, when this great calamity came upon shem.

Thus God fulfilled his threatening, chap. xi. 5. and awfully punished them for the death of those children of the Israelites, whom they had destroyed.

they said, We [be] all dead [men,] we shall all be destroyed. 34 And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their

kneading troughs being bound up in their clothes upon their 35 shoulders. And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed, or requested, of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment : 86 And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent, or gave freely, unto them [such things as they required.] And they spoiled the Egyptians.

37

And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses, their place of general rendezvous, to Succoth, so called, because they' there dwelt in tents or booths; about six hundred thousand on 38 foot [that were] men, beside women and children. And a mixed multitude went up also with them, strangers of several nations;* and flocks, and herds, [even] very much cattle. 39 And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened; because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither 40 had they prepared for themselves any victual. Now the sojourning from place to place of the children of Israel, and their fathers who dwelt in Egypt, [was] four hundred and thirty 41 years. And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. 42 It [is] a night to be much observed, or, as in the Hebrew, a night of observations, unto the LORD for bringing them out from the land of Egypt: this [is] that night of the LORD to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations, in which his power, mercy, and faithfulness appeared.

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And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron, This [is] the ordinance of the passover: There shall no stranger, that is, 44 no uncircumcised gentile, eat thereof: But every man's ser

vant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised 45 him, then shall he eat thereof. A foreigner, and an hired 46 servant shall not eat thereof. In one house shall it be eaten,

to promote family piety, and brotherly love; thou shalt not carry forth aught of the flesh abroad out of the house neither 47 shall ye break a bone thereof. All the congregation of Israel 48 shall keep it. And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the LORD, 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 uncircum49 cised person shall eat thereof. One law shall be to him that

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At least fifteen hundred thousand in all; some writers say, more than two millions. Avast increase from seventy souls!

†That is, from the time of Abraham's departure from Haran, Gen. xii. 1-5, to the giving of the law, as the apostle shows, Gal. iii. 16, 17. Abraham and his posterity were two hundred and fifteen years in Canaan, and two hundred and fifteen years in Egypt.

is home born, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among

you.

50 Thus did all the children of Israel; as the LORD com51 manded Moses and Aaron, so did they. And it came to pass the selfsame day, [that] the LORD did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies, ordering and marshalling them in a regular manner.

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REFLECTIONS.

OD can make the stoutest sinners yield and submit to his commands. It is in vain to contend with him, if one plague will not do, he has more; men must bend, or break. Submit to God, therefore, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way.

2. The time will come, when the proudest sinners will be glad of the prayers of those servants of God whom they have despised. And Pharaoh said, be gone and bless me also, v. 32. He was glad of the prayers of those whom he had threatened with continued slavery, yea, with death. This is the case with sinners, when on a sick and dying bed; they then send for ministers, or for this or that good man whom they have despised, and say, Bless me also. But how little good can be expected from those who have obstinately defied the Almighty, and slighted his messages, all their days.

3. See the wisdom of the institution of the Lord's Supper, and the reasonableness of attending upon it. The passover was a wise and good institution, the Lord's Supper answers the same end. It is the memorial of a great event, of a glorious deliverance; it is more worthy of remembrance, as the redemption it celebrates is greater, and the observation of it easier. All christians should attend upon it, for it is an ordinance for ever, and the command of Christ is, This do, in remembrance of me.

CHAP. XIII.

Israel being led out of Egypt, God here gives them directions about sanctifying their firstborn; repeats the warning about the feast of unleavened bread; and the Israelites march, under the divine guidance, with Joseph's bones.

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ND the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Sanctify unto me, consecrate, or set apart to my service, all the first born, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, [both] of man and of beast; it [is] mine, by a peculiar right, being preserved, when the Egyptians were destroyed.

And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, this first day of unleavened bread, to keep up a memorial of it, it

which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out from this [place ] and this shall be the memorial, there shall no leaven4ed bread be eaten. This day came ye out, in the month 5 Abib, which signifies, an ear of corn. And it shall be when the LORD 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 milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service 6 in this month. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, 7 and in the seventh day [shall be] a feast to the LORD. Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven 8 seen with thee in all thy quarters. And thou shalt show thy son in that day, saying, [This is done] because of that [which] the LORD did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt; that is, this feast of unleavened bread shall be as a continual means 9 to remind you of your deliverance out of Egypt. And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, as familiar to you as any thing on your hand, which you are continually looking on; and for a memorial between thine eyes, like something hung there, which comes continually in thy sight;* that the LORD'S law may be in thy mouth for with a strong hand hath the 10 LORD brought thee out of Egypt. Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year.

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And it shall be when the LORD shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, the nations descended from Cain, as he sware unto thee and to thy fathers, and shall give it thee; 12 That thou shalt set apart unto the LORD all that openeth the matrix, every firstborn male, and every firstling that cometh of a beast which thou hast; the males [shall be] the LORD's. 13 And every firstling of an ass, or of any unclean beast, thou shalt redeem with a lamb; and if thou wilt not redeem it, if it is not worth the price of its redemption, which is left to thy own choice, then thou shalt break his neck, that it may not be put to any other use and all the firstborn of man among thy children shalt thou redeem, for five shekels; (Num. xviii. 16.) no choice is left here, it is expressly commanded.†

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And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What [is] this ? that thou shalt say unto him, By

This is an allusion to the forehead or frontlet jewels, which were commonly worn by the eastern ladies. The superstitious Jews understood this literally; hence they wore scrolls of parchment, on which particular portions of the law were written, upon their foreheads and arms, which they called Philacteries.

In Num. iii. 12. the tribe of Levi was taken, instead of the firstborn of Israel, and devoted to God's service. Travellers inform us, that the nation of Tanguth, in the East Ins dies, redeem their sons with a ram, which they offer as a kind of sacrifice; which probably took its rise from this, as the ten tribes were scattered throughout all Asia.

The Jews say, that those who had no children of their own were obliged to teach the children of others.

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strength of hand the LORD brought us out from Egypt, from 15 the house of bondage: And it came to pass, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that the LORD slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of beast: therefore I sacrifice to the LORD all that openeth the matrix, being males; but all the firstborn of my chil16 dren I redeem. And it shall be for a token upon thine hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes: for by strength of hand the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt.

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And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not [through] the way of the land of the Philistines, although that [was] near; not above three or four days journey for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt: 18 But God led the people about, [through] the way of the wilderness of the Red sea :† and the children of Israel went up harnessed, or, by five in a rank, in great order and regularity, out of the land of Egypt.

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And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you.

And they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness.

And the LORD, the Shekinah, or visible token of his presence, went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; 22 to go by day and night: He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, [from] before the people.

Philistia lay on the back of Goshen. The Philistines were a warlike people; and the Israelites, undisciplined, and just come out of slavery, were unfit to stand before them.

Here they might be trained up in the art of war, and would be abstracted from the idolatry of their neighbours. Here also they were to receive a system of laws, and have many miracles wrought for them, to strengthen their faith in God's power and goodness.

This was a large cloud that overspread the camp, like a pyramid, wide at the bottom and narrow at the top. It directed their march, went with them, sheltered them from the heat by day, and perhaps distilled some refreshing dews by night. In the day time it appeared like smoke, in the night like fire, to light them and keep off the beasts of prey; and this continued with them till they came near to Canaan.

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