A four-way reading of Exodus Chapters 5-13, where God delivers Israel from Egypt
- Literal Passover took place when the Angel of death passed over Egypt
The children of Israel were enslaved in Egypt. The Lord God, through Moses, commanded Pharaoh, “Let my people go”. Even though the Lord had shown the power of his might through the first 9 plagues, Pharoah still refused to free Israel. Now God was ready to send the 10th plague-the death of all the first-born of Egypt.
To be delivered from this plague, each family in Israel was to set aside a spotless year-old lamb, held for 14 days, then slaughtered on the appointed evening. The blood was to be saved, and the animal roasted with bitter herbs. The blood was painted over the lintel and door posts, so that the angel of Death would pass over the household, sparing the first born, then that evening, the lamb would be fully consumed with unleavened bread, the family wearing shoes and packed for the journey. The Lord commanded that this day shall be kept as a feast to the Lord through all generations and led them out of Egypt, away from their trials.
2. Allegorical The Church, in baptism, passes from infidelity to faith
Focusing on the last part of this lengthy passage, the Passover, God intended to foreshadow His greater deliverance the sacrifice of Jesus for our deliverance from slavery to sin. When Jesus observed the Passover with his disciples, he re-interpreted the elements of the seder meal to make known that he was the Paschal Lamb. Now Jesus was telling his followers that future Passovers would be to remember Him. He signified this by telling his disciples to go forth and baptize.
3. Moral The soul, through confession and contrition, passes from vice to virtue
“Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us, therefore, celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” ( 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 )
St. Paul’s exhortation is based on the Jewish custom of examining the house on the eve of Passover and cleansing it of any trace of yeast, illustrating the moral implications of Easter. A Christian is called to examine the house of his heart in order to destroy all that belongs to the old regime of sin and corruption.
4. Anagogical We pass from the misery of this life to eternal joys.
If the Paschal Sacrifice is an allegory of the Passover in Exodus, so the eternal slain lamb in Revelation 5 shows us the anagogical sense, the Passover leading us to the slain lamb, leaving behind the trials of this world for the glories of heaven beyond. The trials of the Israelites, when Pharaoh put more hardships on them in retaliation for the plagues, and indeed the plagues themselves represent the trials and tribulations we endure here on earth, Pharaoh’s release of the Israelites for their journey into the Promised Land represents the promise of heaven.
