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Pharaoh's Dominance In Egypt

Decent Essays

The story of the Lord’s supper begins in the land of Egypt around B.C. 1440 (Elwell 1: 743). Moses, an aged shepherd, was called by God to be a prophet and was informed of His plan to liberate Israel from Egyptian bondage (Ex. 3:1-10). The task would not be easy, though, because the Pharaoh of Egypt would not want Israel to depart. God’s plan would not be thwarted, and His intent was to use Pharaoh’s obstinance to display His supremacy over Pharaoh and the Egyptian gods (Ex. 3:19-20; 7:3-5). What follows in the narrative are ten plagues, nine of which failed to convince Pharaoh. The final one, however, would break Pharaoh and all the people in Egypt: the death of the firstborn (Ex. 11:4-7). The means by which God accomplished this dreadful …show more content…

The lamb had to be unblemished so it could be a pure, operative sacrifice. If its bones were broken, it would not be unblemished. Its blood was smeared on the doorpost as a signal for the destroyer to ignore the home which had the blood (Ex. 12:12-13). The purpose behind this blood was not atonement, but protection from divine judgment (Witherington 3, 7). Expelling leaven from among the people was a symbol of moral purity, though it could also symbolize the new beginning Israel experienced through participation in the Passover (Thiselton 405; Witherington 8-9). The memorial aspect of the Passover was intended to remind the Israelites of God’s divine protection and deliverance from Egypt, which would also prevent apostasy. Outsiders would naturally be excluded since God’s work was on Israel’s behalf, not on anyone …show more content…

There, Moses commands the observance of three feast days in the place God would choose as His dwelling place: the Passover, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles (Deut. 16:1-2, 10-11, 13-15). The fundamental aspects of the Passover remained the same, with the added stipulation of a specific location. Several Old Testament examples confirm the strict adherence of the Passover by Judean kings and by the post-exilic Jews, including observation in Jerusalem, the place God chose to place His name (2 Chr. 30:1, 15-16; 35:1, 16-19; Ez.

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