Bible Reading Blog
“Moses Kept the Passover”
Categories: Congregational Bible ReadingBIBLE READING: Hebrews 11.28
“By faith, [Moses] kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.”
In the 1984 film “The Karate Kid”, a young man named Daniel befriends Mr. Miyagi who promises to teach him karate. But training doesn’t go anything like Daniel expected. Mr. Miyagi instructs him to wax his car using very specific motions: “Wax on, right hand. Wax off, left hand. Wax on, wax off. [Each time Mr. Miyagi makes circular motions with each hand to demonstrate] Breathe in through nose, out the mouth. Wax on, wax off. Don’t forget to breathe, very important.” The labor-intensive project goes on day after day, week after week.
Daniel doesn’t get it an eventually his frustration boils over. As he begins to storm off, Mr. Miyagi sternly calls Daniel. Suddenly, Mr. Miyagi throws a punch at Daniel, and Daniel instinctively blocks it with the movements he had been using to complete the chores. The muscle memory Daniel developed had prepared him to defend himself when Mr. Miyagi delivers a series of punches and kicks at Daniel. In that moment Daniel understood that every seemingly mundane chore Mr. Miyagi had assigned was teaching him the basics of karate.
In similar fashion, we don’t always understand the reasons for God’s instructions. His instructions can feel counterintuitive and pointless. But they are both revelatory and instructive. They are preparing us for what is to come. This is something we learn from passages like Exodus 12 and the Passover.
God through Moses told the people to take a lamb without blemish (12.5) and kill it at twilight (12.6). They were to sprinkle the blood and eat it (12.7-9), and not allow anything to remain until the next morning (12.10). In this case, God had rationale for them in the present (12.26-27), but these details reveal God’s ultimate events of redemption through Christ. He was the perfect “lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1.29). He was murdered at twilight and his body was taken down before the next morning (Matthew 27.45-50; John 19.31-37). The sprinkling of his blood would serve to save many (Isaiah 52.15; Hebrews 12.24).
On this side of the cross we see the significance of these commands. But it was by faith that Moses kept the Passover. His obedience to is an admonition for our faith. God’s instructions may not always make sense to us. Sometimes they oppose our cultural norms. Sometimes they defy our logic. Sometimes they’re just not what we want to do. We may get frustrated and want to reject what God tells us to do. But, by faith, we must let God’s way prevail in our lives. He is setting us up for future understanding and success if we will trust and obey.
Furthermore, our obedience both clarifies and confirms God’s plan for redemption. Just as the Passover allowed for future generations to understand the Christ, so too our faithful obedience will provide the foundation for future generations to see God more clearly. Let us join the cloud of witnesses who, by faith, kept the patterns of God.
