Exodus 12:1-28 Study Guide: Behold the Lamb of God

Community Group Study Guide — Behold the Lamb of God
Exodus 12:1-28

Study Information:
At the time of publishing this study guide we’re getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving as a nation. It is a meal where people typically gather with friends, family and neighbors and remember how they’ve been provided for. This can be a hard time for some of us as we look back on challenging years or have experienced family strain. However, many of us have traditions and things we do to remember and share. The spirit of Thanksgiving is a time for gratitude. Many of us have meals filled with reminders of family, joy and gratitude from foods prepared, songs sung, prayers prayed and games played. There is something special about a meal with purpose. 

In our passage of scripture God simultaneously rescued his people, judged evil and created a holiday meal to remind them of their salvation year after year. In this study guide we will read of the many symbols and reminders they’d have of God’s salvation and the call to active faith in God’s power to save. 

A New Beginning
Exodus 12:1-20
God had displayed his power over the false Gods of Egypt and his might during the plagues. The Israelites grew in their trust and knowledge of God during this time and now were called to a new beginning. God would do one final plague to bring about their freedom from slavery. God told them this would be a new beginning and mark the first of their calendar year (Exodus 12:1-6). They were to gather together with their families and/or near neighbors, as many as could eat a lamb, to celebrate this passover meal. The lamb was to be without blemish, a year old male from either sheep or goats. This kind of lamb would be costly to an impoverished, enslaved people. It would not be the worst of the flock or the one nearest death, rather it would be the most expensive and the one with the most potential for future wealth. The command was to kill this lamb at twilight and cook it and eat it in a very specific way like not leaving any behind or the use of unleavened bread, that emphasized their need to leave in haste (see Exodus 12:8-11 for those details). Part of this passover meal included taking the blood of that unblemished lamb and to paint their doorpost with the blood of that lamb. The blood would be a sign for them that God would passover them and not strike that house with a plague (Exodus 12:13). 

This meal was to be done in community because it would be more than an individual salvation; God did this to redeem all his people from slavery. They were to eat in haste to show their need to leave Egypt in a hurry. Finally, hyssop was used to brush the blood on the doorposts. God declared that he would do three things this evening: God would pass through Egypt, strike down the firstborn and bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt (Exodus 12:12). The only way to be spared was to be covered by the blood of the lamb. The significance of this is important. A unblemished substitute would take the place of their firstborn son. This would be a freedom for them from slavery in Egypt and it came through the sacrifice of another. 

This was the meal and moment that changed everything and it would be marked with a new beginning. 

Active Trust
Exodus 12:21-28
The previous plagues included a distinction between the people of God and the people of Egypt. God preserved Goshen as a place where the plagues did not strike his people. This final plague called for active trust and obedience to be spared from the judgement to come. Any who would cover their doorposts in the blood of the lamb would be spared and the “destroyer” would not be allowed to enter the house. The angel of death would touch the firstborn of Pharaoh’s house and all who did not trust in God’s provision of salvation as a means of judgement for Egypts harsh slavery and genocide against Israel’s newborn babies. This would become a memorial for the people of God to keep as a feast so that they could tell their children’s children about the way that God had saved them (Exodus 12:27). This passage ends with a statement saying “the people of God did what the Lord commanded.” They were faithful, trusting and obedient to God. It is important to notice that God provided the means of atonement from his judgment. 

Imagine being a Hebrew slave and having seen the first 9 plagues unfold and then getting this command from Moses to gather with your neighbors, dress ready to leave, and to eat the entirety of a roasted unblemished lamb and then wait with your doorpost covered in blood until morning. This would require much cost, time and trust but in the end it was all worth it as they were spared from the judgement of God because of the blood of another. It is an act of faith to obey God’s command and find rescue. Romans calls this the “obedience of faith” and that rescue comes from this sort of active trust in God. God has made a way for us to be saved and reconciled through our active trust in the work of Jesus Christ.

Behold the Lamb of God
John 1:29-36, Revelation 5:6
The Biblical theme of the lamb of God started in Genesis 22 when Abraham was commanded to offer up his son Isaac and then God provided a ram for sacrifice upon seeing Abraham’s complete faith. Here the emphasis is on the unblemished lamb and the covering of blood. Later on in the sacrificial system we’d have that same repetition of the unblemished lamb and are told in Hebrews 9:22 that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin. When Jesus began his ministry, John the baptist cried out, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!” The people of God had be prepared to expect a perfect unblemished lamb to take their place. Isaiah reminds us that we too are sheep, but one has come who took our iniquity, Isaiah 53:6 “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (ESV)” God has provided a means of escape from judgement due to sin and it requires an active trust in the blood of another. The picture we get in Revelation 5:6 is of Jesus as a lamb who had been slain on the throne. The passover was a sign post to the sacrificial death of Jesus for us and the covering we have from sin and death. God makes a way of salvation for his people and that we are saved by the blood of another. 

When you think about the passover, think about how God has made a way for us to be rescued from the angel of death and slavery to sin. In our next study guide we will learn about how God has the last word over the power of evil. And after that we will see that Christianity is marked by God’s desire for our freedom. 

At your community group:
Take 15-20 minutes to share about how God has been at work in your life, prayer concerns and pray for one another.

How did God speak to you through the scripture and the sermon this week? 

Discussion Questions:
Read Exodus 12:1-28

What are some of your favorite reminders you have of God’s provision that are part of holiday meals with friends and family?  

A key feature for the passover meal was God’s command that people cover their doorposts with the blood of an unblemished lamb so the angel of death would passover them. The lamb dying on their behalf was not enough, he also gave them a meal to eat. What are some key features of the meal and what do you think it symbolized? 

The previous plagues included a distinction between God’s people and the people of Egypt, but this one required an active element on their part. What are some reasons God called them to an active faith and what were they required to do?

How did Christ fulfill the promise of the passover lamb?