The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 34: The Passover Instituted (2023)

Episode Date: February 3, 2023

Today we discover how the Passover foreshadows the sacrifice of Jesus and how the people of Israel are transformed by God in the readings from Exodus 12, Leviticus 9, and Psalm 114. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible Timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. This is day 30. Oh my gosh, it is day 34. Holy smokes, what a gift. We are reading from Exodus chapter 12. It is a long chapter in the book of Exodus, but it is also the chapter in which, oh my gosh, there's so much foreshadowing

of what the Lord God not only did for the people of Israel, but also what the Lord God has done for us and for the entire world. That's Exodus chapter 12, also Leviticus chapter 9 and Psalm 114. I am always reading from the Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition. I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to follow along, you can get the Great Adventure Bible from Amazon or from ascensionpress.com. Also, at ascensionpress.com, for free, you can get your Bible in a Year reading plan personalized to you if you put your name on it. If you just type in ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year, you can download that for free.

Also, if you haven't subscribed to this podcast, I'm not sure why, but you can just tap that subscribe button in whatever app you are listening to this podcast. I'm kind of excited about today's reading. It's just a massive gift and it highlights, again, as I said, foreshadows so much. But in order to understand what the scripture foreshadows, we have to actually get into the scripture itself and what it didn't just foreshadow, but what it did, what it accomplished in the lives of the people of Israel, giving them freedom and giving them life. So without further, anything, anything further, further ado or anything else, Exodus chapter 12.

Exodus chapter 12. The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, this month shall be for you. The beginning of months, it shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the 10th day of this month, be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month, they shall take every man a lamb according to their father's houses, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for a lamb, then a man and his neighbor next to his house

shall take according to the number of persons, according to what each can eat, you shall take your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You shall take it from the sheep or from the goats, and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill the lambs in the evening. Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat them. They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it.

Do not eat any of it raw or boiled with water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. And you shall let none of it remain until the morning, anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. In this manner you shall eat it, your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments. I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you upon the houses where you are,

and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague shall fall upon you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord. Throughout your generations you shall observe it as an ordinance forever. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall put away leaven out of your houses. For if anyone eats what is leavened from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.

On the first day you shall hold a holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. No work shall be done on those days, but what every one must eat, that only may be prepared by you. And you shall observe the feast of unleavened bread, for on this very day I brought your houses out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an ordinance forever. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, and so until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened,

that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land. You shall eat nothing leavened. In all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread. Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, Select lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood which is in the basin, and none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. For the Lord will pass through to slay the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on your lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to slay you. You shall observe this rite as an ordinance for you

and for your sons forever. And when you come to the land which the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service. And when your children say to you, what do you mean by the sacrifice? You shall say, it is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover. For he passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when he slew the Egyptians, but spared our houses. And the people bowed their heads and worshipped. Then the sons of Israel went and did so as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. At midnight the Lord struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon and all the firstborn of the 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 one was not dead. And he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, rise up, go forth from among my people, both you and the sons of Israel, and go serve the Lord as you have said. Take your flocks and your herds as you have also said, and be gone, and bless me also. And the Egyptians were urgent with the people to send them out of the land in haste, for they said, We are all dead men. So the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls being bound up in their mantles on their shoulders. The sons of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked of the Egyptians jewelry of silver and of gold and of clothing. And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Thus they despoiled the Egyptians.

And the sons of Israel journeyed from Ranzes to Sukkoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot besides women and children, a mixed multitude also went up with them, and very many cattle, both flocks and herds. And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they had brought out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any provisions. The time that the sons of Israel dwelt in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. And at the end of four hundred and thirty years, on that very day, all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. It was a night of watching by the Lord to bring them out

of the land of Egypt. So this same night is a night of watching kept to the Lord by all the sons of Israel throughout their generations. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the Passover. No foreigner shall eat of it, but every slave that is bought for money may eat of it after you have circumcised him. No sojourner or hired servant may eat of it. In one house shall it be eaten.

You shall not carry forth any of the flesh outside the house, and you shall not break a bone of it. All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. And when a stranger shall sojourn with you, and would keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, then he may come near and keep it. He shall be as a native of the land,

but no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you. Thus did all the sons of Israel, as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. And on that very day, the Lord brought the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts. The Book of Leviticus Chapter 9 On the eighth day Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel. And he said to Aaron, Take a bull calf for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering, both without blemish, and offer them before the Lord.

And say to the sons of Israel, Take a male goat for a sin offering, and without blemish, and offer them before the Lord. And say to the sons of Israel, Take a male goat for a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both a year old without blemish, for a burnt offering, and an ox and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before the Lord, and a cereal offering, mixed with oil, for today the Lord will appear to you. And they brought what Moses commanded before the tent of meeting, and all the congregation drew near and stood before the Lord. And Moses said, This is the thing which the Lord commanded you to do, and the glory of the Lord will appear to you. Then Moses said to Aaron, Draw near to the altar, and offer your sin offering and your burnt offering, and make atonement for yourself and for the people, and bring the offering of the people, and make atonement for them,

as the Lord has commanded. So Aaron drew near to the altar, and killed the calf of the sin offering, which was for himself. And the sons of Aaron presented the blood to him, and he dipped his finger in the blood, and put it on the horns of the altar, and poured out the blood at the base of the altar. But the fat and the kidneys, and the appendage of the liver of the altar and poured out the blood at the base of the altar. But the fat and the kidneys and the appendage of the liver from the sin offering he burned upon the altar, as the Lord commanded Moses. The flesh and the skin he burned with fire outside the camp. And he killed the burnt offering. And Aaron's sons delivered to him the blood, and he threw it on the altar round about. And they delivered the burnt offering to him piece by piece

and the head, and he burned them upon the altar. And he washed the entrails and the legs and burned them with the burnt offering on the altar. Then he presented the people's offering and took the goat of the sin offering, which was for the people, and killed it and offered it for sin, like the first sin offering. And he presented the burnt offering, and offered it according to the ordinance. And he presented the cereal offering, and filled his hand from it, and burned it on the altar besides the burnt offering of the morning. He killed the ox also, and the ram, the sacrifice of peace offerings for the people. And Aaron's sons delivered to him the blood which he threw upon the altar round about,

and the fat of the ox and of the ram, the fat tail, and that which covers the entrails and the kidneys and the appendage of the liver. And they put the fat upon the breasts, and he burned the fat upon the altar. But the breasts and the right thigh Aaron waved for a wave offering before the Lord as Moses commanded. Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them. And he came down from offering the sin offering and the burnt offering and the peace offerings. And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting. And when they came out, they blessed the people and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. And fire came forth from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat upon the altar. And when all the people saw And fire came forth from before the Lord, and consumed the burnt offering and the

fat upon the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces. Psalm 114, God's wonders at the Exodus. What ails you, O sea, that you flee? O Jordan, that you turn back? O mountains, that you skip like rams? O hills like lambs? Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, who turns the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a spring of water. Father in heaven, we give you praise. We thank you so much for your word. We thank you for what you revealed to us about our lives in your covenant with the people of Israel. They are your chosen people.

And you are faithful to your covenant always. You have fulfilled your covenant. The covenant that you sealed with the Passover lamb. You fulfilled that in the new and eternal covenant, the blood of the true lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, your son, Jesus Christ, that new and eternal covenant, the covenant of the Eucharist, the covenant that's established in the mass that we are brought into and that renews our reception into your family. Lord God, help us to always, always see your working in our lives and to always approach the Eucharist worthily, to always approach the Mass with hearts that are open,

with hearts that have been made new by your grace. We make this prayer in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Wow. Okay. Gosh, there's so much to say about the book of Exodus chapter 12. So I'm going to have to limit myself because it is just ridiculous.

Such a gift. What an incredible gift. Now, at the same time, it's a hard chapter to read, right? Because here is the death of the firstborn in the entire land of Egypt. As it says, from Pharaoh, he sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive in the dungeon. So this can be problematic for us, but remember, we read the whole scripture as a whole. And so one of the things that we remember is that this is in some ways, in so many ways, is justice. What do I mean? Well, remember at the very beginning of the book of Exodus, what did Pharaoh do to all of those who were born of the people of Israel?

He would kill every one of the males, not just the males that opened the womb, not just the firstborn of the males, but all of the males. And the Lord God had warned Pharaoh through Moses and Aaron that this is what's going to happen unless you let my people go. So it wasn't as if this is completely unjust. In fact, it's not unjust at all. God is never unjust. God is completely 100% just. God is justice himself. And so what we know is that the people of Egypt, that Pharaoh had 100% opportunity to repent because God is completely just. And so in mysterious way, this is, as I said, it's a hundred percent just, so let's move on just because I can say it. And if someone is

going to be skeptical about that, then they remain skeptical. Or if I can say it, you know, like, okay, yep. I'm reassured. I remember that God has proven this to us many, many times. And he proves this to us after this section of the scripture as well. Remember, he proved when it came to Abraham and Sodom and Gomorrah, where God demonstrated, yep, if there's even one, essentially one righteous person, I will not destroy the city. So similarly, here's the participation of all the people of Egypt in the slavery and oppression and death, the murder of the children of those who are Israelites. Okay. So moving on, my goodness, let's just look at two more things. One is we recognize that the lamb is a, what they call a

type, and it is a type of Jesus himself. In fact, not only does St. Paul say that Jesus is our Passover lamb, but also St. John the Baptist says of Jesus, behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Not only that, but also John the evangelist, right? In the gospel of John, he makes a point of saying that Jesus was crucified at the same moment when in the temple, they were slaughtering the Passover lambs. There is this massive connection between the lambs of Passover and Jesus himself, who is the true lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. So what is happening? You have the lamb and the lamb is brought into the home and the lamb is brought into the home for a week. So essentially that comes in on Sunday and ultimately as the

Passover ritual becomes more formalized, it is celebrated then on Friday, right? So here is the lamb that comes in on Sunday. That's Palm Sunday is just fast forward, but the lamb dwells in the home of the people of Israel. Why is this? There could be two reasons. One is because not all the people of Israel at this point would have been circumcised. And so this was an opportunity for the men of the people of Israel to be brought into the covenant via circumcision. And they had to recover essentially. So they were probably circumcised at the beginning of this week. And the beginning of the week is marked by the lamb coming into their home.

They're circumcised, they're healing. And by the end of the week, when they have the roast lamb and they sacrifice it and whatnot, they will be healed enough to move in flight. Now, why would they have to be circumcised? Well, because it says at the very end of chapter 12, it says, if unless you're brought into the covenant via circumcision, you actually cannot, you may not, you must not partake of the sacrificial lamb. And this is really important for us as well, because that's one of the things that we believe. In fact, there is Justin Martyr, who wrote a basically description, the first description we have of the Catholic mass in the year 140 to 150. And in it, one of the things he notes is that not all can partake of the Eucharist.

Not all can partake of Jesus, the Lamb of God, but only those who are of our number, only those who have been brought into the covenant via baptism and are part of the number that profess what we profess, which leads to what we believe right now as Catholic Christians, that while Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, that unless someone is brought into communion with the church, they may not partake of the Eucharist. And this isn't just a church rule. This goes all the way back to even the type of the Eucharist, where unless you're brought into the covenant, unless you're brought into the family of the people of God, you

may not participate in the sacrificial meal. Okay. So not only that, so here's the lamb possibly brought in for a whole week because of circumcision. But also here's what I like to think. Here is a lamb that is brought into your house and you're caring for the lamb, right? Because it has to be unblemished. So you have to keep it inside so that the lamb doesn't become blemished, doesn't get hurt, doesn't get damaged in any way. Have you ever had the situation where one of the kids brings home a stray pet and maybe one of the adults is like, nope, get that thing out of here. I don't want any pets. I don't want that dog. I

don't want that cat. And then by the end of the week, they're the ones who are like sneaking the food to the pet. They're sneaking the food to the animal that was brought in. This is kind of part of the idea is that the lamb has value on its own, but it lives with you for a week and then it becomes precious to you. The sacrificial lamb has value on its own, but when it lives with you for a week, then it becomes precious to you. When you sacrifice it, when you offer it, it is a sign of that trust, a sign of that gift that actually means something. And something there is true when it comes to us for our participation in the mass is, is the Lord Jesus, who is the sacrificial lamb, is he precious to us? When we have the preparation for the altar, do we put down on the altar that thing, those things that

are precious to us? Or do we just kind of approach the Lord knowing that he has value in and of himself, like ultimate value, but there's no value in our own hearts. Something to think about. Last thing, last thing, because there's so much to say. They mark their homes, the doorposts and the lintel with the blood of the lamb. And you can see this for three reasons. One, because as it explicitly says in scripture in Exodus chapter 12, it says when the destroyer, when the angel of death comes by, he will see the blood and pass over those houses. That's why it's called Passover. Number one.

Number two, because of the fact that lambs in Egypt were considered sacred. And so here are these people of Israel who have taken a sacred object, sacred animal, to the Egyptians at least, and they have now sacrificed them as in their homes privately. They have then marked their outside of their homes, their lintel and the two doorposts with the blood of lambs that in Egypt would be considered sacred. One of the things that they're doing there is they're burning their ships, right? They're burning their bridges. They're saying like, we can't go back here because you've just kind of done this thing that is possibly considered blasphemy, sacrilegious, or worse, to the people of Egypt.

And so it actually kind of helps them on their way out the door and to not come back because as we are going to hear later on, they're going to want to come back. But the last reason possibly for marking their homes, not just their homes, marking their doorposts and lintel with the blood of the lamb is something I came across relatively recently. It's an archaeological studies that have happened in Egypt. Egyptian houses were built of this brick, right? But the brick was made out of mud and wasn't kind of lasting. But the doorposts and the lintel were made out of stone. And so what the Egyptians would do is, since they believed that one of the things that kept the person living even after death was their

name. So what they would do is they would inscribe their own names on the stone of their homes. You wouldn't do it on the mud bricks because those would pass away, but you would inscribe your name on the doorpost made of stone or on the lintel made of stone. And so if the Israelites who had lived here for 430 years kind of were influenced by the Egyptians, most likely their homes would have stone lintel and stone doorposts with their names inscribed on them. And so here they are covering their names with the blood of the lamb. And what is that? Here we have been covered by the blood of the lamb. As Christians, here we are not just marked by the Lord, but are being covered by the Lord, being transformed by the Lord and his sacrifice on the cross.

And the type of this is seen in Exodus chapter 12, when the people of Israel cover their own names with the blood of the lamb. And it's those things, eating the flesh of the lamb and being marked by its blood that give them freedom and give them life. And this is the exact same thing that happens to us in the Eucharist. We receive the Eucharist. We eat the flesh of this lamb of God and we drink the blood of the lamb of God and it gives us freedom and it gives us life. What a gift. I know this is a longer podcast, but wow, what a gift and what a connection with the

way in which we can go to mass from now on. Oh my gosh, I cannot wait to keep on going and journeying with the people of Israel because things get even dicier. I mean, they've been dicey, but they get even dicier. But that's kind of like life. Our lives have been dicey. They are dicey and they just seem to keep getting dicier. So praise the Lord for the Lord and that he's leading us on this journey and for each other. Let's keep praying for each other. I am praying for you. Please, please, please pray for me. My name is Father Mike.

I cannot wait to see you all tomorrow. God bless. Thank you.