Exodus 12

This long chapter consists of a number of closely-related paragraphs, all directly bearing upon the deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage. These are: The Passover Proclaimed (Exodus 12:1-14); The Feast of Unleavened Bread (Exodus 12:15-20); Specific Instructions for the First Passover (Exodus 12:21-28); The Tenth Plague (Exodus 12:29,30); The Israelites Receive Permission to Go (Exodus 12:31-36); They Take the First Step of their Journey and Depart from Egypt (Exodus 12:37-42); and Special Instructions Regarding Non-Israelites and the Covenant (Exodus 12:43-51).

There are not two (or more) separate accounts of the Passover in this chapter, as affirmed by Dummelow.[1] These instructions concern the First Passover only and are not related in any way to "ceremonial keeping of the ordinance of the Passover in later times."[2] The Passover which appears in this chapter by the direct authority of Almighty God is not merely the adaptation of some previously-existing pagan rite celebrating "the birth of lambs, and probably a communion meal shared by the shepherd group and its deity."[3] The account given here is the original account of the Passover, and it is not an account of how the ordinance was observed at "a late period in Israel's development."[4] As a matter of fact, there are many things that distinguish this institution of the Passover from later changes that followed the adaptation of the ordinance to the Mosaic dispensation, an adaptation that was made, not by priests, but by God Himself. As for the perplexity of critical scholars as to where the offering of a lamb originated, let them read the Genesis account of the offerings submitted by Cain and Abel, where the words "sin lieth at the door" is a positive reference to the lamb as a sin offering. The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world was indeed typified by the Passover lamb in this chapter, but no less so than it was typified by the offering of Abel. The big deal in this chapter is not God's seizing upon some common pagan practice and converting it to sacred use, but that of expanding and continuing the marvelous figure of "The Lamb Slain from the Foundation of the World," a figure that began within the shadow of the gates of Eden. The incorporation of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (as in this chapter - Exodus 12) and the Dedication of the First-born (in Exodus 13) into a single, unified celebration of the Exodus of Israel from Egypt is historical. "The contiguous location for the laws for the three rites is simply due to the fact that all three commemorate the Exodus."[5] Concerning all the complex and self-contradictory allegations of critical scholars seeking some intelligent support for their denial of the Word of God, we may summarize them all in the words of Fields: "Such ideas lack any proof at all, and certainly do not agree with Biblical information about the passover origin."[6]