Gospel Doctrine Old Testament C13
Bondage, Passover, and Exodus (Exodus 1-13)
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Display stuffed lamb, tortilla, herbs, shoes – What do these represent??
Read: Hebrews 11:24-29 Faith of Moses
Summary Ex. 1-6:
The Lord calls Moses to deliver Israel from bondage.
???Is there anything you want to discuss from this section?
1:8 new king who knew not Joseph
1:17 midwives feared God (D&C 3:7)
2:23-24 God hears prayers and remembers his people and covenants
-3:3-4 Moses turned toward bush before God spoke
3:5 Holy ground
***3:7 God will come to our aid (D&C 90:24; Mosiah 24:14-15)
Joseph’s experience led him to give Pharaoh this answer (Gen 41:15-16)
-4:1-5 such a human reaction (rod into snake)
4:10-11 why doubt God when he is the ultimate creator. Of course he controls all and boy is he patient!
5 This Pharaoh is not Moses stepfather
5:10-13, 22-23 Moses was supposed to save them but their work just became more difficult
???How can we not doubt God when things become hard and remember that he is God? 6:8 I AM the LORD
Summary Ex. 7-10:
7 – we should beware of Satan’s false imitations
8-10 The Lord sends plagues upon Egypt.
Water to blood
Frogs
Lice or gnats
Flies
Cattle dying
Boils and blains
Hail and fire
Locusts
Darkness
Death of first born
Read: Final plague 11:1, 5-6
Identify symbolism in 12:1-14; 22
Exodus 12 details the Lord's very specific instructions to Moses for Israel to observe in order to be saved from the destroying angel's deadly work. The elements listed below are some of the symbolic meanings beyond their historical use in Egypt; note how they point to larger realities within the Lord's redemptive work throughout all time.
- Exodus 12:1—their life in Egypt represents bondage to sin.
- Exodus 12:2—the "Passover" becomes the marking of their new calendar and as such points to the newness of life that we should live in Christ (see Romans 6:1-6 and the later symbolism of Israel's passing through the waters of the Red Sea and the Lord's fiery revelation at Sinai).
- Exodus 12:3—the use of a lamb, the quintessential representation of Christ himself (see also Revelation 5:6)
- Exodus 12:5—properties of the lamb point to Jesus' perfect life and priesthood power (note that goats could be used as well; the Day of Atonement held at the end of the Israelite harvest and festival season featured two goats described in Leviticus 16). The Savior is the firstborn Son of God, the Lamb of God without spot or blemish ( 1Peter 1:19).
- Exodus 12:6—the slain lamb represents the "infinite and eternal" sacrifice of Jesus Christ (cf. Alma 34:10-11).
- Exodus 12:7—the blood of the lamb marking the door of each house signified who should be spared (atone means to ‘cover'); so shall each individual be spared the fulness of punishment owed for their sins due to the blood of him who did no sin; see D&C 45:4-5. The Savior’s blood, which he shed in Gethsemane and on the cross, cleanses the faithful and saves them from spiritual death (Mosiah 4:2).
- ***Exodus 12:7—the doorposts representing the daily acts of our lives affected by this marvelous offer in Christ's atonement. “By sprinkling our Lord's blood upon the doorposts of our hearts and upon the lintels of our souls, we set our dwellings apart from the world: we make open and visible confession of our allegiance to Him whose blood has eternal saving power; we set ourselves apart from the Egyptians, the Sodomites, and the seekers after Sheol; and we place ourselves with the believing portion of mankind.” Ted Gibbons LDS Living.
- Exodus 12:8—roasting the meat with fire symbolizes the purifying work of the Holy Ghost and the baptism of fire (see also 2 Nephi 31:13-17).
- Exodus 12:8—the unleavened bread typified the coming Lord as the bread of life without any impurity (leaven, or yeast, is a corrupting agent). “Leaven, or yeast, was seen anciently as a symbol of corruption because it so easily spoiled and turned moldy. … For the Israelites, eating the unleavened bread symbolized that they were partaking of the bread which had no corruption or impurity, namely, the Bread of Life, who is Jesus Christ (see John 6:35)” (Old Testament Student Manual). The removal of leaven also suggested repentance or the removal of sin from a person’s life.
- Exodus 12:10—the bitter herbs represent the suffering of sin and the bitterness of soul that results from willful rebellion against God.
- ***Exodus 12:11— Eat in haste, loins girded, shoes on, and staffs in hand symbolize the journey out of sin and also the preparedness for the Lord's call when deliverance will be announced. Like the Israelites, we need to respond eagerly and immediately to the deliverance that the Savior offers us.
- Exodus 12:13—the angel of death passing over represents the saving work of the Atonement providing deliverance from spiritual death.
- ***Exodus 12:22- Warning not to wander – “Once we have installed the protective influence of the atonement in our lives, we must not leave it to go out the door to explore theh world. There is no possible concern or opportunity that could justify setting aside the protection o the blood of Christ and his atonement to become a partaker of the things of the world.” Ted Gibbons LDS Living
- Exodus 12:30-32—Israel's actual freedom typifies the final release from mortal corruption in the resurrection and rewards granted in the Judgment.
- ***Exodus 12:42—the injunction to hold this (and other feasts) points to the Lord's wise program of remembrance through mnemonic tools such as our latter-day Sacrament meeting where we partake of similar emblems of Christ's wondrous work of salvation.
- Exodus 12:46—the lamb was not to have a broken bone stands as one of the more fascinatingly unusual details of an otherwise normal crucifixion when Jesus was brutally hung on the cross at Golgotha (see John 19:31-36).
Many of the above notes can be found in Elder McConkie's The Promised Messiah (pp. 431-32).
Read: 12:29-30- the final plague is devastating. Think about how worn down they have been. All the plagues and hardship have worn them down. They are weak mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. The work of taking thousands of people on a trek is astounding. Think of a time when you have been beat upon until you can’t take it any longer and you are just a hot, crying mess. Think of preparing your family for a long trip. Then make it a camping trip. Then make it a week long, month long, year long.
Ex. 12:42 ???Why did the Lord want Israel to continue to keep the Feast of the Passover in the future years?
President Hunter talks about the final hours of the life of Christ and says:
“Finally, preparations for the Passover meal were complete, in keeping with nearly fifteen hundred years of tradition. Jesus sat down with his disciples and, after the eating of the sacrificial lamb and of the bread and wine of this ancient feast, he taught them a newer and holier meaning of the ancient blessing from God.
The bread and wine, rather than the animals and herbs, would become emblems of the great Lamb’s body and blood, emblems to be eaten and drunk reverently and in remembrance of him forever.” (Howard W. Hunter, “Christ, Our Passover”, Conf, Apr 1985).
Pres. Hunter also said:
“This magnificent gesture of love and unity was a fitting prelude to the paschal meal that followed. From the time the firstborn of the faithful children of Israel had been “passed over” in the destruction brought on Egypt by Pharaoh’s intransigence, the Passover meal, with all its symbolic emblems and gestures, had been faithfully observed by Israel’s families. How fitting it was during the observance of this ancient covenant of protection that Jesus should institute the emblems of the new covenant of safety—the emblems of his own body and blood. As he took the bread and broke it, and took the cup and blessed it, he was presenting himself as the Lamb of God who would provide spiritual nourishment and eternal salvation.” (Howard W. Hunter, “His Final Hours”, 1974).
??? How is the sacrament a “new covenant of safety” for us?
??? How do we treat the sacrament?
“Perhaps we do not always attach that kind of meaning to our weekly sacramental service. How ‘sacred’ and how ‘holy is it? Do we see it as our Passover, remembrance of our safety and deliverance and redemption?
With so very much at stake, this ordinance commemorating our escape from the angel of darkness should be taken more seriously than it sometimes is. It should be a powerful, reverent, reflective moment. It should encourage spiritual feelings and impressions. AS such it should not be rushed. It is not something to ‘get over’ so that the real purpose of a sacrament meeting can be pursued. This is the real purpose of the meeting. And everything that is said or sung or prayed in those services should be consistent with the grandeur of this sacred ordinance.” (Jeffrey R. Holland, “This Do in Remembrance of Me”, Conf, Oct 1995)
Years ago, the end of 2011, I came across a call for essay submissions for a project sponsored by BYU Women's Services, themed Recapturing Beauty. So I penned ashort essay and tried my hand at a poem for good measure and submitted them. 
