sermonette: Eat in Haste?

Exodus 12:11
John W. Ritenbaugh
Given 19-Apr-08; Sermon #877s; 17 minutes

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I'd like you to turn with me to Exodus 12th chapter in verse 11, Exodus 12 and verse 11. I believe there is a translation error in this verse. It's not one that is so serious that one might lose salvation because of it. However, it very seriously misleads if one takes the error as translated and attempts to fit it tightly into the broader context. Now that verse says, And thus shall you eat it with your learned loins girded, your shoes on your feet. And your staff in your hand, and you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. Now the error involves a word translated into the English as haste. There are at least 4 Hebrew words translated into the single English word haste. One mahar is used 64 times and is a perfect synonym for the English word haste. Another pronounced kush is used 20 times in scripture, and it also means to make haste. A third pronounced out. I used 10 times and 1/4 Baal is used 9 times as speed, speedily or haste. Well that's 103 times, so there were plenty of alternatives that Moses could have used in verse 11 instead of hippo zone. Hippo zone Hippozone does not mean haste in the normal sense, the same way that those other words do, even though there is a direct sense of haste implied within it. Hippozone is a noun derived from the verb kafaz. Now this verb means to be terrified, to tremble, to be alarmed, to fear. It indicates the result of being in awe or terror. Now the reaction in most cases to terror is to get away from it as fast as one can. Hastily, speedily. However, the primary thrust of the term is to convey a sense of fear. Now turn with me to Deuteronomy. In chapter 20 and in verse 3, Deuteronomy 20 and in verse 3. And say unto them, here, O Israel, you approach this day unto battle against your enemies. Let not your hearts faint. Fear not, and do not tremble. Neither be you terrified because of them. There is the word kibazone translated as it should be translated tremble. In Deuteronomy 20 verse 3. Now this context makes it clear, quite clear. That if Kaoz has nothing to do with haste, it has everything to do with trembling, alarm, panic, and fear. Now people do indeed run from fear and trembling, and that is why. Haste is associated with it. But the reality is Kaoz has more, much more to do with the motivation to run than with the running itself. The action of running is secondary to what caused The action Now we are going to turn to Psalm 31, Psalm 31 and verse 22. Psalm 31 and verse 22 says, Blessed be the Lord, for He has shown me. Uh, wait a minute, I got the wrong. No, that's the right one. That I've got the wrong verse, for I said in my haste. I am cut off from before your eyes. Nevertheless, you heard the voice of my supplications when I cried unto you. Well, there is the word. O Translated in haste. No. If you would read the entire context. You would see there that David is in reality, focusing on his sense of fear that God would not respond. Through his cries to him. Now if David had wanted to convey speed, he would have used words such as Mahar or kosh, and in fact, the word kosh is used 9 times in the Psalms to convey the sense of haste, and some of them by David. The noun cuzone. It is used only 3 or 4 times in the entire Old Testament. And if you look the word up in strong, you will find that it is very weak regarding this word's definition, but other more complete resources reveal the sense of trepidation. But somehow is still translated as haste in most Bible translations, but brethren, it does not fit into the context. Exodus 12:11. In this verse, God's main focus is not haste but apprehension. As they were eating the Passover that night, perhaps tens of thousands of first-born Egyptians were dying throughout the land of Egypt. The same death angel that was killing those people was going to pass over their homes. And if you can remember from the movie The 10 Commandments, as they were eating the Passover, they portrayed those people as being in fear. They could hear the whales. Of those who are outside. The only thing that was standing between them and death was the blood on their doorposts and lintels and God's faithfulness. Now remember This was a people who were very weak in faith in the first place. And brethren, these people were scared for their lives. what God is doing here in advance is acknowledging that very fact. But there is more In verse 6, I will not read these. God instructed Israel to kill the lamb between the two evenings, that is between sunset and darkness at the very beginning of the 14th day of the month. Then in verse 7, it contains the instruction regarding the lamb's blood. In verses 8 and 9, God instructs that they are to eat the lamb that night, which means that they would have to spend a couple of hours to roast it so that it was edible. And then in verse 10 they are instructed to completely burn the entire remainder of what remained uneaten. Now how long did that take for them to do that? Now do you get the point? Rushing outdoors to get out of Egypt is not even in the picture at this point in time because the same verse confirms that they would be inside. This is verse 10 until morning. Now take a look back there in Exodus 12 this time again in verse 22. Where God says, and you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the basin, and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until morning. That is the morning of the 14th. Not the 15th, the morning of the 14th. Now what this all makes clear is the actual eating was most certainly not intended by God to be done in haste. In one sense We might say today. They had all of the time in the world in the world to eat. But they were to eat intrepidation, in trembling. Indicating a sober reflection of what was happening all around. The time of confinement inside the house must have begun shortly after the lamb was slain between the two evenings. The blood collected, then dashed on the doorposts and the little and before the death angel began going through the lamb, did not come through until midnight. They had a minimum Of 8 hours to roast, eat, and perhaps burn the remainder of the lamb, but it was probably more like 10 hours. To do that Now I say perhaps to burn because verse 10 gives an indication that the lamb did not have to be burned until morning light. That's a side issue. When morning arrived, though they had very much to do and little time by comparison to the time that they had to spend overnight on the meal. So it is here at morning light that a sense of urgency comes into the picture. By sunset of the 14th, as the 15th was beginning, this vast multitude of 2 to 3 million people had to be ready to start out of Egypt. Now remember, they were leaving from their homes in Goshen. This means that when morning light came, they had to assemble all their all their belongings for transport, including cattle, sheep, goats, chickens, and whatever else was ambulatory. Meanwhile, they had to move toward Rameses, which was the gathering point. And while doing that, they spoiled the Egyptians. Upon arriving in Rameses, they had to be organized in such a manner that they marched out in an orderly fashion. Every single minute between sunrise of the 14th and sunset was jam packed. Undoubtedly with hurried activity but not the evening before as the 14th began. Until sunrise. Now what I'm telling you here is that the speed of eating was not the issue. Now God's intent in Exodus 12:11 was that they eat the Passover in an attitude of trepidation. A fear Of sober reflection and awe of what they were involved in ever since Moses came into their lives and most specifically what they were being protected from and what lay ahead after that night was over. Now is it wrong to think that God wanted them to eat the meal in haste? Now speed of eating was not the issue. Serious thought and reflection is is exactly what God intends us. When we take the Passover. Do you think that God wants us to take the bread and the wine? In haste Not on your life. I'll turn to Deuteronomy 16. Deuteronomy 16. And in verse 3, You shall eat no leavened bread with it 7 days. shall you eat unleavened bread therewith even the bread of affliction, for you came forth out of the land of Egypt in haste, that you may remember the day when you came forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life. Well, first of all, I want you to remember. That this was written 40 years later. And it contains the 2nd usage of hippozone. Now they left Egypt with some measure of apprehension. Let's not forget this. Apprehension remained. Why? Because they thought that at any moment Pharaoh and the Egyptian army was going to attack. 7 days later. While still eating unleavened bread, that fear came to pass. Trapped against the Red Sea by Pharaoh and his army and seemingly facing certain death, their fear peaked. Once again And I think that this confirms that God acknowledged the Passover to be eaten with some measure of fear. Now when we conduct Passover services. We have never told people to eat the bread or drink the wine in haste. Rather, these are taken. In a contemplative setting. There is never a hint of haste, but rather a very evident mood of quiet, responsible solemnity which is the equivalent of eating with deep respect. Now turn with me For one final scripture to Isaiah, the 52nd chapter. And in verse verses 9 through 12. Isaiah 52. Verses 9 through 12. Break forth into joy, sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted His people. He has redeemed Jerusalem. We're looking way ahead in time now. The Lord has made bear His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. Depart you, depart you. Go you out from thence, touch no unclean thing, go you out of the midst of her, be you clean that bear the vessels of the Lord. You shall not go out with haste. Guess what that word is. Kefazone You shall not go out with fear. For the Lord shall go before you. And the God of Israel will be your rear guards. At that time The flight will not be a wild flight to escape a terror. Because God Himself will be their rear guard, apprehension will be totally missing. Because they know. That God is with them. Exodus 12 verse 11. It has nothing to do with eating in haste. It has everything to do with a sense of apprehension. And contemplative meditation. This unfortunate translation error has helped to produce numerous wrong interpretation errors regarding the time elements of Passover and the first day of unleavened bread. Now you have the truth.