Today is that day, the fifteenth of first month, Abib or Nisan. Now the feast, as its name suggests centers on unleavened bread. This is because the Israelites in their haste to leave Egypt did not have the time to let their bread rise. It says that in Exodus 12:31.
And so, as we learned yesterday, here in this congregation, they did not eat the Passover in haste, they had plenty of time for that, and to contemplate was God was going to do, and in a certain amount of fear and trepidation. When they left, then they did leave in haste. They got out there in the morning, as they could not leave their homes until the morning, and they had a lot to do until they left in the evening. And so, they had to get all their things together in much haste. And, at the same time, they were spoiling the Egyptians, and they had to walk a long distance just to get to Rameses. They did not all live in the city, but most lived in the region of Goshen scattered about. And so they had a lot to do in a short amount of time. So, they did not have the time to get their bread to rise (natural sourdough style takes quite a while to work). So, as it says here, they took their dough before it was leavened, because their kneading troughs, or bowls were already packed away.
Over time, leavening, because of the process of fermentation, and the dough rising, or puffing-up became a symbol of corruption - of pride - and of sin itself. And so each year, we commemorate their leaving from Egypt as a type of our fleeing from this world, and from the sin that so easily besets us, as Paul so eloquently states in Hebrews 12:1.
We are here at a time remembering what the Israelites had to go through, and applying this same lesson to ourselves in terms of unleavened bread - that we must become unleavened, we must get rid of the leaven that is in us. We must become unleavened as we leave this present evil world of sin behind.
The thing that we can pick up here is that lailah continues after midnight. That ought to be plain. The Death Angel went through at midnight. And when Pharaoh called, it was after this, but it was still lailah.
How long did it take to get from Pharaoh to Rameses? I do not know, because I do not know how far he was away. But you have to think that he was far enough away that it must have taken a little bit of time; maybe a half an hour, an hour, by horseback or chariot. Remember that they were going on darkened streets. They did not have streetlights, like we do, and it was the middle of the night. Maybe there was a good clear moon, and maybe they got there pretty fast, but still lailah follows midnight. That is very clear.
In verse 29 we are told that the Death Angel passed through at midnight. In verse 22 they were warned not to go out of their houses until morning. This is important, again considering the time. Pharaoh apparently sent messengers at night, telling Moses that they were free to leave; however they did not leave. They did not leave until Moses told them to leave, and that was in the morning.
They did not. They stayed put.
They did not leave until morning.
There is a reason. Those people were scared stiff by that time. They were doing exactly what they were told, out of fear.
