Exodus 12:42 - Forerunner Commentary

Exodus 12:42

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Articles, Bible studies, and sermons that contain The Second Book of Moses Called Exodus 12:42:

Exodus 12:37-42
Excerpted from: Passover (Part 9)

These verses clearly show that the leaving by night pertained to the first Day of Unleavened Bread—the 15^th, not the 14^th.

Passover is the 14^th, and the starting point. According to verses 2 and 3, it was in Rameses, not their houses. It was the night part of the 15^th day of the month that they left Egypt. It was the 15th day of the first month, on the day after the Passover.

The Egyptians would not have been burying their dead just minutes after they died on the 14^th in the dead of night. They were burying their dead late on the daylight portion of the 14^th toward sunset, as the Israelites were beginning to move out of Rameses. That is four differences already.

Now why would they celebrate all night? They were commemorating coming out of Egypt, and in all likelihood the Israelites, once they began to leave Rameses, did not stop till daylight the next day. They marched all night, and then rested in the heat of the day. They were celebrating "The Night To Be Much Observed"—a night of watching. God was watching over them as they left Egypt by night. Now verse 8 makes sense as to why He would have to tell them to leave off the celebration and go back to their tents.

Exodus 12:37-42
Excerpted from: The Feasts of Tabernacles and Unleavened Bread

This passage is all about the First Day of Unleavened Bread, beginning with the night of solemn observance, just after sunset. Unleavened Bread pictures God's deliverance from the environment of sin. It is about what God did and does for us - it is a memorial of His deliverance. But notice where this took place: Verse 37 puts the beginning of the exodus at Succoth. That was the first place they camped after leaving Ramses in Egypt proper.

So, this is a commonality with Tabernacles, because the place the Israelites camped for the First Day of Unleavened Bread is what this feast is named after. The Jews call this Feast Sukkot, which is the Hebrew word for tabernacle, tent, or booth. And the name of the first place the Israelites camped is Succoth, which is the same word, except that it is plural. So, the Israelites stayed in booths in Succoth. This is curious because they stayed in booths in the place that had already been named booths. It was already named Succoth when they got there and made their camp. The backstory to this is found in Genesis 33:17:

So, the place the Israelites camped for the First Day of Unleavened Bread was named after the dwellings Jacob made for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.

Exodus 12:41-42
Excerpted from: Passover (Part 5)

So we see the same language here. They went out on the fifteenth. And verse 22, of this chapter, proves that none of these verses (17, 41, or 51) could refer to Passover day because (in verse 22) they had to stay in their houses until morning. They were still in their houses when daylight of the fourteenth came, and they had not even gone to Rameses yet.
They went out, but they did not go out in a disorganized way. Everybody was not just tramping, tramping, tramping—running things over, or whatever. They were all lined up. And, because of Scriptures like this, I do not believe that Moses merely assembled everybody in one huge mass, like a huge crowd attending a rock concert, in some open area of Rameses. It would not have worked that way. The indication, from these Scriptures, is that he had them lined up as in a parade—according to their tribes, according to their families. It was not a milling mass of people, just running in every direction. Rather, he had them lined up—like a parade.

Exodus 12:42
Excerpted from: The Wavesheaf and the Selfsame Day

Here, beginning in verse 42, God gives the official name of the beginning of the First Day of Unleavened Bread: "It is a night to be much observed."

Far from being "Armstrong's folly," as people were wont to call it every once in a while, taunting him, it is a night of very great significance to the salvation story of God's people. The significance is, that because the firstborn of the Egyptians had been slaughtered, and the descendants of Abraham had been released from their slavery and were free to go out of Egypt, the firstborn of Egypt thus become a type of the Firstborn, Jesus Christ, - the sacrifice for our sins that enslave us to spiritual Egypt. Two major things in the salvation story have already occurred on The Night To Be Much Observed.

Exodus 12:40-42
Excerpted from: Escape From Box Canyon

So there is also a solemn aspect to all of this, because of what had been wrought in Egypt—what had been necessary to redeem them, to free them, and to bring them out. But it is God's actions on this particular night that I want to highlight. Early in our conversion, we are very aware (in our first love) of God watching. That is what it basically says here. We observe this night because God observed His people going out of Egypt. You see—God was there. He was involved. He was so involved that it says (back in Exodus 11:7), when He was telling Moses what was going to happen, He said, "Not even a dog will wag his tongue against you." (Meaning, not even a dog will bark as you leave Egypt.) That is how closely God supervised their leaving.

Exodus 12:42
Excerpted from: Does Doctrine Really Matter? (Part Six)

Now finally the word night in Exodus 12:42. "It is a night to be much observed unto the LORD for bringing them out from the land of Egypt." That word "night" means exactly what it says: the dark part of a 24-hour day. The Israelites left Egypt in the dark part of a 24-hour day. They walked out of Egypt by night at the beginning of the 15^th—24 hours after the events of the 14^th began.

Exodus 12:33-42
Excerpted from: Pioneers: Our Job Is the Journey

Notice, rather than leaving all physical possessions behind like those pioneers needed to do to lighten their load, God provided much more physically for their journey. They added great material possessions from the spoils of Egypt before their journey out began with setting sun that started the 15^th day, and the first day of Unleavened Bread.

Notice it says in verse 35 that they had done all this at the word of Moses.

Exodus 12:40-42
Excerpted from: The Wavesheaf and the Selfsame Day

This was 40 years to the selfsame day! Why is that used? "Selfsame day" is used to draw attention in Exodus 12:40-42 to the Night To Be Much Observed - the night that memorializes God's faithfulness to His covenant with Abraham, and Christ's sacrifice and entombment for our sins, and thus Israel's release from their physical bondage, and our release from our spiritual bondage to this world.

The Sabbath Committed to the Hebrews

Articles
Countdown to Pentecost 2001
Countdown to Pentecost 2001
Countdown to Pentecost 2001
How Do We Keep God's Festivals?
Prepare to Meet Your God! (Part One)
The Law of the Firstborn
Why Was Jesus Not Crucified as Passover Began? (Part Two)
Why Was Jesus Not Crucified as Passover Began? (Part Two)

Bible Studies
God's Master Plan
Holy Days: Unleavened Bread

Booklets
Prepare to Meet Your God! (The Book of Amos) (Part One)

Essays
Keeping Godly Traditions (Part Two)  (2)
The Night of God's Vigil

Sermons
The First Day of Unleavened Bread (Part 2)
Who Are We and Where Do We Fit? (Part One)
Unleavened Bread and the Holy Spirit (2019)
By This We Know Love!
The Real Prince of Egypt
The First Day of Unleavened Bread (Part 2)
The Selfsame Day
The Wavesheaf and the Selfsame Day
The Christian Walk: In Light
Lessons from the Count to Pentecost

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