Exodus 12:42
It is a night to be much observed unto the LORD for bringing them out from the land of Egypt: this is that night of the LORD to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations. It is a night to be much observed unto the LORD for bringing them out from the land of Egypt: this is that night of the LORD to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations.
It is a night recording God's bringing of His people out of Egypt after they had long dwelt in Goshen and the country round about it. They had sojourned there nearly four hundred years, long treated as slaves and grievously oppressed by an idolatrous nation that acknowledged not God and refused to hearken to His voice. God Himself had sent His people into Egypt and kept them there until His appointed time for bringing them out.
The deliverance was wrought with power and mighty signs and wonders. It was wrought with a wonderful display of power, in pity for Israel in slavery breaking the yoke of bondage and placing Moses at their head to lead them through the wilderness to the promised land. He guided and protected His people and destroyed the Egyptian army that sought to overtake them to enslave them again. By those mighty acts He revealed Himself to the Egyptians as Ruler of the universe, greater than all heathen deities.
It is a solemn night to the Lord, to be remembered and observed by all generations of Israel. It was to be observed in every generation by reenacting it in the paschal service at Jerusalem. The night assembly, the men with girded loins, shoes on feet and staff in hand, the hasty meal of lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, and the solemn rehearsal of the sprinkled blood, the death-dealing angel, and the grand march out of bondage were of a nature to stir the imagination and impress the heart. Bound up with nature, song, story, and kindly human association on the journey, they fixed the memory of God's deliverance forever in children and youth.
God's purpose in bringing Israel forth was to separate them from the customs, habits, and practices of the world and bring them nearer to Himself to make His will known. It was that in life and character they would manifest the principles of His kingdom and reveal His goodness, mercy, justice, and love, giving the world a representation of His character. When the law of God is thus exemplified in the life even the world recognizes the superiority of those who love and fear and serve God above every other people, and this same purpose holds for His people today.
After leaving Egypt they had little knowledge of God and little faith, and God sought to raise them morally by making Himself known to them. He called them out to bring them to Sinai to hear proclaimed the law already given in Eden. By proclaiming the Ten Commandments with His own voice in awful grandeur He made known His majesty and authority as Ruler of the world, demonstrating their fundamental importance. That force and power of delivery was to impress the sacredness of the law and the importance of obeying it, revealing its importance as the faith once delivered to the saints by Christ the Redeemer speaking from Sinai.
The people brought out from under Pharaoh's power became His church, representing His church in every age. His denominated people were to occupy an important position before those who knew not the truth and to be light-bearers to the nations through whose land they passed. Those who were obedient were sustained and strengthened by God, while those who murmured and complained and refused to be converted from their evil ways perished in the wilderness.
The bringing out of Egyptian bondage, together with opening the Red Sea before them and destroying their pursuing foes, was a mighty work of deliverance to be remembered with gratitude and trust. Remembering it requires firm faith in God's leadings toward the heavenly Canaan, courage to go forward to victory, and words that inspire confidence rather than discouragement and disaffection. Forgetting that night breeds distrust of God, mourning and lamentation over trial and self, and the desperation and discouragement spread by the unfaithful spies. Repeating that ingratitude, murmuring, and rebellion is sin.
That pity which broke the yoke is not past or indifferent. The same God cares for the suffering of the colored people in America who in one sense have been freed from slavery yet remain in the slavery of ignorance and degradation. He calls those who name His name to take up the neglected work of lifting them up.