“You are to sacrifice the Pesach offering from flock and herd to Adonai your God in the place where Adonai will choose to have his name live.”-Deuteronomy 16:2
There is one important point concerning the Passover that the Rabbis have recognized for the longest time.
What am I talking about?
I’m referring to the significant differences between how the very first Passover was observed in Egypt and then how it was observed after the Law was given at Sinai.
This is going to be the topic of discussion for today and for the next few lessons onward.
First of all, we shouldn’t be surprised that the way the Biblical Feasts were observed transformed with the passage of time, simply because historically, the situation of the Israelites changed quite radically over the years.
We have the very first Passover in Egypt which was all about God freeing Israel from the clutches of Pharaoh.
Then we have the Passover as it was observed once the Israelites settled in the Promised Land.
Finally, after the Israelites were dispersed into the gentile nations all around the world (the diaspora), Passover observance again evolved in many different ways.
Let’s get started in examining some of the key differences.
First, the original Passover in Egypt was observed inside the home.
Obviously since there wasn’t a Levitical Priesthood at this time, it was the firstborn male of each family who was relied upon to serve as the family priest.
Understand that the firstborn wasn’t officially called a “priest” or even regarded as a priest.
It’s just that when it came to carrying out the various religious rituals, if he was old enough, it was the firstborn who was expected to assume the priestly duties in the house.
Therefore, during that first Passover in Egypt, it was the firstborn who slaughtered the lamb and dabbed its blood on the doorposts of his family’s home.
Again, he did this because it not only was it his expected duty but also because…
…it was his very own life he was protecting through this act.
Let’s not forget that the only family member who was in danger of being killed by the hand of God on that dreadful night in Egypt were the firstborns (meaning a family’s first born son).
So again, when Israel was in Egypt there was no such thing as an official priesthood.
The Levitical Priesthood wouldn’t be established until a couple of months after Israel left Egypt.
However, just because this was before Sinai and there wasn’t a priesthood in place doesn’t necessarily mean Israel possessed zero knowledge of basic Torah.
Many of the Israelites in Egypt would have retained a distant memory of the many religious rituals and customs passed down to them from their forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
It was just commonly understood and accepted that the firstborn was the one responsible for officiating over the families’ traditional rituals and religious customs.
Okay, to conclude…
…the first big difference between how Passover was observed in Egypt and how it would be observed afterwards in the Wilderness and then later in the land of Canaan was that…
…the very first Passover took place within the homes of each family.
After the Law was established making Passover a yearly observance, the rules changed in that the Passover sacrifice and the eating of the sacrificial lamb was to take place ONLY at the location where the “Lord establishes His Name” which is just another Biblical way of referring to the central sanctuary.
And of course, the other big difference is that the Levite Priests were now the only ones authorized to supervise and direct the sacrificial rituals during Passover and the other Biblical Feasts.
That’s right.
The Levite Priests literally FIRED the firstborn sons as the spiritual leaders of the families AND…
…became the ONLY authorized officiators of God-ordained sacrificial ritual.
We’ll continue this discussion the next time we meet.
I always enjoy and almost always agree with what you write, Rich, but in this case (unless I am jumping ahead of your teaching) I have to disagree with your assertion that the Levites fired the firstborn sons as priests.
It was God who fired the first-born sons as priests, not the Levites when he said only the Levites could officiate to him.
In Exodus 22:28 God commands the firstborn of everything, including humans, belongs to God. He confirms this again in Numbers 18:16. Later, in Numbers 3:40-41:
“Then the Lord said to Moses: “Number all the firstborn males of the children of Israel from a month old and above, and take the number of their names. And you shall take the Levites for Me—I am the Lord—instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the livestock of the children of Israel.””
God initially commanded that that the firstborn sons were to be his (i.e., serve him) but then substituted the Levites for the firstborn sons.
Therefore, it was really God who fired the firstborn sons as priests.
Hey Steven, Actually, I totally agree with you and the same thought crossed my mind when I was thinking of what would be a good headline for this post. Technically, you’re right. The Levites REPLACED the firstborns per the Lord’s command. However, from a marketing perspective, saying the Levites “fired” the Firstborns struck me as more compelling. Did I tell you that I work as a professional direct response copywriter? I kind of like to apply the art of persuasion in print to my Bible studies in order to make them more interesting. We are in total agreement on this point brother. Be blessed and Shalom!