John Calvin Commentary Exodus 12

And the Lord spoke. Although the institution of the Passover in some degree pertains to the Fourth Commandment, where the Sabbath and Feast-days will be discussed, yet, insofar as it was a solemn symbol³⁰⁸ of their redemption, by which the people professed their obligation to God their deliverer and in a way devoted themselves to His rule, I have not hesitated to include it here as a supplement to the First Commandment.

The observance of the day itself will be discussed again in its proper place. It is fitting to note here that God commanded this ceremony so that He might completely bind the people in obligation to Himself alone, and that from it the Israelites might learn that they should never turn away from Him, by whose kindness and power they were redeemed.

For by these means He had purchased them to Himself as His own special people. Therefore, whenever He reproves them for turning away from His pure worship, He complains that they had forgotten this great favor, the memory of which should have been sufficient to keep them faithful.

In effect, then, the celebration of the Passover taught the Israelites that it was not lawful for them to acknowledge any other God besides their Redeemer. It also taught that it was just and right for them to consecrate themselves to His service, since He had restored them from death to life. Thus, as in a mirror or picture, He displayed His grace to them and desired that they should each following year recall what they had previously experienced, so that it would never fade from their memory.

First, let us define what the Passover (Pascha) is;³⁰⁹ I use its common and ordinary name. In its etymology there is no difficulty, except that the passage (transitus) of God is equivalent to His leaping over (transilitio), by which it happened that the houses of the Israelites remained untouched. For Isaiah,³¹⁰ speaking of the second redemption, unquestionably alludes to this place when he says, "I will leap over Jerusalem." The reason, then, for this expression being used is that God’s vengeance passed over the Israelites, leaving them uninjured.

Regarding the twofold mention by Moses of a "passing-over," observe that the same word is not used in both places. Pesah³¹¹ refers to the chosen people, and Abar to the Egyptians, as if he had said, "My vengeance shall pass through the midst of your enemies and shall everywhere destroy them; but you I will pass over untouched."

Since, then, God was willing to spare His Israel, He awakened the minds of the faithful to the hope of this salvation by means of a sign,³¹² while He instituted a perpetual memorial of His grace, so that the Passover might every year renew the memory of their deliverance.

For the first Passover was celebrated at the very time of the event itself, to be a pledge to strengthen their terrified minds. The annual repetition, however, was a sacrifice of thanksgiving by which their descendants might be reminded that they were God’s rightful and special dependents (clientes).

Yet both the original institution and the perpetual law had a higher reference. God did not redeem His ancient people merely so that they might remain safely and quietly in the land; rather, He wished to lead them onward even to the inheritance of eternal life. Therefore, the Passover was, no less than Circumcision, a sign of spiritual grace. So it has an analogy and resemblance to the Holy Supper, because it both contained the same promises, which Christ now seals to us in the Supper, and also taught that God could only be propitiated toward His people by the expiation of blood.

In sum, it was the sign of the future redemption as well as of that which was past. For this reason Paul writes that Christ our Passover is slain (1 Corinthians 5:7), which would be unsuitable if the ancients had only been reminded by it of their temporal benefit.

Yet let us first establish this: the observance of the Passover was commanded by God in the Law so that He might demand the gratitude of His people and devote to Himself those who were redeemed by His power and grace.

I now turn to particulars. God commands the Israelites to begin the year with the month in which they had come out of Egypt, as if it had been the day of their birth, since that exodus was in fact a kind of new birth.³¹³ For, as they had been, in a sense, buried in Egypt, the liberty given them by God was the beginning of a new life and the dawning of a new light.

For though their adoption had preceded this, yet, since in the meantime it had almost vanished from the hearts of many, it was necessary that they should be, in a way, begotten anew, so that they might begin to acknowledge more certainly that God was their Father. Therefore He says in Hosea:

I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no God but me (Hosea 12:9 and Hosea 13:4).

Because He had then especially acquired them to Himself as His own special people; and He speaks even more clearly a little earlier:

When Israel was a child, then I loved him,
and called my son out of Egypt (Hosea 11:1).

Now, although it was common to the descendants of Abraham, along with other nations, to begin the year with the month of March, yet in this respect the reason for it was different: only to the elect people was their resurrection annually set before them. Until that time, however, the Hebrews themselves had begun their year with the month of September, which is called in Chaldee Tisri, and in which many suppose that the world was created. This was because immediately on its creation the earth produced ripe fruits, so that its fertility was at its peak.

And still there remains among the Jews a twofold manner of dating and counting their years. In all matters relating to the common business of life, they retain the old and natural computation, so that the first month is the beginning of Autumn. However, in religious matters and festivals, they follow the commands of Moses. This is the legal year, beginning nearly with our month of March,³¹⁴ yet not precisely, because we do not have their ancient embolisms. For since twelve circuits of the moon would not equal the sun’s course, they were obliged to make an intercalation, lest, over the years, an absurd and enormous discrepancy should arise. Thus, it happens that the month Nisan, in which they celebrated the Passover, begins among the Jews sometimes earlier and sometimes later, depending on how the intercalation delays it.

Your lamb shall be without blemish. We will see elsewhere that in all their sacrifices prescribed by the Law they were diligently to beware lest there be any spot or fault in them. By this, the people were reminded that the expiation was not legitimate unless it possessed the utmost perfection, such as is never to be found in humans. It is no wonder, therefore, that God should now require the Passover to be of one year old and without blemish, so that the Israelites might know that to propitiate God, a more excellent price was required than could be discovered in the whole human race. Since such excellence could much less exist in an animal, the celestial perfection and purity of Christ was shown forth by this visible perfection of the lamb or kid. It was with reference to this also that they were commanded to keep it separate from the rest of the flock, from the tenth until the fourteenth day of the month.

Regarding God’s will that the side-posts and lintel should be sprinkled with blood, by this sign He plainly taught them that the sacrifice would profit no one but those who were stained and marked with Christ’s blood. This sprinkling was equivalent to each one of them bearing the mark of His blood upon their forehead. And, in effect, Christ, by the outpouring of His blood, has not delivered all but only the faithful, who sanctify themselves with it. That internal sprinkling indeed holds the first place, which Peter teaches us is effected by the power of the Spirit (1 Peter 1:2), yet by this external sign the Israelites were instructed that they could not be protected from God’s wrath except by holding up against it the shield of the blood.

This corresponds with the lesson learned above, that the same universal sacrifice was offered particularly in every house, so that its specific instruction might affect them more seriously, when generally it would have been uninteresting and ineffective. I prefer to be ignorant as to why He required the flesh to be roasted and not boiled, rather than to invent such unfounded subtleties as that Christ was, in a manner, roasted on the Cross. A nearer approach to the truth, it seems to me, is that God desired in this way to mark their haste, because, when their implements were all packed up, the meat would be more easily roasted on a spit than cooked in a pot.

And this also is the purpose of the precept respecting the manner of eating it, in which three things are to be observed: the unleavened bread, the sauce of bitter herbs, and the girded loins, together with the rest of the attire of travelers. Undoubtedly, God commanded the bread to be made without leaven on account of their sudden departure, because He would snatch His people out of Egypt, as it were, in a moment. Therefore, they baked unleavened loaves out of flour hurriedly kneaded.³¹⁵ It was required that the remembrance of this should be renewed every year, so that their posterity might know that their deliverance was given to them from above, since their fathers hastily took flight without having made any preparation for their journey. For any greater preparation would have cast some shadow upon the divine grace, which shone forth more brightly on account of their lack of food.

God would have them be content with bitter herbs because hasty travelers, especially in an enemy’s country, are satisfied without delicacies. Whatever sauce they encounter is very pleasing to their taste, nor does its bitterness seem offensive to them, as it does in times of abundance and ease. Possibly, too, they were reminded of their former condition, for under so dire and bitter a tyranny nothing could be sweet or pleasant. But their haste was still more plainly represented by their eating the lamb hurriedly with their shoes on their feet, their loins girded, and leaning on their staffs.

People pass from their suppers to bed and to rest; therefore, the ancients used to both take off their shoes and lie down for it. But the people’s necessity inverted this order, since they were compelled to flee immediately from their supper. And hence the reason is added, it is the Lord’s passover; since they escaped in safety amidst the confusion and when the sword of God was raging. We must, however, bear in mind what we have already said: that the use of this sacrament was twofold, both to exercise the people in the recollection of their past deliverance and to nourish in them the hope of future redemption. Therefore, the Passover not only reminded them of what God had already done for His people but also of what they were hereafter to expect from Him. Consequently, there is no doubt that the Israelites ought to have learned from this rite that they were redeemed from the tyranny of Egypt on these terms, namely, that a much more excellent salvation still awaited them.

But this spiritual mystery was more clearly revealed by the coming of Christ. Therefore Paul, adapting this ancient figure to us, commands us, because Christ our passover is sacrificed for us, to keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice, and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (1 Corinthians 5:7–8).

God, therefore, formerly wished the houses in which the Passover was celebrated to be free from all corruption; and far more does it become us now to take care of this, lest the sacrifice with which Christ has redeemed us from eternal death should be polluted by any leaven of wickedness. To the same effect³¹⁶ is what follows: warning us that we should not be devoted to the attractions of the world, and that our course should not be delayed by the enticements of pleasure; but that we are pilgrims on earth and should always be girded and ready to make haste; and that although the cross of Christ is bitter, we should not refuse to taste it.

For I will pass through the land. This refers to the first Passover, the night in which they were to be delivered from Egypt; and God expressly declares that He will be the judge against the false gods, because it then especially appeared how utterly unable they were to help, and how vain and fallacious was their service.

The absurd commentary of some of the Rabbis³¹⁷ is tame and far-fetched: that the idols should be cast down because by the single miracle of their redemption, all superstitions were magnificently overturned, and whatever men believed about idols was condemned as folly and delusion.

God therefore affirms that He would not only conquer the nation itself, but its very gods. Perhaps Isaiah alludes to this passage when he says:

Behold, the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt; and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, (Isaiah 19:1)

For wherever He has appeared as the Savior of His people, He has asserted His glory in opposition to all impious and corrupt religions.