“Because
the Lord kept vigil that night…” —Exodus 12: 42
Tucked away at the end of Exodus 12 is
a verse that is easily skipped over.
This chapter describes the last
plague—the plague to end all plagues—the death of the firstborn of animals and
humans. The ritual needed to prepare for this disaster—and to prevent it from
impacting the Hebrews—is described in detail.
As God had promised, the angel of death
passed over Egypt at midnight. The Almighty kept His promise, “When the Lord
goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on
the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will
not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down” (vs.
23).
This last plague was enough for
Pharaoh. He urged Moses and the Israelites to go—and go quickly. They did, not
even adding yeast to the next day’s bread that was waiting in their kneading
troughs (vs. 34, 39). They needed to go before Pharaoh changed his mind again.
Of course the symbolism of this “pass
over” drives us to the cross, illustrating what Christ did, and will do, for
us. The destroyer cannot touch us. As believers we are covered by the blood He
shed on Calvary.
But what struck me is a phrase that
appears in the final instruction that Moses was given just at the end of the
chapter. “Because the Lord kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt,
on this night all the Israelites are to keep vigil to honour the Lord for the
generations to come” (vs. 42).
The Passover continues to be an
important observance for orthodox Jews to this day. I don’t know if they “keep vigil” as part of their observance,
but the phrase caught my eye. It suggests that every year, in celebration of
the night the destroyer passed over Egypt and did not touch any of the Hebrews
because of the blood of the lamb on the doorpost—the night God Himself kept
vigil to make sure that none of them were touched—the Jews held what we used to
call a “watchnight service.” They watched, waited, remembered, celebrated, kept
vigil until midnight as part of their observance of the greatest moment in
their history.
We used to celebrate the “watchnight
service” in our churches as December 31st rolled into January 1st. At midnight
we met in the auditorium to welcome in the New Year with a prayer and praise
service. I don’t know how the tradition started. It’s not a bad one, but
perhaps it is misplaced. Perhaps it is on Good Friday that we, as redeemed
believers saved from the touch of the destroyer because of the blood of Jesus
Christ, ought to be keeping vigil in celebration of the greatest day in our
history.
The
tendency is to limit our Good Friday observance to an hour so as not to
inconvenience anyone or intrude on family get-togethers, or, as in my
experience, to ignore it altogether. But perhaps we need to learn a lesson from
the Hebrews of ancient days. If they were to keep vigil to remember how God
saved them from physical death, how much more should we keep vigil to remember
how Christ has saved us from eternal death and has given us new live at the
cost of His.
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