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Warning! Today’s message will be a bit on the didactic side; if you are allergic to such things, take appropriate precautions!

The following excerpt is taken from the first instructions given to the Hebrews regarding the observance of a ritual that was destined to become an annual event. “And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD’S Passover.”

Of course this first observance of this feast was the real thing! The Hebrews were enslaved by the Egyptians and this was the “watershed event” that would liberate them from the inhumane treatment to which they were being routinely subjected. Nine previous plagues had been brought upon the Egyptians, yet the ruling Pharaoh refused to allow them to go free. The tenth and final plague was brought upon the land only after numerous unsuccessful warnings and pleas to free the Israelite people.

In order to avoid the death of the firstborn, the fate that awaited Egyptian families, each Hebrew household was given specific instructions on how to observe the Passover; note that it was not their Passover; it was the LORD’S Passover. Two observations follow regarding this fact.

First, we offer an explanation concerning the peculiar form of the word LORD in this text. Note that the word does not just begin with a capital; the entire word is UPPER CASE. Time and space will not allow us to fully document the reasons why this is true, but briefly it can be stated that when LORD (all UPPER CASE letters) appears in the Old Testament, the reference is to God and not merely to someone of higher authority.

Secondly, notice the specific saying, “It is the LORD’S Passover.” The word LORD in this case is possessive, that is to say that the Passover belongs to the LORD. It was not conceived by man, made obligatory by man, done for man’s benefit and pleasure, and neither was it subject to man’s changes or alterations. We understand that when a thing belongs to a person, that person has all the rights associated with the thing he owns unless he chooses to grant some rights to another person. In that same way, surely we can understand that when God owns something, He has the rights to it except as He may grant otherwise. It was the LORD’S Passover!

For this reason, He (God) had the right to define who could eat it, when they could eat, in what manner they should eat, and even what attitude they should have when they were eating the Passover. If the Passover were a convention of man, man would have that authority, but it was not! As long as the Passover was imposed upon man by God, just that long man was obliged to eat it in precisely the manner that God defined.

Now, just for your consideration, here are some other things with which we are familiar that are explicitly said to be the Lord’s: The Earth (Exodus 9.29), the Law (Exodus 13.9), the Lord's prophets (1 Kings 18.13), the Lord's people (2 Kings 11.17), the Lord's Christ (Luke 2.26), believers are the Lord’s (Romans 14.8), the Lord’s table (1 Corinthians 10.21), the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11.20), the Lord's body (1 Corinthians 11.29), and the Lord’s Day (Revelation 1.9). Get the message; before doing anything to God's possessions, make sure He has granted you the right to do it!

Questions:

1. Bonus question; what does didactic mean (LOL)?

2. When Lord is all caps, to whom or what does it refer? Is Lord ever used to refer to anyone other than God (you have to research this on your own; the answer is not in today's lesson)?

3. How often did the Israelites observe the Passover? What event did it commemorate?

4. What is referred to in 1 Corinthians 11.29 by the phrase the Lord's body?

"Point of Reference" from Fred Price

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