Monday: Healing the Body
Daily Lesson for Monday 28th of July 2025
Read Exodus 12:1-20. What specific instructions does God give to Moses and Aaron before Israel leaves Egypt?
One would expect God to instruct Moses and Aaron about how to organize the departure from Egypt: that is, how to make provisions for the escape, especially for the elderly, mothers with small children, animals, and so forth. Instead, God’s instruction is surprising: He tells them how to celebrate the Passover. In other words, the focus is on worshiping the Lord, who was going to redeem them. Everything else would follow in due time.
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Each family was to prepare a lamb, with nothing wasted. Everyone had to eat his or her portion, and if the family could not consume the entire lamb, they were to eat the meal together with another family.
Read Exodus 12:13-14. What was the Lord going to do for them when the final plague came? What does all this symbolize?
The Exodus was to be celebrated regularly each year, not merely as a commemoration of a past event of what God had done for their forefathers but also as the actualization of God’s liberating act for the present generation. This was to be a fresh experience for each group.
Verses 12 and 13 explain the meaning of the Passover: the divine judgment of destruction will “pass over” the Israelites; thus, they were to commemorate “Passover.” This word is a combination of two words, “pass” and “over,” because the destruction “passed over” the Israelite homes on which the doorposts had been marked by the blood of the lamb, the sign of life and salvation. In Hebrew, the name of Passover is Pesach, from a verb that means “to pass over.”
The celebration of the Passover was to remind every Israelite of the mighty and gracious acts of God on behalf of His people. This celebration helped to secure their national identity and seal their religious convictions.
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Why is it so important always to remember the good that God has done to you in the past and to trust that He will do good for you in the future, as well? |
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In the old Testament and particularly the Passover story, doorposts and gates were more than architectural features—they were sacred thresholds of judgment, instruction, and covenantal identity. At the Tabernacle’s entrance, God spoke with Moses face-to-face, underscoring the doorway as a place of divine encounter and authoritative instruction (Ex. 33:7–10). Sacrificial offerings were to be presented at the Tabernacle’s entrance (Lev. 1:3),suggesting that entry points were where the divine and human realms met for the administration of justice and mercy and hence the healing. This same symbolism extended to civic life, where city gates became courtrooms for judgment by elders (Job 29:7; Ruth 4:1–2; 2 Sam. 15:1–6). Israelites were also commanded to write God’s law on their doorposts (Deut. 6:9), making the home itself a place of covenant remembrance and moral accountability.
The repeated emphasis on thresholds throughout Scripture, such as in the haunting narrative of Judges (Judges 19:27), shows that doorways are symbolic places where life, death, and judgment converge. In this light, pāsach God “passing over” which is not just God skipping over homes, but actively standing in the doorway as protector and judge. Yahweh’s presence at the threshold during Passover showed His intimate involvement in shielding His people through the covenant of blood. For us as believers, this is a rich dimension to the Passover: it’s not only a moment of deliverance, but a revelation of God’s justice, mercy, and indwelling presence at the very entrances of our lives that will heal our bodies.
So the entrance is very important in revelation Christ is saying look I'm at the door knocking,the entrance is our hearts,they must be covered with the blood of jesus, cleansed in order for us to be spared when christ come,
Motanya – I appreciate and thank you for your insightful and clarifying comment. It certainly provides much food for deeper, spiritual contemplation!
“This is a day to remember. Each year, from generation to generation, you must celebrate it as a special festival to the Lord. This is a law for all time” (Exod.12:14).
Why do Christians generally not observe the Passover feast?
Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the ultimate Passover Lamb. “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” (1 Corinthians 5:7). In the New Covenant, Christians believe that Jesus’ blood now spares believers from eternal judgment and spiritual death. Therefore, now Christians celebrate the act of Jesus delivering the human race not from physical death but from sin and eternal death. The Last Supper was the Passover meal. Jesus instituted a new ordinance as a commemoration of God saving mankind from sin and eternal death. This was a new covenant (1 Corinthians 11:24-25). Now Christians celebrate the Lord’s Supper (or Communion) to remember Jesus’ sacrifice, not the original Passover deliverance from Egypt. In essence, the Passover was pointing to the true Passover Lamb, Jesus Christ.
“These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.”(Colossians 2:17, NIV).
I am not sure how it happened but the Weekly lesson has the title, "Passover" and the Forum lesson has the title, "Healing the Body". Someone will probably correct it eventually but in the meantime, I would like to put the two ideas together.
The Passover became one of the most important festivals of the year for the Hebrews and as I said early this week, even non-observant Jews today still celebrate Pasach with a Seder meal. While it celebrates the sparing of the Hebrews during the Tenth plague, it is also a reminder of the whole Exodus experience. It is a "This is the beginning of our nation" event.
The Exodus was also a time of healing. Oppression is often a time when minds become broken and vision is blurred. Consequently, the Passover was a time for healing the body. Interestingly, the removal of leaven has a practical side. Pesach was a spring harvest festival and was celebrated around the time of the first barley harvest. The removal of leaven had the effect of removing old yeasts that had become contaminated and could potentially damage the new harvest. Given that the first Passover was celebrated on the eve of their deliverance from Egypt, it may well have been a good idea to remove the old yeast and start afresh. In a sense, Pesach has both a practical and spiritual application.
We know that when Jesus celebrated the last Passover, he instituted what we now call communion, and while it is a reminder of Christ's sacrifice, perhaps we should also consider it a new beginning in our spiritual lives. Do we need to clean out some leaven to make way for a new and better leaven in our spiritual lives? Do we need to be prepared to heal our body?
Do you realize all Christians kept the passover for 300 years. It was changed at the council of Nicene, which started in 325 A.D. Of course the council of Nicaea wasn’t Promulgated until the end of the 12 years that it took for them to decide on all the changes that they wanted to make in the original Christian economy. Most of the changes were made to stop appearing like Jews… Royce
Hi Royce,
You describe a popular understanding that sees early Christianity through rose-colored lenses, with perfect agreement on most if not all, issues.
In reality, Jewish Christians appear to have kept Passover according to their customs, and they commemorated Christ's death that way. Gentile Christians in Jewish communities likely did the same.
Gentile Christians away from Jewish centers did not necessarily keep the same day. They began celebrating the resurrection on various days - resulting in a number of different dates being celebrated by different groups and creating considerable friction. This disagreement over appropriate dates was one of the three main reasons for several hundred bishops to gather at Nicea to solve the issue. (The other issue were the Arian controversy and church organization and discipline.)
In recent history a similar controversy has surfaced in Christian groups reviving the practice of keeping the Jewish feasts, with different groups celebrating the feasts on different dates.
As Seventh-day Adventists we do not attach spiritual significance to current Passover or Easter celebrations. Our early pioneers examined the issue and concluded that the Passover celebration centering on the slain lamb had been fulfilled by Christ, and the celebration of the Lord's Supper, without a slain lamb, but remembering Christ as the slain Lamb was instituted by the Lord Himself. (See Luke 22:13-20, 1 Cor. 11:24-25 and Rev. 13:8)
God wants to have an intimate relationship with us, individually. This is developed through spending time with Him. Thank Him because He is always open for us!
One of the most powerful ways to strengthen our faith is to remember how God has led us in the past. This is true in our personal lives—and it’s certainly true in the life of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
In 1844, a group of faithful believers experienced what became known as the Great Disappointment. They had expected Jesus to return on October 22. When He didn’t, many gave up. But a small group chose instead to trust God and to go back to Scripture. Through humble study and prayer, they came to understand that Christ had not come to earth, but had entered the Most Holy Place in the heavenly sanctuary—a new phase in His ministry of salvation.
That shift—from confusion to clarity, from heartbreak to hope—was only possible because those early Adventists remembered how God had led them up to that point. They held on to their conviction that God was still in control. As a result, they laid the foundation of the global movement we are part of today.
Ellen White said, “We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history.” (Life Sketches, p. 196)
So as we face trials, discouragement, or even moments of doubt, let us do what our pioneers did—remember the goodness of God. He has led us, He is leading us, and He will continue to lead us until that great day when Jesus returns.
Let’s be faithful in our generation, just as they were in theirs.
The first 3 plagues affected the entire Egyptian Kingdom including Goshen. Israelites also suffered these plagues and were not cut off. Pharaoh's magicians were able to replicate the blood in the Nile and the frogs, but as for the rest of plagues Pharaoh's team had no counter measure.
However, the next 6 plagues, God protected Israelites (Goshen) and even the darkness was selective.
For all the nine plagues, God worked out everything and all Israel experienced what God had decided - God did not involve Israelites. For Pharaoh's Egypt an answer was being elaborated to the question - "Who is the Lord?" Egypt had seen the might of God especially the servants and the people. Israel had witnessed God's saving grace.
By the time, we get to the tenth plague, something is different, God had a to-do-list for Israel, and this was not restricted from the others. Anyone in the kingdom who followed the command of God, the passover would save him. There was some expected participation for Israel and laid down procedures were to be followed by all who'd want to saved including Egytians.
It is coming out that though God was there to rescue Israel, He never locked out anyone from any other people to participate. If some Egyptians partook the feast of the passover and followed every instructions, they too would qualified for Salvation. The events of the passover, like Christ was to benefit everyone who believed and acted in God's will.
God loves all his people, and this we should always remember always
The tenth plague also required active decision. For plagues 4-9, Israel was protected by virtue of where they lived. But for the final plague, every family had to choose whether to put the blood on the doorposts or not. Egyptians could be saved if they did this. The Israelites would not be spared if they didn't.
Judgment is a reality for everyone, past and present. Only being covered by Jesus' sacrifice spares us.
Amen
I love how the lesson brings out the idea that God's instructions for preparing to leave Egypt are surprising. His people were not to pour their energy into sorting their stuff, packing, making sturdy travel gear, saying good-bye to friends, gathering reports about where they were headed in Canaan, planning a travel itinerary and holding leadership meetings to organize themselves. Instead, they were to focus on God's sacrificing love and on worshiping Him. Reminds me of this Ellen White quote,
What if God's people prepared for evangelistic meetings and campmeetings this way? Instead of pouring all our time into preparing sermons, lesson materials, eye-catching advertising fliers and media spots, door prizes, special music and all the many things we do....instead what if we made it ALL about the LAMB OF GOD and relying on the power of the Holy Spirit to breathe life into God's salvation story happening in us as we prioritize digesting His Word and His Communion supper together. What if we spent all those preparation hours meeting together to contemplate Christ's life with us and praying non-stop for days and weeks leading up to the event, like the early Church did in the Upper Room before their first evangelistic crusade where 3,000 were baptized (Acts 1:14; 2:1,41).
What if when I'm going through major life changes I did this too? Instead of focusing on the stressful events surrounding myself, I focus on Jesus and my relationship with Him.....so that as Ellen White said my confidence in Him will be more constant, my love will be quickened, and I shall be more deeply imbued with His spirit. Which brings me to a tie-in with the unusual lesson title for today, "Healing the Body". What does Passover have to do with healing the body? Of the 8 areas of healthy lifestyle Seventh-day Adventists often summarize using the acronym NEWSTART (Nutrition, Exercise, Water, Sunshine, Temperance, Air, Rest, and Trust in divine power)...do I/we place the greatest emphasis and personal effort on "Trust in divine power"? (Ex. 15:26; 23:25; Jer. 30:17; 3 John 1:2; Psalm 147:3).
Healing of the body
After years of abuse, mistreatment and exploitation by the Egyptian monarch, the children of Israel were finally being healed physically and spiritually by the spirit of the Lord. This began with the Passover. The Hebrews believed in the divine deliverance and protection of God for their healing and overall well being.
Physically and spiritually healing the body of believers.
"Why is it so important always to remember the good that God has done to you in the past and to trust that He will do good for you in the future, as well?"
God wanted the Israelites to focus on Him, not their departure. Why? Because He did not want them to fret of their departure, rather as they depart God wants them to build their trust in Him and rejoice because their redemption draweth nigh. We notice of the extra lamb to share, is most likely how God initiated those who believe(and put blood on their door post)in Him, who were not Jews, were welcome to depart with the Israelites to Worship God in the wilderness.
In the wilderness of life, we can bolster our faith by remembering that; The Lord does not require perfect faith for us to have access to His perfect power, but He does ask us to believe.