Laws on the cities of refuge discouraged vigilantism and encouraged respect for the legal system to decide guilt or innocence. There was a serious penalty against “malicious witnesses” in criminal cases. God gave rules for the war to clean the Land, including discharge from service for the distracted and annihilation of certain existing peoples.
Deuteronomy 17 covers the type of animals to be given for sacrifice, what to do with a person who is worshiping another god and when and how they will chose a king. Deuteronomy 18 explores Levites and their inheritance, a reminder to the children of Israel that they are not allowed to “learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations” and a foretelling of a Prophet will come who is even more powerful than Moses.
Ancient Israel passed through the Red Sea on the seventh day of the Chag Matzot (Feast of Unleavened Bread), described as “the salvation of the LORD.” Apostle Paul equated that salvation from the ensnaring error of Egypt via cloud and sea with the Salvation from ensnaring sin via the death and resurrection of Messiah Yeshua (Jesus).
Chag Matzot (Unleavened Bread), one of the festivals of the Lord is not primarily about eating lots of matzoh, but about “eating” and absorbing Yeshua’s pure and true testimony about God. As you nibble on the matzoh, think about God’s word and how you can absorb God’s word into your inner being.
This Passover seder may be a little different from most. This year, the recounting of the Passover — the plagues, the Pesakh lamb, the unleavened bread, the bitter herbs — will be led by readings from Scripture, rather than stories based on Scripture.
The account of the 10 plagues on Mitsraim (Egypt) before Israel’s exodus has a pattern of mercy and judgment. Moses delivered warnings to Pharaoh followed by plagues, then a plague comes without warning.
In preparation for Passover, we consider the theme of Psalms 22, 23, 40 and 88 is not death but the willingness to die despite one’s fear of death. Yeshua (Jesus) had fear God because He knew God’s awesome power first-hand. He feared death, not the Devil.