The Rest is Salvation History
A Brief Sneak Peek at "The Exodus" Period
I will be releasing part 3 of my Bible in a Year Podcast series soon, but I recently felt called to write this post as a way of encouraging everyone in their spiritual lives. It’s going to be a bit of a crash course on the period, but I promise a more thorough treatment will be ready soon!
A quick background (that I will dive into more fully in the next T.R.I.S.H.)- this time period is really marked by “the domestic priesthood” before Israel is brought to Mount Sinai. In other words, God had BIG PLANS for the fathers of the home before Israel’s sin of idolatry.
We read in Exodus that the 10th plague in Egypt will be the death of the firstborn and the establishment of the Jewish feast of Passover- a sacrifice of a lamb to protect one’s home.
Now, who was called to offer this sacrifice?. . . The father of the home! Not only that, but God was calling these men into the priesthood. Just look at this quote
“‘Consecrate to me every firstborn; whatever opens the womb among the Israelites, whether of human being or beast, belongs to me.’” (Exodus 13:2)
The word “consecrate” is associated with the priesthood in the Bible. It means- “to set apart for holiness”. Essentially, the Passover was a way to consecrate to the priesthood anyone, specifically the father of the home, who was offering the sacrifice of the lamb.
We must keep in mind that the Passover happens BEFORE the establishment of the Levitical priesthood- something that happened ONLY because Israel’s sin of worshipping the golden calf (Exodus 32); therefore, the original plan was that the Old Testament priesthood would be composed of the father’s of the home. Unfortunately, Israel demonstrated spiritual immaturity, and God had to enact Plan B- the Levitical priesthood.
However, in the “intermediate period” between the first Passover and the Golden Calf Incident, Moses’ ascent on Mount Sinai happened. That is where he would intercede on behalf of Israel and receive the Law. Moses’s role of mediation set an example for what that “domestic priesthood” was going to be- the father going before God on behalf of his family to offer sacrifice and worship.
I invite you to pray with the passages of Moses’s time on Mount Sinai. As mentioned before, he was setting an example for the domestic priests. As the spiritual head of your house, you are called to be that domestic priest! So, we can always learn from Moses’s example.
When you go to adoration of Jesus in the Eucharist, treat that time like Moses did. Essentially, you are approaching God on behalf of your family to bring them God’s love and grace. Yes, sometimes that requires you to be alone and quiet before God, but you have to trust that He is bringing good from it.
The reason that I write this is that- I was able to attend a holy hour at my parish yesterday. With 2 young children and a 20 minute drive just to get to the church, that doesn’t get to happen very often for me. It was an amazing time of prayer and peace, and I really felt like Christ was calling me to encourage other men to be like Moses, traversing Mount Sinai to commune with God on behalf of their families.
Please, if you have the opportunity- don’t waste it. Go see our Lord face-to-face in the Blessed Sacrament. He wants to give you something even GREATER than the 10 Commandments, His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity.