I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Exodus 10-12.

Every time I read this passage it feels like someone, perhaps the original writer, added some of the later descriptions of the instructions for the Feast of Unleavened Bread on to the instructions which Moses gave the Children of Israel before the first Passover.  I am not saying Moses did not give these instructions at that time, just that it feels like the instructions would have been more bare-boned, with the explanatory parts about celebrating in memory of this event left out.  It feels that way because the description of when they actually left indicates that it was sudden and urgent.  The meal they would have eaten needed to be one which could be prepared and eaten quickly and easily without using anything they would want to take with them.  My real point here is that we can easily miss the fear and urgency which the Israelites must have felt as they prepared to leave Egypt.  Something momentous was about to happen and they did not truly understand what was going on.   Moses had assured them that if they followed his instructions all would be well, but how could they be sure.  There will be times in our lives where we feel a little bit of what they were feeling that night.  I pray that you never feel more than a little of that feeling.