Macdonalds lamb burgers and what not to wear: Exodus 11 - 13.

Yo Pharaoh - smell you later! Moses' posse finally gets to leave the land in which they thrived for many years and head off into the wilderness. That makes Moses, despite his stutter, an outstanding salesman, although I think having a staff that turns into a snake and watching the promise of Egyptians dying wholesale overnight would have convinced most people to sign on the dotted line and press hard please. Even some Egyptians went with them! (*mental note: get some scary presentations of exploding computers to sell new data backup service*). Mixed up in this time frame we also have the significant act of the God not killing the Israelites based on them following his instructions of painting lamb's blood on their doors: The Passover.

A couple of things spring to mind:

• What did Moses wear? No really, not like "man those sandals clash with that belt" but rather that he was Pharaoh's grandson and an Israelite, so I wonder how he presented himself in Pharaoh's court. Did he get changed to address the Israelites? How do we present ourselves every day or is this just a contrived thought?
• Since God killed the firstborn of everything Egyptian including animals, I think it would have been a bad time to be an Egyptian Goose.
• It's interesting that the families could share the sacrificial lambs if the group was too small for a whole animal. Very practical advice for a massively spiritual event don't you think?
• God tells them to eat quick - keep your clothes on and your walking stick in your hand (Exodus 12:11). Officially the first historical record of drive/walk-through fast food.
• This is the first time I've noticed a detailed set of rituals which I recognise as an observed festival or custom. Perhaps part of the process of nation-building that sets up the events at Mount Sinai a bit later on. (Interestingly the Jewish people see themselves as the only nation not defined by geography but by God proclaiming as such. But that's jumping ahead.) As Christians we are quick to dismiss these laws as rituals, but perhaps we should give them more attention: If not in observance then in looking for the reasons they exist. Some Jewish people think that Christians consider the 10 commandments the "10 suggestions", and are quick to point out that there are actually 613 commandments. Do we take them seriously enough? Oops, jumping ahead again.

So there you have it. After 430 years in Egypt, the Israelites are on the move. Willie Nelson's "On the Road Again" is playing in my head............