Before the Jewish people can leave Egypt, God commands each and every one of them (Exodus 12:3) to obtain a sheep “without blemish” (Verse 5).
The people are specifically told that they shall “keep watch over it” (Verse 6) for days, until they finally slaughter the lamb, eat it, and smear the blood on their doorposts (Verses 7-8).
The Chizkuni comments:
“The significance of the animal ‘lamb’ is that this was the zodiac sign of the month of Nissan. It was the sign that served as deity of good fortune to the Egyptians and would now forever become the reminder of good fortune to the people of Israel. By adopting this symbol and slaughtering a lamb as a sacrifice instead of worshipping it, the Jews demonstrated their faith in their G-d. They thereby neutralised any good fortune this constellation had ever had portended for the Egyptians.”
Consider the symbolic nature of swallowing the pagan deity and wiping our doorposts with its blood.
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By Dr. Dannielle (Dossy) Blumenthal. All opinions are the author’s own. Public domain.
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