Day 11: The God of the Multitude

• The Ornament: The Lamb / The Doorpost
• The Scripture: Exodus 12:1–13, 37–38

The Surface Reading

We usually read the story of the Plagues and the Passover as a terrifying display of divine anger. God sends bugs, hail, and darkness to bully Pharaoh into submission. Finally, the destroyer passes over Egypt, and the Israelites are saved by painting lambs’ blood on their doors. It feels like a horror movie.

A Closer Look

Guide: Pete Enns (The Bible for Normal People)

But Pete Enns suggests that if we look closer, this isn’t just a story about punishment; it is a cosmic battle between two created orders.

Enns points out that the plagues are actually a “de-creation” event.

In Genesis 1, God brought order out of chaos. But in Exodus, God unleashes chaos back into the heart of the Empire. He turns water to blood; He blots out the sun; He erases the boundaries between land and creatures.

God is hitting the undo button on creation to show that an empire built on slavery is an offense to the universe itself.

Furthermore, the plagues are sniper shots at specific Egyptian gods.

• Turning the Nile to blood mocked Hapi (the Nile god).
• The swarm of frogs humiliated Heqet (the frog-headed goddess of fertility).
• The darkness shut down Ra (the Sun god).

Yahweh is systematically dismantling the gods of the oppressor to show that they cannot protect a system built on injustice.

The God of the Slaves

Guide: Dr. Wilda Gafney (Womanist Midrash)

And then comes the final act: The Passover.

In a world that worshipped the powerful (the firstborn of Pharaoh), God aligns Himself with the powerless. The blood on the doorpost was a public declaration of allegiance. It said: “We trust in the God of the Slaves, not the gods of the Empire.”

But who walked through those blood-marked doors?

We usually assume it was just the Israelites. But Dr. Wilda Gafney reminds us to look at the text again. Exodus 12:38 says a “mixed multitude” (erev rav) went up with them.

This wasn’t just an ethnic liberation; it was a coalition of the oppressed. Egyptians, Nubians, and other enslaved groups saw what Yahweh was doing and joined the movement.

The blood of the Lamb didn’t check DNA; it only checked allegiance. It created a safehouse where anyone—regardless of their background—could find shelter from the collapse of the Empire. The Shalom of God was open to anyone willing to walk away from Pharaoh.

The Question

We no longer paint blood on our doorposts, but we still have to decide where our security comes from.

Do you trust in the gods of Egypt (economic power, military might, status) to keep you safe? Or do you trust in the God who is building a new world out of the ashes of the old one?